Publications
For many years people told me that, without a PhD, nobody would take me seriously. For the last few years people have been telling me that, without published papers, nobody would take me seriously. At 42, I think I get the idea. I cannot even apply for physics jobs without reference letters from professional physicists, even though many people I know apply for (and get) physics jobs without ever having studied physics.
But now it seems that Carl Brannen is publishing papers on quantum gravity left, right and centre! In respectable journals! Will people keep telling me not to waste my time with such amateurs? Will they keep saying I should focus on doing respectable science? What does that mean, anyway?
But now it seems that Carl Brannen is publishing papers on quantum gravity left, right and centre! In respectable journals! Will people keep telling me not to waste my time with such amateurs? Will they keep saying I should focus on doing respectable science? What does that mean, anyway?
posted by Kea | 9:12 PM
4 Comments:
Thanks for the link to Carl's new paper, which has some interesting material on gravitons.
"...many people I know apply for (and get) physics jobs without ever having studied physics."
Seriously? Can you give me an example?
The number of applicants for a given job in physics or maths is usually very large, and many of the applicants are highly qualified with PhDs and lots of publications. For example, the last job I applied for (unsuccessfully) had 70 applicants. A job at a good US institution can attract hundreds of applications.
Anon, in quantum computation, which is a physical subject, there are many people with backgrounds in computer science, mathematics or philosophy. They pick up a little quantum mechanics along the way somewhere, but most of them (although, unfortunately, by no means all) realise that this does not qualify them to have an opinion about, say, particle physics.
Experience says that it is a long road for a woman to get a good job. Hang in there, if carl can publish then others can too.
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