291–300 of 366 posts
Computer Engineering PhD here. I’m seriously considering transitioning out of my program because I’ve reached a point where I’m just writing tons of code on a graduate student stipend and quite frankly, it seems doors are opening to me which I had previously thought would only be open with the PhD. I feel like my experience would be very different if I had one full-time research engineer who was paid a respectable su…
Coding somebody else’s problem lacks status in academia, and the money is poor. Why would people do this as a career?
So much to say. I went through the whole academic cycle and moved to industry... about 15 years ago. I can't put it any other way than: the professors and PIs are abusing their employees. It has worked for some time because there were always enough people ultra-motivated to work in science for the prestige and other perks, but now, the economy is such that people can no longer do that (science job + family + mortgage…
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No there isn't good money in physics and chemistry or pure math. PhD chemists almost never make 6 figures even in high cost of living areas serving as a specialist. I made less as a senior scientist or a project manager in chemistry than I do as an entry level software engineer. I don't know how many physicists I've met who work minimum wage jobs, usually call centers, after their PhD/post doc (even finding a PhD is…
>"I bet a third of them once were physical scientists/mathematicians who mostly regret their degrees" Would mathematicians truly be regretting their degrees, if they decide to work in software? I read that mathematics one of the best degrees for a career in software engineering, as computer science is very closely related to mathematics (to the point where studies of algorithms are largely the same for mathematics an…
It is also possible that aptitude for math is related to aptitude in software engineering.
However: The mathematics content of 90%+ of mathematics degrees awarded is fully irrelevant to 95%+ of software development tasks. And when that 5% task needs that some kind special mathematical insight, the people who want that task done are going to get the top professional they can find for it. Maybe the prospective math student is going to be that professional, but I don't recommend planning a career for it.
I am not saying there isn't work where some math is useful but the most commonly used applied stuff ... say, linear algebra ... is typically covered in a respectable engineering program; degree in mathematics would be superfluous. Proving theoretical properties of Hilbert spaces or measurable sets or bifurcations of dynamic systems or advances in differentiable topology or fascinating behavior of cellular automata or whatever is going to be gigantic waste of your time if you won't use it later in your career or you don't find it intrinsic motivation in itself.
Matthew J. Lambert, Wayne O. Cochran. Kyle G. Olsen, Cynthia D. Cooper,
Evidence for widespread subfunctionalization of splice forms in vertebrate genomes,
{\em Genome Research.} 2015 May; 25(5): 624Ð632.Earlier quoted context omitted.
This. I have worked for almost 15 years in academic research, but in very close collaboration with the steel industry. The code we write can help steel companies to save millions when developing new products. This is quite complex software, which combines materials science, mechanical engineering and advanced mathematical concepts while requiring high performance and reliability. I found a nice position for a tenure…
seriously? in what kind of alternative reality does academia live to offer 30k?
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It certainly echoes my experience having just left a professional dev job in academia after an 11 year stretch. Anybody without academic credentials relevant to the subject matter is "the help" no matter how much you contribute, and it's flat-out demoralizing. I worked on a tech-heavy project large enough to get an NYT feature article covering its launch. For it, I collaborated heavily on the service design and logis…
What you did doesn't matter, and they gave you the right amount of recognition. There are 1000's of imported indentured servants that will happily do your job the moment you leave. Of course, we don't call them indentured servants any more, we use terms like 'academic visa' or such. I'm sure they also didn't think the electricity company for keeping the lights on, or Microsoft for creating Windows to write their spee…
This looks great, and I would have loved to see this when I was in the lab. When the software industry says to you: "We will nearly triple your salary, you don't have to work weekends, and you also don't have to feed the mice on a Sunday night." You will 100% take this deal. I was a 10yr+ academic tool maker in biochemistry, built cutting edge microscopes, hardware, and image analysis software. My lab was successful…
The pay gap is real, and a huge reason why perfectly good software folk (and scientists, data specialists, etc.) move out of academia and into industry. I have an industry job with good pay with a side of academic work stemming from my PhD. My industry income is literally more than 2x the salary of my academic PI, who holds a senior academic post. My pay, which is probably around the median of most HN readers, is sli…
Because academics (hi!) aren't in it for the money. If you value making lots of money, or having work-life balance, then academia isn't for you (nor is social work, teaching, nursing, fine art, etc.). But this probably makes it hard to hire RSEs who aren't academics masquerading as software engineers...
If Science wants more research software engineers then they should start treating them like peers rather than hired help.