4 ms·

if we had UBI, everyone would become a scientist Very few people want to be scientists. To see why, just replace "scientist" with "nerd", because for most peop

by p1esk 8y ago

if we had UBI, everyone would become a scientist Very few people want to be scientists. To see why, just replace "scientist" with "nerd", because for most people those are synonyms. Moreover, anyone who wants to do science can become a grad student. That's at least 5 years of "basic income", and access to mentors/tools/resources. All you have to do is to find a lab that does what you're interested in.

ModernMech 8y ago
> anyone who wants to do science can become a grad student A grad student is an apprentice. This article is about a less taken path for a master. As a former PhD grad student, I can say most grad students are not in a position to conduct independent research. Most get attached to some funding obtained by someone more experienced than them, and then spend most of their time getting up to speed until they are able to write their own papers on that topic. But this leaves them a very narrow set of skills. This is why most academics go through a postdoc.
- p1esk 8y ago
  write their own papers on that topic As long as that topic is what they would like to research, I don't see a problem. And if it's not, then they chose a wrong lab/advisor. But this leaves them a very narrow set of skills I developed a pretty wide range of skills as a phd student. From developing device models in Spice, to Tensorflow. In fact, I wish I focused on a subset of those skills.
rwallace 8y ago
I never heard of a grad student program that pays you to do your research project. The ones I've seen, always offer a choice between paying you to work on someone else's research project, or you get to work on your project but you don't get paid; you do get access to facilities, but you have to pay an exorbitant fee for this. Am I missing something?
- p1esk 8y ago
  That's why I said you have to find a lab that does what you're interested in. I have done just that, and for the last 5 years as a phd student I've been paid mostly to do what I would do as a hobby otherwise (read/implement deep learning papers), and try to advance state of the art.
  - n1231231231234 8y ago
    from my own experience, this is the exception, though. even in CS, if you pick some of the more theoretical problems or a not-so-hot area, you might not get funding - (almost) no matter how good you are. and that's CS. move to other subjects like sociology, linguistics, history, and you will find that barely anyone gets funded.
    - p1esk 8y ago
      I haven't heard about anyone in any PhD program in US who's not funded one way or another. Sure, you might need to TA a class, but it's usually not that hard, and leaves plenty of time to do research.
- noobhacker 8y ago
  That's the opposite of my experience and understanding as a fresh PhD. In my field, social science, PhD students 100% own their research agenda. We get paid via a combination of grant (i.e. free money) and RA / TA work (i.e. money you work for). The better the program, the more of the money is free. And you always have the option to apply for external grants to fund yourself. In my (very fortunate) case, I rarely work on others' projects for more than 5 hours a week. My friends in the natural sciences are more tied to the projects of their supervisors. But in the end they are still expected to be a mature researcher with their own agenda. Caveat: I'm only certain that this is true for top-50 programs.

by p1esk 8y ago

ModernMech 8y ago

> anyone who wants to do science can become a grad student A grad student is an apprentice. This article is about a less taken path for a master. As a former PhD grad student, I can say most grad students are not in a position to conduct independent research. Most get attached to some funding obtained by someone more experienced than them, and then spend most of their time getting up to speed until they are able to write their own papers on that topic. But this leaves them a very narrow set of skills. This is why most academics go through a postdoc.

p1esk 8y ago
write their own papers on that topic As long as that topic is what they would like to research, I don't see a problem. And if it's not, then they chose a wrong lab/advisor. But this leaves them a very narrow set of skills I developed a pretty wide range of skills as a phd student. From developing device models in Spice, to Tensorflow. In fact, I wish I focused on a subset of those skills.

rwallace 8y ago

I never heard of a grad student program that pays you to do your research project. The ones I've seen, always offer a choice between paying you to work on someone else's research project, or you get to work on your project but you don't get paid; you do get access to facilities, but you have to pay an exorbitant fee for this. Am I missing something?

p1esk 8y ago
That's why I said you have to find a lab that does what you're interested in. I have done just that, and for the last 5 years as a phd student I've been paid mostly to do what I would do as a hobby otherwise (read/implement deep learning papers), and try to advance state of the art.
- n1231231231234 8y ago
  from my own experience, this is the exception, though. even in CS, if you pick some of the more theoretical problems or a not-so-hot area, you might not get funding - (almost) no matter how good you are. and that's CS. move to other subjects like sociology, linguistics, history, and you will find that barely anyone gets funded.
  - p1esk 8y ago
    I haven't heard about anyone in any PhD program in US who's not funded one way or another. Sure, you might need to TA a class, but it's usually not that hard, and leaves plenty of time to do research.
noobhacker 8y ago
That's the opposite of my experience and understanding as a fresh PhD. In my field, social science, PhD students 100% own their research agenda. We get paid via a combination of grant (i.e. free money) and RA / TA work (i.e. money you work for). The better the program, the more of the money is free. And you always have the option to apply for external grants to fund yourself. In my (very fortunate) case, I rarely work on others' projects for more than 5 hours a week. My friends in the natural sciences are more tied to the projects of their supervisors. But in the end they are still expected to be a mature researcher with their own agenda. Caveat: I'm only certain that this is true for top-50 programs.