3 ms·
Heh .. I don't want this to turn into an AMA. But yes .. I too have questions. How long have you been away from academia and how do you feel about it? I had suc
by throwawaybbq1 9y ago
Heh .. I don't want this to turn into an AMA. But yes .. I too have questions. How long have you been away from academia and how do you feel about it? I had success in grad school (papers in top CS conferences). I went the industrial research route which paid well initially. Now, I'm nearly 40 and have no tenure and a gap of a few years in my publication history. I am very tempted to get out of the game but am afraid about it being a 1 way street.
- s0rce 9y agoHah, I don't really enjoying revisiting my decision making but I'll try to answer. I've been away for just over a year and I miss the people and the freedom but I don't miss the politics and the rat race. Grad school was successful. However, my postdoc was a different story, I got a relatively prestigious fellowship at a DOE lab but my supervisor quit before I started and I tried to do my own stuff but really didn't get much support and it wasn't much fun or productive. I quit after 2 years, about 1 year ago and joined a small biotech company in the bay area. I'm pretty sure I already have too large a gap in my publications to go back, I thought about going back to academia for a bit but that would have entailed doing a 2nd postdoc but I really wasn't interested in moving some random place for 3+ years, then dealing with the whole faculty application process again and 5+ more years before eventually getting tenure. If you don't hate writing grants maybe academia can be for you. Good luck.
- subroutine 9y agoDo you have any interest in neuroscience? My lab (malinowlab.com) has two postdoc openings right now at UCSD, and we take smart people from any STEM field.