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How Bad Luck and Bad Networking Cost Douglas Prasher a Nobel Prize (2011)

(discovermagazine.com)
105 points wallflower | 2 comments | 21 Nov 14 07:15 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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ilamont ◴[21 Nov 14 13:07 UTC] No.8641049[source]▶
Many of the challenges Prasher faced were hardly unique to him. Scientific opportunities often appear only at specific times and places, potentially a serious impediment for a parent who doesn’t want to relocate the family. Do your work in the wrong place, or publish it in the wrong journal, and it may vanish without a trace. And once someone drops out of science, it is hard to get back in.

Bad timing/luck was compounded by the fact that he was a bit of a loner and not driven to follow through on that area of research, even when given the opportunity to do so.

One other issue that this story brings up: There are a lot of out-of-work postdocs and PhDs, owing to the major reduction in funding/grant opportunities and the consolidation taking place in certain industries, such as pharma. A very talented science blogger who covers this (as well as biochemistry research) is Derek Lowe -- I recommend bookmarking his blog at http://www.pipeline.corante.com/

replies(1): >>8642491 #
1. alexqgb ◴[21 Nov 14 18:19 UTC] No.8642491[source]▶
Here's a really really grim (but very well written) account of the postdoc landscape. The short version is that the present tightening is just a a prelude to what many in the field see as a much bigger storm. The killer line is this one:

“I was always told the myth as a child that we need scientists and I get here and find out that we don’t need scientists.”

http://brooklynquarterly.org/pink-ribbons-red/

replies(1): >>8642737 #
2. lutorm ◴[21 Nov 14 19:07 UTC] No.8642737[source]▶
This is one of the things that science educators struggle with these days -- we need people who are knowledgeable about science, but is it really right to encourage students to go into science when we know what the landscape looks like?

At a minimum, kids who "want to grow up to be a professor" should be told in no uncertain terms what the prospects look like, so they at least go in with open eyes.