"Academic discussions sometimes get a bad rap. They are deemed tedious, even irrelevant, with unfocussed rambling on topics of only minor concern... The Myanmar people will want to see how academic ideas can be made useful in their lives. Such research is often best when it focuses on long-term considerations and the types of problems, like natural disasters, that cannot fit into daily news coverage. With good planning, Myanmar could create for itself an enviable array of knowledge that helps to secure its future. After the next election, making decisions about research priorities for the years ahead should be high on the agenda for Myanmar?s new government."