I really think there's lost opportunity in the typical American master's program. Typically for a master of science you need to perform original research for yo

I really think there's lost opportunity in the typical American master's program. Typically for a master of science you need to perform original research for your thesis, ostensibly to prepare you for the process of publication. But I think a master's could be a far more useful stepping stone between undergraduate academics and PHD or industry research if it were taken as an chance to have graduates reproduce important research. The grade will be based on the merits of the reproduction, which will be an excellent final introduction to research work, while also hugely benefiting the community by verifying previous research. Right now there simply isn't any incentive to reproduce anything but the biggest results.