Saw that. Horrible news for the neuroscience community.
Here is something else to consider when thinking about a traditional career in academics.
4yrs undergrad
4-9 yr PhD
3-8 yr postdoc
4-9 yr tenure track (assistant professor)
don't get tenure at a mid level research institution? Means you are likely not competitive for an another tenure track position elsewhere. You are now so specialized it is difficult to imagine what else you can do. There are of course other things you can do but it is not hard to imagine how one might feel a bit desperate.
Next we will discuss what happens if you have tenure and you lose funding....
Here is something else to consider when thinking about a traditional career in academics.
4yrs undergrad
4-9 yr PhD
3-8 yr postdoc
4-9 yr tenure track (assistant professor)
don't get tenure at a mid level research institution? Means you are likely not competitive for an another tenure track position elsewhere. You are now so specialized it is difficult to imagine what else you can do. There are of course other things you can do but it is not hard to imagine how one might feel a bit desperate.
Next we will discuss what happens if you have tenure and you lose funding....
It's not always that bad. My wife went from first term Freshman to PhD in seven years. She was teaching in college at age 20, in Med school at 27. She loved teaching and wishes she could do it again, but the pay sucks. She makes at least twice as much now as she ever could teaching. Even if you have tenure, if the state decides your school has to go because of a budget crunch, it doesn't matter.
I tried to account for 95% variability in PhD completion times by providing a range. I did not include 3 yrs mostly because it is relatively rare in the US for those who intend to follow a research track, not a teaching or clinical track (while teaching is a component of most research positions it is barely considered during hiring/tenure evaluation at a research institution). 3 year PhDs are more common outside the US where the programs do not have a full year of classwork and lab rotations before the research begins. I should also mention that I am writing about science PhD's.
Finally, even if you do end up doing a 3 year PhD and decide that you want to stay in research it usually means a longer than average post doc. It is very difficult to establish a funding and publication record in a 3 year PhD followed by a 3 year post doc.
Finally, even if you do end up doing a 3 year PhD and decide that you want to stay in research it usually means a longer than average post doc. It is very difficult to establish a funding and publication record in a 3 year PhD followed by a 3 year post doc.
All of her degrees are in scientific fields. When she was teaching in med school she was doing research also and had a grant. She was also published several times, I don't remember how many, that was a long time ago. I admit this is not the norm, but if she could do it, someone as brilliant as Borat surely could also.
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