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A message from President Kornbluth about funding and the talent pipeline

president.mit.edu

41–50 of 756 posts

Re: A message from President Kornbluth about funding and the talent pipeline

#41

Good. The US is reaping what it sows, and other research institutions will become the new leaders. Stinks for Americans, but the world will be better off overall.

> other research institutions will become the new leaders Or the knowledge just goes away, the talent wasted.

Talent wasted in the US maybe, but plenty of professors across the world are doing equivalent work. To think only the US is capable of doing ground breaking research is extremely foolish and an insult to humanity.

Re: A message from President Kornbluth about funding and the talent pipeline

#42
post #5

MIT Current Graduate Student are 41% international. https://facts.mit.edu/enrollment-statistics/

Yup, it’s called a brain drain and it’s why until recently America held a vice grip on groundbreaking research and its commercialization.

A brain drain means the intelligent population emigrates to other countries.

The narrative and data do not support Americans going abroad.

I think you're referring to a lack of competitive education for those coming outside of America and choosing Europe / China to study.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_capital_flight

Re: A message from President Kornbluth about funding and the talent pipeline

#43

Good. The US is reaping what it sows, and other research institutions will become the new leaders. Stinks for Americans, but the world will be better off overall.

The world will catch up around the same time research institutions become obsolete.

Re: A message from President Kornbluth about funding and the talent pipeline

#44

Good. The US is reaping what it sows, and other research institutions will become the new leaders. Stinks for Americans, but the world will be better off overall.

Not at all, the US is still the world leader in research institutions. And I say this as an European, we’re miles behind really. You have to make a lot more fuck ups for us to catch you.

Yes but the trajectory is in free fall. With rise of research in China we'll have a more even playing field.

Re: A message from President Kornbluth about funding and the talent pipeline

#45

Good. The US is reaping what it sows, and other research institutions will become the new leaders. Stinks for Americans, but the world will be better off overall.

Not at all, the US is still the world leader in research institutions. And I say this as an European, we’re miles behind really. You have to make a lot more fuck ups for us to catch you.

Give us time.

Re: A message from President Kornbluth about funding and the talent pipeline

#46
post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not at all, the US is still the world leader in research institutions. And I say this as an European, we’re miles behind really. You have to make a lot more fuck ups for us to catch you.

I think the highest ranked technical universities by the end of this decade will be Chinese. Things are accelerating more than I expected.

Some people would argue they’ve already taken the lead

Re: A message from President Kornbluth about funding and the talent pipeline

#47
We have never seen a presidential administration misunderstand soft power so badly.

US universities were an incredible blessing to the “brand” of the USA. Foreign students come to the US, pay an inflated full sticker price, subsidizing US students, and learn from top educators who generally have a lens of Western values.

Many of these students pursue permanent citizenship and bring with them new ideas, businesses, and grow their families who all become new members of the American economy and social fabric.

I personally know people from other countries that I met in school who came to the US and came out of that experience with a much more pro-Western mentality.

Just look at the story of the CEO of Nvidia.

But now the United States is going to be the opposite. Jensen Huang resolved to move to the United States to escape the social unrest of Taiwan, now we see the best and brightest young Americans with options preferring to move elsewhere to escape the ever-growing regression of this country.

Re: A message from President Kornbluth about funding and the talent pipeline

#48

Good. The US is reaping what it sows, and other research institutions will become the new leaders. Stinks for Americans, but the world will be better off overall.

When there's less competition and opportunities for talent the whole community, globally, is impacted.

There's really nothing good about it.

Re: A message from President Kornbluth about funding and the talent pipeline

#49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> other research institutions will become the new leaders Or the knowledge just goes away, the talent wasted.

You sow, then you reap. That's how it goes.

History is filled with episodes where collapsing empires took their knowledge centers with them, where for centuries thereafter the work was in recovering that lost knowledge versus advancing the frontier. It may seem self serving coming from an American. But I wouldn’t cheer on the collapse of an academic institution anywhere.

Re: A message from President Kornbluth about funding and the talent pipeline

#50
post #5

MIT Current Graduate Student are 41% international. https://facts.mit.edu/enrollment-statistics/

Yup, it’s called a brain drain and it’s why until recently America held a vice grip on groundbreaking research and its commercialization.

Isn’t the brain drain people leaving their home countries to make money in the US?
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