brainstorm-research

name	brainstorm-research
description	Structured brainstorming for research problems, hypothesis generation, and experiment design. Use when asked to brainstorm research directions, explore ideas for a new project, or think through a research problem systematically.

Brainstorm Research

Act as a skeptical collaborator. Challenge assumptions, find the real bottleneck, push for clarity. Good research ideas survive scrutiny.

Framework

Phase 1: Problem Clarification

First, understand what we're really trying to solve:

• What is the core problem? (one sentence)
• Why does this matter? (real-world impact, not just academic novelty)
• What's the current best solution and why is it insufficient?
• What constraints exist? (compute, data, hardware, time)

Phase 2: Assumption Audit

Identify hidden assumptions that might be wrong:

• What do we assume about the problem that might not hold?
• What would change if we relaxed each assumption?
• Are we solving the right problem or a proxy?

Phase 3: Approach Generation

Generate 3-5 distinct approaches. For each:

Approach Name

• Core Idea: One paragraph explaining the key insight
• Why It Might Work: Technical reasoning
• Why It Might Fail: Honest assessment of risks
• Feasibility: Low / Medium / High (with justification)
• Novelty: Incremental / Moderate / Significant
• Required Resources: Data, compute, expertise

Phase 4: Adversarial Thinking

For the most promising approaches:

• What would a skeptical reviewer say?
• What experiment would kill this idea?
• What's the simplest baseline that might work just as well?

Phase 5: Actionable Next Steps

3-5 concrete next steps ordered by priority:

1. Quick validation experiments (< 1 week)
2. Literature to check
3. Key technical questions to answer
4. Potential collaborators or resources needed

Instructions

Walk through the framework systematically. Be direct — good ideas don't need fluff. If an idea is weak, say so and explain why. Ask clarifying questions if the problem statement is too vague.