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Furthermore, most cutting-edge research is expensive; you need the apprenticeship before anyone will take you seriously enough to give you the money needed to d
by apathy 19y ago
Furthermore, most cutting-edge research is expensive; you need the apprenticeship before anyone will take you seriously enough to give you the money needed to do interesting work.
This is a key observation. One of my advisors put it thus:
A PhD is just a union card. What you do with it is up to you.
You can use it to establish credibility in certain lines of work; you can use it to command a higher salary in industry; you can simply apply the things you've learned in some totally unrelated field. A surprising number of people choose the latter.
- timr 19y agoYeah, the union-card line is a sad bit of truth -- I can't imagine a union card that is harder to receive, which carries fewer benefits.
- rms 19y agoI would be applying for government grants right now if I had said union-card.
- timr 19y agoDon't sweat it...with funding rates in the single digits, you're not missing much. ;-)
- rms 19y agoI heard a presentation once from a consultant who people hired to help get government grants. Does the funding rate go up a whole lot if you hire someone to rewrite your proposal?
- apathy 19y agoDoes the funding rate go up a whole lot if you hire someone to rewrite your proposal? Depends on their name, the journals and review boards they sit on, and their current interests vice yours. The clever thing to do if you have good juice is simply to get their name on it. I work with some people who rarely get turned down, and others (in the past) who often have. It's more fun to work with the former, if you have the choice, but sometimes the topics end up being a little less interesting. Grant writing is such an insane time sink...