Physicist Peter Higgs: No University Would Employ Me Today 308
An anonymous reader writes "Peter Higgs, the physicist who laid the groundwork for the discovery of the Higgs boson and winner of the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics, says he doubts any university would give him a job today. Higgs says universities wouldn't consider him productive enough — though the papers he published were important and of high quality, he didn't have the volume necessary for serious consideration in today's competitive employment environment. 'He doubts a similar breakthrough could be achieved in today's academic culture, because of the expectations on academics to collaborate and keep churning out papers. He said: "It's difficult to imagine how I would ever have enough peace and quiet in the present sort of climate to do what I did in 1964." Speaking to the Guardian en route to Stockholm to receive the 2013 Nobel prize for science, Higgs, 84, said he would almost certainly have been sacked had he not been nominated for the Nobel in 1980.' His comments highlight the absurdity of the current system for finding researchers in academia. How many researchers of Higgs' caliber have been turned down for similar reasons?"
Re:Me, for one! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Money, Money, Money..... (Score:5, Funny)
That's the way it is. Keep the research papers churning, regardless of how utter crap they are, and more importantly keep the research grants flowing.
I remember the BBC did a programme a few years ago asking why people are so sceptical about science these days. This is exactly why.
I think some research needs to be done and a paper written about that phenomena.
Re:Me, for one! (Score:2, Funny)
Yeah, but we all know Indiana didn't have any effect on the outcome finding the arch of the covenant. The Nazis would all have died regardless.
If Indiana had stayed out of it, the Nazis might have taken the Ark back to Berlin and opened it in front of the Hitler. WWII might never have happened. Tenure Denied!
Re:But what system does he suggest instead? (Score:5, Funny)
Only a complete moron would judge quality based on quantity.
. . . or an MBA.
Re:kind of ruins the point....... (Score:2, Funny)
Well if it takes a Nobel then it sounds like there's an easy fix for people like him: Just run for office as a democrat.