c****e
发帖数: 1628 | 1 发信人: demoner (New York State of Mind), 信区: Biology
标 题: Leaving Science, by Leon Avery.
发信站: BBS 未名空间站 (Tue Feb 11 00:50:43 2014, 美东)
Leaving Science
February 8, 2014
Why I’m leaving
I have decided, after 40 years as a lab scientist and 24 years running my
own lab, to shut it down and leave. I write this to explain why, for those
of my friends and colleagues who’d like to know. The short answer is that
I
’m tired of being a professor. Indeed, I know that I can’t continue
indefinitely, and I would much rather have people ask why I am leaving so
soon, than why I haven’t already gone[1]. The long answer follows. It’s
not 100% true, but it’s as close as any explanation of a complex personal
decision is likely to get. It comes down to four things. One has been a
constant, the others have gotten gradually worse.
Being a boss
I have never liked being a boss. My happiest years as a scientist were when
I was a student and then a postdoc. I knew I wouldn’t like running a lab,
and I didn’t like it. This has always been true.
Paperwork and burocracy
This sounds trivial, but it isn’t. There is a mind-numbing amount of
paperwork and burocratic form and procedure involved in being a professor
and running a lab. It was not always so. Every year new requirements are
added, and they have accumulated to the point that most of us just lose
track. They take up an enormous amount of time, and it’s particularly
galling, because we know that most is useless.
Selling yourself
As a scientist, you have to constantly sell yourself. This comes in three
main areas: recruiting people to your lab, publishing your work, and
securing funding. Publishing and funding have gotten harder over my years
in
science. Referees and editors are more demanding—publishing a paper is now
always a struggle. Research in biology is expensive, and funding has gotten
tighter and tighter.
There’s also a personal element to this. In the USA, most funding for
biology comes from the National Institutes of Health. For many years NIH
was
interested in funding basic research as well as research aimed directly at
curing diseases. With the tightening funding has come a focus on so-called
“translational research”. Now when we apply for funding we have to explain
what diseases our work is going to cure. Publication and recruiting have
followed: journals and students want research on major medical problems.
I have never been interested in that. Undoubtedly it is a noble thing to
help humanity, but it isn’t what makes me tick. I have always been a pure
curiosity-driven scientist. It’s my play and my passion and my religion.
And I’ve been lucky that the world was willing to pay me to do it. Now it
is hard for me to explain the diseases my work will cure. It feels like
selling snake oil. I don’t want to do it any more.
Doubt of the mission
I have come to doubt that we who run research labs are doing a good thing
for our grad students and postdocs. This is also something that has changed.
Grad students and postdocs work hard and don’t get paid much. I did myself
, and I loved it. It’s worth it if you have a future. When I was a student,
and when I was a postdoc and for the first years that I was a professor,
grad students and postdocs had somewhere to go. Now, for most of them,
there
isn’t.
But I had a great time!
This all sounds pretty bad, but that’s not how I feel. I love doing
science
, and have always felt that I was fantastically lucky that the world was
willing to pay me a salary, and even more to pay for all the expensive toys
I needed, just so I could play. Of course, the world didn’t do this out of
generosity—it was wise enough or gullible enough to think it would get
value for money, and I hope it did. But that doesn’t erase the gift I
received. If the world felt that a renegotiation of the deal was in order,
that’s fair. It was all above board and I always had the option of signing
off.
So now I am. After more than 40 years, I am going to cease to be a lab rat.
There are other things I love, and I expect to continue to learn and work
hard and have fun. My immediate plans are to go back to school and get a
degree in Mathematics. This too has been a passion of mine ever since high-
school sophomore Geometry, when I first learned what math is really about.
And my love of it has increased in recent years as I have learned more. It
will be tremendous fun to go back and learn those things that I didn’t
have
the time or the money to study as an undergrad.
A few details: I plan to continue in my present position through the end of
2014. That will give me time to finish up half a dozen papers. I will let
my
current grants lapse. I recently applied for a grant on behalf of my
postdoc Alex, and if that is funded, I will stay on past 2014 so that he
can
accept it.
[1]I would much rather have men ask why I have no statue, than why I have
one.
—Cato
--
※ 修改:·demoner 于 Feb 11 00:50:56 2014 修改本文·[FROM: 68.]
※ 来源:·BBS 未名空间站 海外: mitbbs.com 中国: mitbbs.cn·[FROM: 68.] | b********n
发帖数: 38600 | 2
those
that
【在 c****e 的大作中提到】
: 发信人: demoner (New York State of Mind), 信区: Biology
: 标 题: Leaving Science, by Leon Avery.
: 发信站: BBS 未名空间站 (Tue Feb 11 00:50:43 2014, 美东)
: Leaving Science
: February 8, 2014
: Why I’m leaving
: I have decided, after 40 years as a lab scientist and 24 years running my
: own lab, to shut it down and leave. I write this to explain why, for those
: of my friends and colleagues who’d like to know. The short answer is that
: I
| c*****i
发帖数: 11737 | 3 A few details: I plan to continue in my present position through the end of
2014. That will give me time to finish up half a dozen papers. I will let
my
current grants lapse. I recently applied for a grant on behalf of my
postdoc Alex, and if that is funded, I will stay on past 2014 so that he
can
accept it.
可以肯定说明年他会发一封类似的信，最大的变化是一个数字，从2014变成2015
those
that
【在 c****e 的大作中提到】
: 发信人: demoner (New York State of Mind), 信区: Biology
: 标 题: Leaving Science, by Leon Avery.
: 发信站: BBS 未名空间站 (Tue Feb 11 00:50:43 2014, 美东)
: Leaving Science
: February 8, 2014
: Why I’m leaving
: I have decided, after 40 years as a lab scientist and 24 years running my
: own lab, to shut it down and leave. I write this to explain why, for those
: of my friends and colleagues who’d like to know. The short answer is that
: I
| c*******t
发帖数: 973 | | h******1
发帖数: 16295 | 5 这话用他说？研究生薄厚有多少，正式职位才有多少，能拿到基金的又有多少？
没有行会组织和准入制度的行业，必然死路一条。 | C*******f
发帖数: 13152 | | s*****r
发帖数: 206 | 7 嗯
【在 C*******f 的大作中提到】
: 干40年了，准备退休也不用jjww这么多啊。
| l********g
发帖数: 6760 | | r********n
发帖数: 7441 | 9 screw you guys, I am going home ....
--eric
those
that
【在 c****e 的大作中提到】
: 发信人: demoner (New York State of Mind), 信区: Biology
: 标 题: Leaving Science, by Leon Avery.
: 发信站: BBS 未名空间站 (Tue Feb 11 00:50:43 2014, 美东)
: Leaving Science
: February 8, 2014
: Why I’m leaving
: I have decided, after 40 years as a lab scientist and 24 years running my
: own lab, to shut it down and leave. I write this to explain why, for those
: of my friends and colleagues who’d like to know. The short answer is that
: I
|
|
