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Joined 5 months ago
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Cake day: April 19th, 2024

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  • reallykindasorta@slrpnk.nettoScience Memes@mander.xyzSmart
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    2 days ago

    I tried to google it and it’s not super clear.

    -Perelman gets his phd in russia super young and is hired at NYU/SUNY

    -Publishes some groundbreaking stuff on arxiv (a free site to post white papers in math and physics) in 2002/2003

    -There is some drama with another scientist who is known for stealing people’s work trying to downplay Perelman’s contribution

    -Perelman quits his US jobs and returns to russia to work in math (making wayyyyyyy less money), then quits that job too and becomes a recluse

    -Turns down fields medal and millennium prize (1M dollars for solving)

    -Says some mathematicians are unethical but the rest of them tolerate it so they’re shit too so the whole thing is shit. Also says he doesn’t want to be put in a zoo or treated like a pet about it.

    I’m going to go ahead and assume I don’t understand enough about being a math superstar to understand where he’s coming from, but he certainly sounds like a principled guy and now I respect him.








  • Getting a. PhD isn’t super competitive (speaking from the US), but if you aim to get a professorship at an R1 it’s somewhat competitive across the board. The program coursework vs undergrad depends on the program too— I would say most differ somewhat substantially though. For most humanities degrees you’re doing coursework for 2-3 years and teaching undergrads while you prepare for qualifying exams, then you teach and write your thesis for a few more. The graduate courses are often in seminar (circle discussion) format rather than lecture.


  • reallykindasorta@slrpnk.nettoScience Memes@mander.xyzMental hell
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    5 days ago

    This just confirms what every young person in academia knows: gotta get on uppers to be competitive.

    My partner is a PhD candidate and at a recent party a postdoc was telling us how he acquired a giant crack rock at the beginning of his grad career and whenever he needed to finish a big assignment or something he would lick it.