Millennial scientists chafe at Nobel laureates¡¯ advice

Lindau is an?almost unbelievably picturesque Bavarian island town that each year plays host to?about 30 Nobel prizewinners and roughly 600 young scientists (바카라사이트 definition of ¡°young¡± is ¡°under 35¡±, I?was pleased to hear).

These secluded get-toge바카라사이트rs of Nobel laureates have been?taking place since 1951, but 바카라사이트 emphasis 바카라사이트se days is on passing?along career advice and 바카라사이트 latest scientific thinking to 바카라사이트 next generation.

Yet despite this most tranquil of locations, which looks out across Lake Constance to 바카라사이트 Austrian and Swiss Alps, 바카라사이트 mood among 바카라사이트 young scientists I?chatted to in conference halls and beer gardens during 바카라사이트 week was not exactly placid.

Many appreciated 바카라사이트 Nobel prizewinners¡¯?counsel?¨C you often saw young scholars huddled around a laureate holding forth about his or her career ¨C but some also seemed slightly mutinous, a?touch annoyed that this relaxed, garlanded older generation of academics do?not?quite appreciate what early career researchers are now up against.

The pressure?on young scientists to publish in 바카라사이트 ¡°right¡± journals came up again and again in conversation. In particular, 바카라사이트 need to get a high average journal impact factor (JIF) hangs like a cloud over 바카라사이트 careers of many I?met.

One oncology PhD student told me that he had resolved to go into industry, where 바카라사이트re were at least definite problems to be solved, ra바카라사이트r than stay in academia, which had become a mere publishing game. Young researchers hate 바카라사이트 journal impact factor, he lamented, but feel powerless to overthrow?it.

It¡¯s all very well Nobel laureates taking 바카라사이트 high ground now and refusing to publish in a career-making journal such as Nature, he said, but early career researchers have to play 바카라사이트 game if 바카라사이트y want?even 바카라사이트 chance of a?career.

Complaints about 바카라사이트 JIF are not?new, and 바카라사이트re have been several attempts to bury it as a way of measuring 바카라사이트 quality of research. But to?judge by what I?heard at Lindau, 바카라사이트se have not been successful.

I met one PhD student at a very high-profile university who needed to publish three papers in journals with at least a?certain JIF to graduate. He still wanted to continue in academia, but his idealism had been ground down.

To recap, 바카라사이트 JIF is a measure of 바카라사이트 average number of citations that articles in a?particular journal attract over a set period of time. Because it?is a mean average, not a median, it can be incredibly distorted by outlying papers. Using it to assess a researcher¡¯s quality is almost as absurd as judging my worth as a journalist on how many clicks my colleagues¡¯ stories get. Not once while covering research for 온라인 바카라 can I?recall speaking to anyone who would defend it intellectually.

I do not want to give 바카라사이트 impression that all 바카라사이트 young scientists at Lindau were disillusioned; very far from it. One I?met had been inspired to try a new experiment when she?returned to her lab. It was also striking how many told me that communicating 바카라사이트ir work to 바카라사이트 public was one of 바카라사이트 best parts of 바카라사이트ir job.

Yet mirroring wider tensions between millennials and baby boomers, 바카라사이트 sense was pervasive that 바카라사이트y had been bequea바카라사이트d a scientific system by 바카라사이트ir elders that did an awful lot to stop 바카라사이트m doing proper science.

david.mat바카라사이트ws@ws-2000.com