Beginning of scientific career (part 1)
Good day to all!
I notice that the topics related to education and science on Habré are quite popular. I also decided to make a small contribution to the development of this area. This time it will be about how the university’s career looks in principle, what features, difficulties and pitfalls it contains.
Of course, I can only talk about my experience. It is briefly as follows: completed postgraduate study in Russia (applied mathematics), completed graduate study in Europe (computer science). The main field of activity is computer science. If nothing breaks, from the next semester I’ll take the position of assistant professor 'a, until I know where (there are offers, but I’m not sure exactly where I'm going).
')
Where to start?
So let's get started. The main theme of today's note, unfortunately, is sad: a scientific career will have to start abroad. Probably the best in Europe or in the States. Why not with us? About this below.
Of course, we have brilliant scientists and successful professors whose career in science can only be envied. Events are being held, research is being conducted. But for a novice specialist, nothing attractive to you, alas, is offered.
The thing is that scientific activity is not limited to science. People go to universities to have “fun” :) Everywhere in the world in the salary industry is higher and work is more stable and definite. Universities create their own, subtle, interesting atmosphere, the ability to travel around the world, communicate with people, engage in a relaxed atmosphere, a favorite activity.
In our country, this “scientific life” is completely absent (at least in the field of computer science). Unfortunately, we boil in our own juice, and there’s nothing good in it and there can’t be. It seems that the rest of the world is somewhere far away, and we have a very indirect relationship to it.
Not to be unfounded, a few examples.
1) Take a look at the venue of the popular String Processing and Information Retrieval (SPIRE) conference:
2003 - Canada, 2004 - Italy, 2005 - Argentina, 2006 - UK, 2007 - Chile, 2008 - Australia.
Do not look for Russia; there is hardly any serious "moving" conference, at least sometimes held in Russia.
2) In the West, exchanges of experience, student visits to another university for a year or two, “visiting lecturers”, are highly welcome. Every university is a building behind a stone wall. A student cannot take a course even at a neighboring faculty, and then “count” him instead of a course in his faculty. In the future, this closure is preserved. People stew in their own juice, and real contacts with the outside world (apart from conferences) are minimal.
3) One interesting collaboration did not take place because the alleged co-author wanted to publish articles ONLY in Russian and ONLY in Russian journals. The reason - the notorious list of HAC "recommended" journals. That is, the bureaucratic office above indicates where to publish the "right" and where the "wrong." The issue of journal journalism is not worth it, in the very list of the Higher Attestation Commission a lot of publications have been included for political reasons (for example, there are “heralds” TOO of many of our second-tier universities).
4) Our bureaucracy is simply terrifying. Take a look, for example, at the list of documents required to defend a Ph.D. thesis. And think that behind each item in the list is a non-trivial process of getting it. By the way, behind the hill almost all the paper work is done by the secretaries, it is their responsibility. With us, you will say more thanks, if you simply do not get nasty.
5) After graduate school bureaucracy will not end. Any grant, any trip to the conference (with the not always working condition of money availability) turns into insane paperwork. Not everyone will survive this. “With them,” any professor has some predetermined amount of annual money for travel and other expenses related to research. Those. money is IMMEDIATELY, you just need to spend it and report.
6) At the same time, of course, our wages are, to put it mildly, noncompetitive. Well, a low salary can probably be experienced if there are any other bonuses, and in our case “bonuses” begin with the janitor at the checkpoint ...
Of course, it can be said that the meaning of science is not in high wages and not in entertainment in the form of traveling abroad and exchanging experience, but in promoting high ideas. But, frankly, I am not ready to sacrifice the pleasures of life for even a lofty goal. Those who are ready - sincerely respect. Although I believe that such a rich country like Russia can afford to pay scientists enough, and not rely on their commitment to ideals (especially when the abundance of money in other cities is obvious). It is also not worth thinking that “with us” everyone is busy just in time, and “with them” is having fun. Abroad, too, has its own criteria for quality assurance, and usually they are higher than ours.
Probably, by this point in time, it seems that all I do is throw the stones into the garden of our state. So, this is not entirely true. There is, say, a completely wonderful country in all respects Finland. But they do not make their cars there. Thus, if you want to make cars, Finland is simply the wrong choice. Similarly, our country may be good and even very good, but for some reason or other, science is practically worth it. Probably, the government does not consider this direction a priority (their right, after all). In Russia, you can do something else.
Well, enough for today. Next time I will talk about much more interesting and enjoyable things - how to “join” the global scientific process and what you can do there :) The meaning of this post is to explain that what’s next will be about “world-wide” scientific activity and immediately, Unfortunately, cut it off from the "our", internal.
I notice that the topics related to education and science on Habré are quite popular. I also decided to make a small contribution to the development of this area. This time it will be about how the university’s career looks in principle, what features, difficulties and pitfalls it contains.
Of course, I can only talk about my experience. It is briefly as follows: completed postgraduate study in Russia (applied mathematics), completed graduate study in Europe (computer science). The main field of activity is computer science. If nothing breaks, from the next semester I’ll take the position of assistant professor 'a, until I know where (there are offers, but I’m not sure exactly where I'm going).
')
Where to start?
So let's get started. The main theme of today's note, unfortunately, is sad: a scientific career will have to start abroad. Probably the best in Europe or in the States. Why not with us? About this below.
Of course, we have brilliant scientists and successful professors whose career in science can only be envied. Events are being held, research is being conducted. But for a novice specialist, nothing attractive to you, alas, is offered.
The thing is that scientific activity is not limited to science. People go to universities to have “fun” :) Everywhere in the world in the salary industry is higher and work is more stable and definite. Universities create their own, subtle, interesting atmosphere, the ability to travel around the world, communicate with people, engage in a relaxed atmosphere, a favorite activity.
In our country, this “scientific life” is completely absent (at least in the field of computer science). Unfortunately, we boil in our own juice, and there’s nothing good in it and there can’t be. It seems that the rest of the world is somewhere far away, and we have a very indirect relationship to it.
Not to be unfounded, a few examples.
1) Take a look at the venue of the popular String Processing and Information Retrieval (SPIRE) conference:
2003 - Canada, 2004 - Italy, 2005 - Argentina, 2006 - UK, 2007 - Chile, 2008 - Australia.
Do not look for Russia; there is hardly any serious "moving" conference, at least sometimes held in Russia.
2) In the West, exchanges of experience, student visits to another university for a year or two, “visiting lecturers”, are highly welcome. Every university is a building behind a stone wall. A student cannot take a course even at a neighboring faculty, and then “count” him instead of a course in his faculty. In the future, this closure is preserved. People stew in their own juice, and real contacts with the outside world (apart from conferences) are minimal.
3) One interesting collaboration did not take place because the alleged co-author wanted to publish articles ONLY in Russian and ONLY in Russian journals. The reason - the notorious list of HAC "recommended" journals. That is, the bureaucratic office above indicates where to publish the "right" and where the "wrong." The issue of journal journalism is not worth it, in the very list of the Higher Attestation Commission a lot of publications have been included for political reasons (for example, there are “heralds” TOO of many of our second-tier universities).
4) Our bureaucracy is simply terrifying. Take a look, for example, at the list of documents required to defend a Ph.D. thesis. And think that behind each item in the list is a non-trivial process of getting it. By the way, behind the hill almost all the paper work is done by the secretaries, it is their responsibility. With us, you will say more thanks, if you simply do not get nasty.
5) After graduate school bureaucracy will not end. Any grant, any trip to the conference (with the not always working condition of money availability) turns into insane paperwork. Not everyone will survive this. “With them,” any professor has some predetermined amount of annual money for travel and other expenses related to research. Those. money is IMMEDIATELY, you just need to spend it and report.
6) At the same time, of course, our wages are, to put it mildly, noncompetitive. Well, a low salary can probably be experienced if there are any other bonuses, and in our case “bonuses” begin with the janitor at the checkpoint ...
Of course, it can be said that the meaning of science is not in high wages and not in entertainment in the form of traveling abroad and exchanging experience, but in promoting high ideas. But, frankly, I am not ready to sacrifice the pleasures of life for even a lofty goal. Those who are ready - sincerely respect. Although I believe that such a rich country like Russia can afford to pay scientists enough, and not rely on their commitment to ideals (especially when the abundance of money in other cities is obvious). It is also not worth thinking that “with us” everyone is busy just in time, and “with them” is having fun. Abroad, too, has its own criteria for quality assurance, and usually they are higher than ours.
Probably, by this point in time, it seems that all I do is throw the stones into the garden of our state. So, this is not entirely true. There is, say, a completely wonderful country in all respects Finland. But they do not make their cars there. Thus, if you want to make cars, Finland is simply the wrong choice. Similarly, our country may be good and even very good, but for some reason or other, science is practically worth it. Probably, the government does not consider this direction a priority (their right, after all). In Russia, you can do something else.
Well, enough for today. Next time I will talk about much more interesting and enjoyable things - how to “join” the global scientific process and what you can do there :) The meaning of this post is to explain that what’s next will be about “world-wide” scientific activity and immediately, Unfortunately, cut it off from the "our", internal.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/50543/
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