<p>^You don’t need to be a part of the NAE to conduct research. The NAE is simply an honor. It could still be possible that UCLA and (especially) USC have more “cutting-edge” researcher professors than Berkeley. </p>
<p>Practically every professor I’ve met conducts some sort of research and practically all of it is “pioneer”. (If the research isn’t “pioneer”, is it really research at all? Wouldn’t it just be peer evaluation of some sort?)</p>
<p>Whether any of their work will be worth pennies in the future is up for debate. -.-</p>