Abstract
This paper explores the neglected late-comer's R&D education and tries to response to the 'crisis of talent shortage' in Taiwan. This study uses the ethnography approach from science and technology studies to examine the fastfollowing training in an university laboratory team. In contrast to industrial sociology's focus on industrial and policy regimes and the education studies' normative perspective, this paper argues that such an on-site approach of laboratory studies can offer alternative implication. This paper explores what kinds of talent are made in the training process. Based on the concern of the late-comer situation in Taiwan this study constructs a framework for locating these late-comer laboratory practices. In contrast to the others, the 'fast-following' culture of training and practice makes students team-obeying and self-disciplinary practitioners, who are good at industrious replication rather than innovative exploration. Accordingly, in order to tackle the crisis we also have to transform the research and educational regime. This paper concludes with the reflection on the research agenda, practical implication and the politics of 'latecomer' framing for social and cultural studies.