4 ms·

We may not have a Bell Labs, but we have the entire complex of national laboratories which have pivoted from solely developing nuclear weapons towards more basi

by saboot 6y ago

We may not have a Bell Labs, but we have the entire complex of national laboratories which have pivoted from solely developing nuclear weapons towards more basic science. I work in them .. it's really strange how much of the public is unaware of all the work we do, thousands of PhDs are employed through them currently doing basic science funded by tax payers.

raziel2701 6y ago
I'm employed in one of them and it is a very bureaucratic, political environment. Our facilities are dilapidated despite the billions in funding, resources are so wastefully spent, there's a lot of siloed equipment, a lot of unused equipment, and it's not unusual to see the lab fund the same project twice but run by different people. I would be so curious for an audit to be done to the lab just to see how misspent the money is. This place I'm in is top-down research. The research ideas that one proposes have to be aligned with certain wishlists and pre-determined directions. It's not a place of innovation, but stagnation. This national lab feels more like a jobs program for phds, but with a sisyphean twist, it lacks vision.
- saboot 6y ago
  I've worked at a few .. there's one that immediately comes to mind from your description, but some are much better than others at giving freedom to their staff to pursue their own ideas. There is funding like LDRD which is meant to support ideas from the bottom up.
  - reasonabl_human 6y ago
    I’ve previously worked at one before and have since drifted away from basic research. At this point I am gravitating toward it again... in your opinion, what FFRDCs are best at providing that freedom / are less political?
    - saboot 6y ago
      My friend just started a job at LBNL and is loving it. LLNL is considered a great place to work as well. I can't speak to every single lab but I hear good things about working at both of them.

by saboot 6y ago

raziel2701 6y ago

I'm employed in one of them and it is a very bureaucratic, political environment. Our facilities are dilapidated despite the billions in funding, resources are so wastefully spent, there's a lot of siloed equipment, a lot of unused equipment, and it's not unusual to see the lab fund the same project twice but run by different people. I would be so curious for an audit to be done to the lab just to see how misspent the money is. This place I'm in is top-down research. The research ideas that one proposes have to be aligned with certain wishlists and pre-determined directions. It's not a place of innovation, but stagnation. This national lab feels more like a jobs program for phds, but with a sisyphean twist, it lacks vision.

saboot 6y ago
I've worked at a few .. there's one that immediately comes to mind from your description, but some are much better than others at giving freedom to their staff to pursue their own ideas. There is funding like LDRD which is meant to support ideas from the bottom up.
- reasonabl_human 6y ago
  I’ve previously worked at one before and have since drifted away from basic research. At this point I am gravitating toward it again... in your opinion, what FFRDCs are best at providing that freedom / are less political?
  - saboot 6y ago
    My friend just started a job at LBNL and is loving it. LLNL is considered a great place to work as well. I can't speak to every single lab but I hear good things about working at both of them.