Publications & Grants Don't Matter - Just Pedigree

"Behold, the Magnificent Ivory Tower! Kneel or be Dammed!"

Kristi and I recently had the pleasure to have lunch with a highly respected guest speaker visiting the the NIH, along with a few other postdocs. The speaker, we'll call him Dr. Big, is an established full-professor and department chair at Ivy League University (ILU). So naturally, I could not pass up the opportunity to push the conversation away from his science (which, while very cool, I honestly knew nothing about) and instead try to get the group to talk about science careers.

I'm still muddling things around in my head - but I wanted to blog them before I forget the salient quotes (or paraphrased quotes... its not like I had voice recorder out):

• With regards to applicants to assistant professor positions at ILU.
• "For six positions we recieved about 150 or applications for EACH position. We probably triaged 100 applications within a few minutes of looking at them."
• "Good candidates come from productive labs - with good mentors at good institutions."
• "Many of the applicants we accepted came from labs where I knew their mentors. Not that I planned it that way - but good applicants come from good labs; and I know the heads of those labs. I know I can trust their letters of recommendations."
• "I always reserve the right to veto any applicant who the hiring committee recommends. This keeps things in order. Sometimes you have to abuse democracy a little in science so that good people can get hired."
  
• "I don't care about K22, K99, or whatever those grants are called - K something? I look at pedigree first. Then I look at publications and how productive the applicants are." (my ears were burning at this one)
  
• "At the end of three years at your postdoc, you should be ready to apply for faculty positions. Longer than that and there's often something wrong."
• "Only about 1 in 5 applicants were American. I think that American's have lost their interest in science - so few American postdocs are applying for faculty positions these days."
  
• With regards to academia vs. industry as a scientist
• "I've been the head of several biotech companies. I've tracked the careers of many of the researchers who worked for me. Many of them are dissatisfied with their careers. I think it is much like having to change your spouse every year or two and not having a choice of who your next spouse is going to be."
• "The careers of industry scientists are much more turbulent that those in academic environments. All it takes is the stock market to drop one day and POOF you've lost your job. At least with tenure, that will never happen to you."
• "In the long run, you can make more money in academia than in industry. Take my own personal example - I've started three companies from discoveries I've made in the lab. I'm a very rich man. I don't even need to work - but I do becuase I love science. I don't think any of that would have been possible if I had gone into industry professionally."
• "To be a good scientist, you need to do science for the sake of science - not for money."
• "The salaries of assistant professors at ILU are just as good as those in industry. As an assistant professor at ILU you can afford a nice apartment in town and have a car, and for those who have spouses who work - they live very comfortably."

Am I missing something? OK, while the view from the top must be nice - I couldn't help from leaving the luncheon thinking that this guy, although a Master at his craft (science), was completely out of touch with the realities of the current job market for young scientists. The hour long lunch just sort of screamed "Behold, the Magnificent Ivory Tower! Kneel or be Dammed!", if you know what I mean.

If you don't know what I mean, then please take a few minutes and check out the recent US National Science Board's Science and Engineering Indicators 2008 study that indicates there are close to 90,000 postdocs in the United States (postdocs should focus on chapter 3: science and engineering labor force)

Here are some further interesting posts from other science blogs along these lines:

• Used Postdocs
• Academic Research Careers, part 1
• Comments on "Postdoc glut means academic pathway needs an overhaul"
• Are Stable Research Career Tracks the Solution to "Structural Disequilibria" in the NIH Racket?
• "Structural Disequilibria in Biomedical Research", Science August 2008

/sigh