I think the key point of the article is "Given the increasing rigidity and length of the Western academic pipeline which now extends so far beyond the PhD that

I think the key point of the article is "Given the increasing rigidity and length of the Western academic pipeline which now extends so far beyond the PhD that the average age for first-time principal investigators on grants from the US National Institutes of Health is 42 the BGI model may be worth serious consideration." This isn't even just getting a PhD. It's the whole post-doc rigmarole after that too. The question remains, I think, a valid one. Does our current postgraduate system work well, or could it be better? Sounds like BGI is trying a great experiment and I'll be interested to see the results.