Tag: science career

Tell me why I’m doing this again?

They don’t tell you this in Bio 101:

Ars Technica, The Tenure Track Not Taken:

Becoming a university professor requires a lot of work for very little financial reward, compared to most other professions. In STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) fields, the minimum requirement is four years of undergraduate education, plus anywhere between four and a half and eight years of graduate studies, followed by an (ever increasing) number of years of post-doctoral work. That may get you an assistant professorship where, at a state university, the starting salary is in the $60k-70k range.

(The only other career path I have seen that has similarly low pay for exorbitant requirements is becoming a chef. In both cases, you only do them because you simply love doing them.)

Continue reading “Tell me why I’m doing this again?”

Cormac McCarthy mixin’ it up with Sante Fe science

While I have my doubts about how much progress the permanent inhabitants of the Santa Fe Institute actually make, this is my kind of hang-out, progress be damned:

From Newsweek via The Daily Beast

The Santa Fe Institute was founded in 1984 by a group of scientists frustrated with the narrow disciplinary confines of academia. They wanted to tackle big questions that spanned different fields, and they felt the only way these questions could be posed and solved was through the intermingling of scientists of all kinds: physicists, biologists, economists, anthropologists, and many others. Continue reading “Cormac McCarthy mixin’ it up with Sante Fe science”

Why to avoid a science career…

Yep:

“Academia’s Crooked Money Trail”, by Beryl Lieff Benderly, over at Science Careers

The troubles plaguing academic science — including fierce competition for funding, dismal career opportunities for young scientists, overdependence on soft money, excessive time spent applying for grants, and many more — do not arise, Stephan suggests, from a shortage of funds. In 2009, she notes, the United States spent nearly $55 billion on university- and medical school–based research and development, far more than any other nation.

The problems arise, Stephan argues, from how that money is allocated: who gets to spend it, where, and on what. Unlike a number of other countries, the United States structures university-based research around short-term competitive grants to faculty members. The incentives built into this system lead universities to behave “as though they are high-end shopping centers,” she writes. “They turn around and lease the facilities to faculty in [exchange for] indirect costs on grants and buyout of salary…” Continue reading “Why to avoid a science career…”

Eric Lander knows the secret to success

He reveals it in today’s NY Times:

After his morning workout, he sometimes goes to a local bakery where he can work quietly

Sometimes the key to getting things done is knowing where to hide. The other secret to success is luck:

“I feel like it’s so incredibly lucky to end up here,” he said. “I could not have planned this. What if I hadn’t met David Botstein? What if I hadn’t gone to a meeting where the human genome was discussed? I have no idea. This is as random as it gets.”

It’s frightening just how random it is, particularly if you’re outside the inner circle. (There’s always that inner circle, the one I’m never inside of, even though I’ve also met David Botstein.) There is no doubt that Lander is exceptionally talented, and skilled at sniffing out key opportunities, but part of the story is being lucky to find yourself in those circles where opportunities are offered. The name of the institution where you work matters a great deal when it comes to making first impressions, regardless of your other qualifications.