> I’d probably say “Yes, Alf, you’ve done pretty well these last few years. Keep it up.” That might work in a company but not in the academic world. Many count

> I’d probably say “Yes, Alf, you’ve done pretty well these last few years. Keep it up.” That might work in a company but not in the academic world. Many countries limit the amount of time a PhD student or Postdoc researcher can stay at a university. After that time the person has to find a permanent contract (professor) if they want to stay. Because there are many many more candidates than available positions, the hiring committees try to justify their decisions by objective (haha) criteria.