Why I Believe Academia is Dead: A Personal Story
When I was a postdoc at @wur, I supervised a PhD student who participated in a sandwich PhD program in Brazil and the Netherlands. She was married to a man who was also pursuing his PhD at both universities. Their conduct was utterly immoral - they included each other as co-authors in every publication they wrote. Additionally, their Brazilian supervisor coerced other PhD students into adding the woman's name as a co-author, thereby boosting her chances of advancing her career.
What matters in science is the so-called 'h-index'. My h-index means that in the last five years, I have had 24 publications with more than 24 citations each. Many universities and research institutes view this h-index as a key measure of a researcher's impact. And this is where the problem begins.
As a conscientious scientist, I was disturbed by the ethics of my PhD student and brought this up internally at the beginning of 2021. I was told that while it was morally incorrect, it was not a clear violation and that I should not talk about it. Soon after, my contract was terminated because I had publicly criticized the peer review process of Christian Drosten's PCR protocol, which did not occur, contradicting fundamental scientific principles.
Instead of supporting those who advocate for transparent and honest science, the system ultimately rewards those who are corrupt, deceitful, lie, and even shy away from the truth if it benefits their career.
Ultimately, I have concluded that science is nothing more than intellectual prostitution. One serves those who pay, ensuring that research findings align with what the funders most want to hear. Critical thinking and honesty, once the cornerstones of science, now belong to the past.
Therefore, I said: Goodbye academia, hello common sense.
@goddek
When I was a postdoc at @wur, I supervised a PhD student who participated in a sandwich PhD program in Brazil and the Netherlands. She was married to a man who was also pursuing his PhD at both universities. Their conduct was utterly immoral - they included each other as co-authors in every publication they wrote. Additionally, their Brazilian supervisor coerced other PhD students into adding the woman's name as a co-author, thereby boosting her chances of advancing her career.
What matters in science is the so-called 'h-index'. My h-index means that in the last five years, I have had 24 publications with more than 24 citations each. Many universities and research institutes view this h-index as a key measure of a researcher's impact. And this is where the problem begins.
As a conscientious scientist, I was disturbed by the ethics of my PhD student and brought this up internally at the beginning of 2021. I was told that while it was morally incorrect, it was not a clear violation and that I should not talk about it. Soon after, my contract was terminated because I had publicly criticized the peer review process of Christian Drosten's PCR protocol, which did not occur, contradicting fundamental scientific principles.
Instead of supporting those who advocate for transparent and honest science, the system ultimately rewards those who are corrupt, deceitful, lie, and even shy away from the truth if it benefits their career.
Ultimately, I have concluded that science is nothing more than intellectual prostitution. One serves those who pay, ensuring that research findings align with what the funders most want to hear. Critical thinking and honesty, once the cornerstones of science, now belong to the past.
Therefore, I said: Goodbye academia, hello common sense.
@goddek