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The Secret Lives of Professors (What Being a Professor is Really Like)

matt-welsh.blogspot.com

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Re: The Secret Lives of Professors (What Being a Professor is Really Like)

#51

Post by tjmaxal »

gvb wrote: post #16
amichail wrote: post #4

It's more fun to create something novel that many people use and appreciate (e.g., an iPhone game). Much better than research prototypes that go no where beyond a publication or two.

Sir Isaac Newton would disagree with you. "I know not what I appear to the world, but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the sea-shore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell, whilest the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me." http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Quotations/Newto...

classic quote

Re: The Secret Lives of Professors (What Being a Professor is Really Like)

#52

Post by tjmaxal »

I really liked how he compared being a young professor to being in a startup. I don't know how accurate that analogy really is but it's certainly fun to think about. At my undergrad they had a whole program designed to commercialize faculty research by funding school centric startups. I still find the whole thing fascinating.

Re: The Secret Lives of Professors (What Being a Professor is Really Like)

#53

Post by DannoHung »

DannoHung wrote: post #34

Where the fuck is all the money going?

I'm sorry, but I wasn't just referring to the grant money. I mean the money that colleges get from tuition, donations, etc. Where is all that money going to? What is costing so much now?

For all the talk about costs of colleges going up, I have never seen a single explanation of where the money is going. And if it ain't going into research, then it's gotta be going somewhere.

Re: The Secret Lives of Professors (What Being a Professor is Really Like)

#54

Post by JadeNB »

silverlake wrote: post #47
anongradstudent wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you think there's a point to getting a PhD at all? I've been debating dropping out of my PhD program (after one year), mostly for personal reasons, but partially because most grads from my (top N) program end up not being able to land a research or academic position after graduation. If I end up like 95% of the graduates from my program, will it have been a waste of time? Is there any value in a PhD if you do your…

A PhD is required to do research in academia and most industry labs. Otherwise, it's a net loss. However, it's free and fun for a while (if you don't work for an asshole).

> A PhD is required to do research in academia

I'm not sure what this means—no-one can stop you from doing research anywhere, regardless of your qualifications. Do you mean that most academic research jobs require a Ph.D.?

(I left the bit about industry out of my quote because I don't have the faintest idea. Maybe it's true.)

Re: The Secret Lives of Professors (What Being a Professor is Really Like)

#55

Post by anongradstudent »

larsberg wrote: post #50
anongradstudent wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you think there's a point to getting a PhD at all? I've been debating dropping out of my PhD program (after one year), mostly for personal reasons, but partially because most grads from my (top N) program end up not being able to land a research or academic position after graduation. If I end up like 95% of the graduates from my program, will it have been a waste of time? Is there any value in a PhD if you do your…

I'd recommend staying with it. If you're young (i.e. straight out of undergrad), it'll seem like the ~5 years you have left is a long time. As somebody who spent some time working and then came back, though, it's just a short hop. The Ph.D. will only open doors for you in the future, and the six-year commitment is not an easy thing to do the older you get, with greater lifestyle expectations, family situation, and th…

I'm not that young. I spent a couple years picking up an MS and five years working before starting the PhD. Five years still seems like a long time to me. It's nearly 10% of my remaining life expectancy!

Sure, a PhD will open some doors. So will five years in industry: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1373334

Re: The Secret Lives of Professors (What Being a Professor is Really Like)

#56

Post by anongradstudent »

ephermata wrote: post #38
anongradstudent wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you think there's a point to getting a PhD at all? I've been debating dropping out of my PhD program (after one year), mostly for personal reasons, but partially because most grads from my (top N) program end up not being able to land a research or academic position after graduation. If I end up like 95% of the graduates from my program, will it have been a waste of time? Is there any value in a PhD if you do your…

A PhD programme is ideally an opportunity to work on whatever you want, for years, in the company of smart people who are also interested in the same subject. You can use this time to try out different ideas and see if any of them take off. Having that shot is valuable in itself, even if you don't "succeed" with a research position afterwards. Plus, sometimes new startup ideas, connections, or key skills come out of…

A PhD programme is ideally an opportunity to work on whatever you want, for years, in the company of smart people who are also interested in the same subject. You can use this time to try out different ideas and see if any of them take off. Having that shot is valuable in itself, even if you don't "succeed" with a research position afterwards.

This was my attitude going into the program. I'll get to spend five years working on fun problems! Even if I don't land a research job at the end of it, at least I'll have had five years of fun. But when I look at how bitter the people who are graduating now are when they don't get research jobs, I'm not sure that I'll have the same attitude towards things when I finish.

Yes, sometimes new ideas, connections, and skills come out of a PhD. Don't those things come out of working in industry, too?

You may end up teaching too much, you may end up working on projects you don't like

Yes. This. I feel like I had more freedom at my old industry position than I do in my PhD program.

Re: The Secret Lives of Professors (What Being a Professor is Really Like)

#57

Post by ajdecon »

JadeNB wrote: post #54
silverlake wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A PhD is required to do research in academia and most industry labs. Otherwise, it's a net loss. However, it's free and fun for a while (if you don't work for an asshole).

> A PhD is required to do research in academia I'm not sure what this means—no-one can stop you from doing research anywhere, regardless of your qualifications. Do you mean that most academic research jobs require a Ph.D.? (I left the bit about industry out of my quote because I don't have the faintest idea. Maybe it's true.)

Probably what he means is that most "research scientist" or "research engineer" jobs out there require a PhD. Though there are a fair number at larger labs that only ask for a masters. But:

>I'm not sure what this means--no-one can stop you from doing research anywhere, regardless of your qualifications.

This may be true in CS, but in most physical or biological fields is not fully true. The permits you need for handling certain materials are more difficult to obtain without a PhD, and it's hard to get funded without it as well.

Re: The Secret Lives of Professors (What Being a Professor is Really Like)

#58

Post by JadeNB »

ajdecon wrote: post #57
JadeNB wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A PhD is required to do research in academia I'm not sure what this means—no-one can stop you from doing research anywhere, regardless of your qualifications. Do you mean that most academic research jobs require a Ph.D.? (I left the bit about industry out of my quote because I don't have the faintest idea. Maybe it's true.)

Probably what he means is that most "research scientist" or "research engineer" jobs out there require a PhD. Though there are a fair number at larger labs that only ask for a masters. But: >I'm not sure what this means--no-one can stop you from doing research anywhere, regardless of your qualifications. This may be true in CS, but in most physical or biological fields is not fully true. The permits you need for hand…

> This may be true in CS, but in most physical or biological fields is not fully true.

Good point. I'm a mathematician, and the resources that we absolutely must have are even fewer than those of most CSers; I didn't consider life in other disciplines.

Re: The Secret Lives of Professors (What Being a Professor is Really Like)

#59

Post by stoney »

yummyfajitas wrote: post #46
ephermata wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What settings have you found where you could call yourself "doctor" without someone mistakenly believing you are an MD? The only ones I've found so far are in academia and at work, but in both cases it's not really that much of a boost. (At work everyone more or less has a PhD.)

The pub. "Hey baby, I'm a doctor. I do radiology." (Both true statements.) "Ooh, tell me more."

Yeah, mainly the pub, but also any situation where you want someone to do something that seems risky:

"Trust me, I'm a doctor!"

And dealing with unhelpful customer service:

"We're sorry Mr Smith but we can't do that..."

"Actually that's DOCTOR Smith"

It won't help you get what you want, but the amusement factor will make you feel better.

A friend of mine has Dr on all of his credit cards. He claims to have received free upgrades on rental cars from time to time as a result. Not sure if I believe that.

Re: The Secret Lives of Professors (What Being a Professor is Really Like)

#60

Post by ciupicri »

pwhelan wrote: post #48
pgbovine wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which also raises the question whether there should be a similarly venerable(and compensated) position reserved for researchers who don't teach? an academic research lab sponsored by a big company (note that this is not the same as a corporate R&D division) ... in the 1970's, this was epitomized by Xerox PARC and AT&T Bell Labs. today, Microsoft Research is currently the leader in this category.

MSFT Research also sends the nicest rejection letters you can imagine.

Do you have some examples?
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