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A message from President Kornbluth about funding and the talent pipeline

president.mit.edu

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

#671

Post by tevon »

sysreq_ wrote: post #634
cmiles8 wrote: post #155

Academia is about to go through a generational reset. The system is broken and the market only tolerates broken systems for so long. There are a ton of great things that come out of universities but it’s also clear that a model of charging folks well into the six-figures for a useless degree that doesn’t prepare them for the workforce is dead and a reckoning is underway. Many schools will fail and shut down. Of those…

My favorite idea is to tie student loans and grants not to the individual per say, but rather their choice of institution and study. For example, a student going to MIT for a hard, well-paying science career should be able to access more capital at a better rate than someone attending a party school to major in a lower-paying humanities field. Some have taken the current state of things to imply a failure of capitali…

This has been tried multiple times actually via ISAs and other instruments. Immediately inverts to adverse selection - eg the students who are going for a more lucrative option don't want to participate.

That said, the letter here wasn't about undergrad or expensive college - its about the federal government stripping funding for research for political reasons. Sad. We should be investing in US research capabilities. And like it or not, our research universities are pretty freaking good at... research.

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

#672

Post by _carbyau_ »

jrflo wrote: post #147

Besides the people in this thread bemoaning the state of research funding, international students, etc. (all of which are valid), a lot of people are becoming disillusioned with academia. Probably 80% of the recent PhD grads I know are looking to leave academia, despite the fact that they went into it to pursue a career in academia. The median science PhD takes 6 years now, and is grueling work for terrible pay, all…

I love the work they do. I think it is vital for progressing humanity. They are not quite as important as sanitation workers and yet their career is about as enticing...

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

#674

Post by rjbwork »

slg wrote: post #96
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #16

Earlier 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.

Historians looking back at this era are going to struggle to understand why we made the decisions we did.

I don't think they're going to struggle at all. It's quite clear.

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

#675

Post by tigerlily »

999900000999 wrote: post #370
codybontecou wrote: post #342

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What are some of the Chinese colleges worth paying attention to? Is most of the AI research coming from these colleges or are they primarily from private labs?

Zhejiang University appears to be doing a lot of work in AI. I'm far from an expert here though. However, Liberty University offers Creationism. Do you really need all that book learning when Jesus provides all the answers?

At least the Liberty grad will be prepared for when AIesus comes down from the Clown.

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

#677

Post by huimang »

jrk wrote: post #605
nomadygnt wrote: post #366

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Taking a longer time to graduate to become the “world expert” in their field is fine if grad students weren’t paid next to nothing for the 60+ hours a week that they are expected to work. As it is now it’s better to finish as quickly as possible so they can have a real life.

To make "next to nothing" concrete: MIT EECS PhD students are currently paid about $4700/mo. This is substantially less than they'd make in industry, but it's around the US median personal income across all working-age adults, and well above the average 24 year-old. They frequently make a substantial extra at summer internships, putting them well above US median in the years when they do. Also: it is school, not just…

That's MIT. At a state university my friends were making in the ballpark of ~30k.

And yes, that is "next to nothing" compared to the salaries they make now after quitting and just finding work. And their outlooks are in significantly better shape, whereas one friend was highly depressed before.

People can also develop "deep expertise and specialized skills" through their work, and network via conferences, generally paid by their employer. Well, if they can find a job as a junior nowadays.

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

#678

Post by B1FF_PSUVM »

DaSHacka wrote: post #627
jobs_throwaway wrote: post #280

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Laughably wrongheaded

Care to explain why?

Training/practice/collaboration matters. Eating won't make you a chef, watching movies won't make you a director, etc.

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

#679

Post by ugh123 »

999900000999 wrote: post #223

It's ok. The top colleges are arguably now in China. China is providing free education in many poor African countries. Chinese is one of many subjects offered. Of course, a smart African college student will have no issue learning English, Chinese, as well her home countries language. The future belongs to China. We're elevating fine institutions such as Liberty University and celebrating comedians and edge lords. Ch…

>We're elevating fine institutions such as Liberty University and celebrating comedians and edge lords. China celebrates engineers.

Most real comment today

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

#680

Post by dangus »

michaelcampbell wrote: post #404
dangus wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This isn’t just limited to ivy leagues, the same thing happens at state schools. Many of my professors were from other countries. I literally wouldn’t have an education without immigrants.

> Many of my professors were from other countries. I literally wouldn’t have an education without immigrants. Curious take; do you think if there were a no-immigrant law on the books those professorial positions would have gone completely unfilled? You _GOT_ an education with the help of immigrants, but that does not imply you wouldn't have had they not been there.

If we are talking about a no-immigrant law, the whole United States would be deeply impacted. The US would have a negative net population growth without immigration. That would mean institutions of all types are going to contract in size and start closing down and consolidating. Your local schools, libraries, police stations, road maintenance departments, etc.

Universities can't just replace missing students with American citizens. University enrollment peaked in 2010.

Universities are deeply impacted just like other immigrant and migrant worker-concentrated industries like farming, construction, and hospitality.

I am obviously not saying that I would not have gotten any kind of education. But what could happen is that there could be less supply, higher pricing, decreased research output, and/or lower academic standards to make up for headcount shortfalls.

Around 10% of Ohio State University students are international, but this number is higher for postgraduate at approximately 16%.

Remember that research is a huge function of universities. Having no international students doing research would be devastating to the USA. International students attend US schools and the schools then keep intellectual property rights of those inventions.

Yes, you heard me right, international students literally come to the United States, pay top tuition rates for their education with no state subsidy, and then their research IP is owned by those US institutions, with the researchers only receiving a tiny fraction of royalties from profitable innovations.

This is an amazing deal for the United States.

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