3 ms·

The social signaling is probably the more important part than the monetary reward.

• yummyfajitas 16y ago
  The social signaling won't buy academics a lot, since research is what gets you status. On the other hand, $30k is nothing to scoff at for a US academic - academics are paid vastly less than programmers (depending on the markets, I could get 2x-3x what I got last year). It's my understanding that Israeli academics are paid considerably less than US academics. So $30k could be a very strong incentive. However, the only people who will really change their behavior are the 16'th and 17'th nicest profs at Technion, since they are the only ones who really have a shot at moving into the "nicest 15" category.
  • danohuiginn 16y ago
    Depends what you mean by status. If you limit it to professional advancement, then sure -- although getting involved in department/university administration counts somewhat as a secondary route. But status can also come from being valued and respected by the people around you -- e.g. being admired as a mentor by the PhD students you're supervising. Surely this prize is a step towards recognizing that?
    • yummyfajitas 16y ago
      There are already prizes for teaching, though I've never heard of one larger than $2k. In general, no one cares about such prizes. People only bother to pay attention in edge cases - if faculty X wants to hire applicant A, and Y wants to hire B (where A,B are equally qualified), X might get desperate and point out that A is a good teacher and has a prize.