131–140 of 155 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think I was paid like 18K a year when I got my STEM PhD in 2018. So, when you say that PhD students are not as expensive as SWEs, you could be making the understatement of the year. I bet the Mcdonalds workers made more than me.
That’s what you were paid, it’s not what you cost.
Back when I was in grad school there was a whole set of research people who just lived at the university - but I noticed, they'd didn't really do a whole lot of work. They were just always there, always on hand when the tenured PI showed up to be noticed, and so on. They'd mastered the art of appearing to be dogged 24-7 nose-to-the-grindstone researchers, but it was really just a relaxed little club. Most of their en…
"Academic funding is all controlled by government bureaucrats and corporate executives...." This is not really true in the US. For example, NSF review processes are basically determined by peers, panels of PhDs who are experts in the field. While their expertise may vary, they generally do a reasonable and fair and scientifically meaningful review. To claim this is all "controlled by government burearcrats" is lazy a…
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They didn't mention tenure because it doesn't exist in the UK or Norway.
So how are professors assured they won't be sacked for expressing controversial views?
Academic controversy within your field of research I doubt they care as long as you continue to bring in money via grants, if you're in the national news bringing down the reputation of the institution/university then you'll be probably be sacked.
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That’s what you were paid, it’s not what you cost.
When people say free labour, the mean how much you're paid. Even slaves have to be bought, housed and fed so they have a cost, but they're pretty much the definition of free labour.
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So how are professors assured they won't be sacked for expressing controversial views?
I guess the same way as in other jobs. Academic controversy within your field of research I doubt they care as long as you continue to bring in money via grants, if you're in the national news bringing down the reputation of the institution/university then you'll be probably be sacked.
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The US does this in every instance where passion is involved. Passionate people, especially those who are passionate about their work, are more easily convinced to take less pay because they are "passionate" and want to see their work come to fruition. Exploitation of youthful passion for profit is basically the centerpiece of how America beats its workers into submission and slowly breaks down their expectations for…
// The US does this in every instance where passion is involved I don't think there's a conspiracy. High performers in "passion" fields are sought after and make bank (Tom Cruise vs starving actor, eg) The problem is the oversupply of middling talent. If I needed a random average actor for something, there are thousands of them fighting for the job, so it doesn't pay much. If I need Tom Cruise I am going to pay a lot…
Back when I was in grad school there was a whole set of research people who just lived at the university - but I noticed, they'd didn't really do a whole lot of work. They were just always there, always on hand when the tenured PI showed up to be noticed, and so on. They'd mastered the art of appearing to be dogged 24-7 nose-to-the-grindstone researchers, but it was really just a relaxed little club. Most of their en…
Plenty of research doesn't need millions to do. If you're a mathematician or almost any kind of theoretician or computational scientist you need a laptop maybe the odd bit of cloud time on a bigger blob of compute, in the case of mathematicians you might need chalk. The millions you do need to spend though are on private per-paper viewing of literature, thats the real mind killer. If universities just had alumni acce…
Another trick is to sign up for the adult ed classes, or basically retiree classes to get access. I've even heard of people doing this to get cheap health insurance!!!
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When people say free labour, the mean how much you're paid. Even slaves have to be bought, housed and fed so they have a cost, but they're pretty much the definition of free labour.
I really have to draw the line at Ph.D. students being compared to slaves. Doing a Ph.D. Is an amazing opportunity, and a voluntary one at that. Far beyond being uncompensated, Ph.D. student are in fact compensated with a stipend, tuition, and mentorship. To compare this arrangement to slavery is to both cheapen the experience of a Ph.D. and to minimize the horrors of slavery.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think I was paid like 18K a year when I got my STEM PhD in 2018. So, when you say that PhD students are not as expensive as SWEs, you could be making the understatement of the year. I bet the Mcdonalds workers made more than me.
That’s what you were paid, it’s not what you cost.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sci-hub has become significantly less useful because all new uploads are paused pending resolution of a court case in India. That includes anything published in the last year. A large portion of a working academic's reading load will be keeping up with recently published literature.
But for papers published recently you can email an author and they will send you a PDF.
Piracy and open access are the only scalable alternatives to institutional access.