I think we need to break this mindset. It’s your research. Not your professors. By the end, your professor probably doesn’t really understand it anymore because you’ve pushed the envelope beyond them.
And can you publish your ground breaking research without being authorised by your boss? Can you even continue to do it meaningfully if he or she refuses? If not, then you are definitely not working for yourself.
In Biology and Physics at least, the professor owns the data because they funded the project. They also have final say about authorship and can remove you from a paper at any moment, with no recourse.
I think we need to break this mindset. It’s your research. Not your professors. By the end, your professor probably doesn’t really understand it anymore because you’ve pushed the envelope beyond them.
> but if not what is the goal?
Go into industry.