I read this as saying that MIT is becoming less competitive? Means if you just finished your BS, applying to a PhD program at MIT may be a 20% better bet than before, especially with the job market in its current condition…
A message from President Kornbluth about funding and the talent pipeline
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Re: A message from President Kornbluth about funding and the talent pipeline
#52MIT Current Graduate Student are 41% international. https://facts.mit.edu/enrollment-statistics/
It’s due to fewer positions mentioned in the link though right?
MIT would always have more applicants than positions. The only thing that would drop total numbers of students should be fewer positions.
Which of course is just as much of an issue since it highlights a blatant attack on education in general.
Re: A message from President Kornbluth about funding and the talent pipeline
#53Earlier quoted context omitted.
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?
> people leaving their home countries to make money in the US?
To study and work, yes. We learned the trick when the Nazis chased off their scientists, doubled down on it by capturing Nazi scientists, and then developed it into a multi-decade advantage throughout the Cold War and the 1990s. Looking back, we started fucking it up with the Iraq War and financial crisis (see: A123 bankruptcy giving China its EV industry) and are now closing the chapter triumphantly.
Re: A message from President Kornbluth about funding and the talent pipeline
#54Did people even read the article? Endowment taxes make sense - 1.4% taxes on investment vehicles in the billions just do not make sense. Then the president masquerades enrollment by ignoring the ~4% bump for Sloan (and EECS). Grants / funding though is a different story and worth mentioning/discussing...
Re: A message from President Kornbluth about funding and the talent pipeline
#55Good. 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.
No this is not good for the World in case you have forgotten America is part of the world and though I hate what is happening just as much as anyone I will work to make this nation better. We are in a tough time and I genuinely do not know if things will get better but we will try.
> America is part of the world
A belligerent part of the world. I hope the US gets better in that regard.
Re: A message from President Kornbluth about funding and the talent pipeline
#56Good. 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.
Yeah, in Europe we simply don't have the money.
And with an aging population and stagnant/declining productivity that seems unlikely to improve in the future.
If anyone is going to overtake the US, it will be China.
Re: A message from President Kornbluth about funding and the talent pipeline
#57Good. 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.
If Europe wants to pick up the slack, it needs to start pumping an order of magnitude more money into its universities than it currently does. US universities dominate because they are rich. As a holder of a PhD from a European university, I don’t see this ever happening. But I would love to be proved wrong.
It needs to "start pumping" more money everywhere. Defense, for one.
Re: A message from President Kornbluth about funding and the talent pipeline
#58Earlier quoted context omitted.
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
I think they meant that in the past every other nation had a brain drain towards American research universities.
Re: A message from President Kornbluth about funding and the talent pipeline
#59What a Rorschach blot. Comments range from AI to immigration to doomsday results for USA. The admins statement in TFA speaks more to financial policy and grant declines. Unfunded students are much less likely to accept an admission. That's just a fact of life.
They have $27 billion in their endowment. They are choosing not to fund those positions when they easily could on their own.
Re: A message from President Kornbluth about funding and the talent pipeline
#60Earlier quoted context omitted.
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
I think you’ve got it backwards. MIT used to be brain-draining China, India, Iran, Europe, etc into schools like MIT. The lower numbers mean this is happening less. There are likely multiple factors: becoming less attractive, their domestic options becoming more attractive, more aggressive immigration posture, etc