It’s why I left academia. You aren’t rewarded for being a good scientist. You’re rewarded for being good at understanding funding trends and playing the nepotism game. Grant writing is less important than talking to program officers and having big names write letters for you, and have your readers know those names.
However I’ll say that after spending 5 years in industry, these people have no fucking idea what they’re doing and it’s hilarious. Higher quality of science in academia. But I’m getting paid now.
It’s why I left academia. You aren’t rewarded for being a good scientist. You’re rewarded for being good at understanding funding trends and playing the nepotism game. Grant writing is less important than talking to program officers and having big names write letters for you, and have your readers know those names.
However I’ll say that after spending 5 years in industry, these people have no fucking idea what they’re doing and it’s hilarious. Higher quality of science in academia. But I’m getting paid now.