It's been a while since I made a blog entry with a "Science" title. It is not because I neglect this aspect of my life. On the contrary, because I do research every day it feels somewhat redundant to write about it at the end of the day as a blog entry.
For me, science is a professional activity, and I feel privileged to be in that position. But what kind of job is it?
Like any job, this job is not for everyone. First of all, entry into the research track is not easy. In my research field of basic medical science, to be a principal investigator (PI)-level researcher, a PhD or an MD is needed as qualification.
Let's say a small population of kids want to be a scientist. They dream about the future, choose a scientist track, study science, go to a university, get through a graduate school and finally get a PhD (alternatively an MD).
In your graduate school the faculty tries to teach you scientist survival skills, such as specialized knowledge for your specialty, experimental and lab skills, writing skills, critical reading skills, scientific thinking and reasoning skills, presentation skills, publication skills, networking etc. If you lack any of these skills, you are incomplete as a PhD, and not competitive in the job market. And learning all these things is not easy and takes time. Sometimes faculty has to make the difficult decision to flunk a student. But it is out of favor rather than of hate or dislike. They have seen many students, and have certain views about who are future successful researchers and who are not likely to be.
Even hearing all the "Novel laureate with a flunking score" stories, the faculty still does not want to mass-produce substandard PhDs. It is the faculty's responsibility to uphold a certain standard. For example imagine an MD. I'd like my doctor to be good rather than be at the bottom of the class. Besides, it is always a tough call for faculty to decide who has made the cut and who has not.
But a PhD is just a qualification, like a driving licence. Getting a PhD is just the beginning. You are still a novice right out of graduate school. In many cases you extend your training as a post-doc with another mentor before you advance your career further. At this time you are mainly a "hired gun" helping the mentor who pays for your position. You better be a good helper for the boss and better get the job done in a timely manner. Consider aligning your interests and your mentor's interests for mutual benefit. If you want to be an independent researcher, you need to develop your own grantsmanship to finance yourself and your research.
There is an important thing to keep in mind. Science and research is forever. Some questions you ask may be ahead of the times and you may not get an answer in a short period of time. Or, it takes your pupil decades later to get the answer. In that manner research lineage exists. But science as a job is different. It's a series of achievable projects. The scope of a research project is more defined. You need to complete it in a timely manner as in a job.
There is no sugarcoating the situation. The research funding is getting tight and survival is getting tougher. Since grant success rate is around 8-15% nowadays, you better be good at the art and be competitive to survive. Statistical thinking would lead you to a hallowing conclusion that you may not last long as an independent PI if you are not among the top 20%. You need to prepare yourself to be competitive. It is somewhat like being a professional athlete. If you don't perform well, you need to start getting concerned about your performance and the future.
Ha! It is a specialized and tough job. Determination alone doesn't promise anything. Most of us PhDs should have thought about this during long years of education. Depending on what we think and on the situation, we decide what to do next.
This is my personal view for the science business. You can have a different view. How you see it, optimistically or pessimistically, also depends on you. We all choose our path.
I do love this job and would like to make most out of it.
