Category Archives: troubles of science
Obstacles in cancer research – funding, evaluation, & complex disease
Yesterday morning, director of the National Cancer Institute, Harold Varmus, addressed the National Press Club on the achievements and challenges of cancer research. Varmus covered quite a few topics, but here are a few highlights that stood out for me: If … Continue reading
More money, more jobs, and other fairy tale dreams
Postdoc salaries and benefits are something of a perennial topic in the scientific community. It’s no secret that postdocs would like to make more money and get better benefits, whether in the form of better health insurance or actually starting … Continue reading
The oversupply fallacy
For the love of all that is good and reasonable, please, everyone, stop using the percentage of scientists becoming research faculty as a measure of PhD oversupply. If there are too many PhDs, then there will be more scientists than … Continue reading
Sezen & Sensibility: Lab dynamics & the promotion of (ir)responsible conduct of research
The chemistry tubes have been abuzz lately with the ongoing saga of the Bengu Sezen misconduct investigation. For excellent coverage, go check out ChemBark’s posts. It is a disturbing tale of years of data fabrication, fraud, sabotage, evasion, and perjury … Continue reading
Living in the Void: How much is a postdoc worth?
A couple of months ago, I wrote what I intended to be the first post in a series about issues concerning postdoc pay, benefits, protections… We tend to fall into this amorphous, ambiguous state. We’re not students anymore, but we’re … Continue reading
