I’ve been off the AstroBetter grid for a couple days due to the Cool Stars 16 meeting (#CS16), the US Open, and the first week of classes and all. Comment moderation, among other things, fell by the wayside and I just trashed 600 spam comments…in the unlikely event that your comment got incorrectly marked and [...]
I’m Bruce Berriman, Senior Scientist, Project Manager, and Computer Scientist at the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC) at Caltech. I have worked at IPAC since 2000 and am responsible for managing archive projects. Many of you may know me as the project lead for the Montage image mosaic engine. I have been managing scientific [...]
Postgraduate degrees produce employable people – it's official | onlinelibrary.wiley.com Subscription Required. “A survey has confirmed that [postgraduate degrees in astronomy, astrophysics and planetary science and particle physics] bring excellent long-term employment prospects and above-average salaries, within sciences and elsewhere, boosting the case for funding studentships in order to support science and industry.” (via @USA [...]
As our eyes spend most of our days looking at the xTerminal (xTerm, xgTerm, uxTerm, or Terminal.app) any relief is always welcome. Unfortunately, the default for the xTerminal (or most applications) is black text on white background which means you are staring at white, i.e., light, most of the time. In addition, your eyes have [...]
An Open Letter to New Graduate Students | ProfHacker Excellent article that you should consider circulating to the incoming class at your institution. Physics: number of A-level entrants roars beyond 30K | The Institute of Physics blog “Although the number of entrants has increased much work is still required to reduce the gender divide in [...]
Three years ago, I asked why do Mac users use Firefox? The answer was very clear – extensions. And having used Firefox for a while now having been forced to use Windows at work, I do see the merit of this sort of flexibility. (Well, mainly to block Flash). With the release of Safari 5.01 [...]
These posts are getting too long. I’m going to start doing this twice a week: Tuesdays, in addition to Fridays. Stop Admitting Ph.D. Students | Inside Higher Ed “Knowing that prospective students apply to graduate school of their own free will, with hope in their hearts and stardust in their eyes, doesn’t absolve faculty of [...]
On Friday we told you that the 6,500 postdocs of the University of California just ratified their first union contract, after 18 months of negotiation. The five-year contract requires that all postdocs be paid at least $37,740/yr, which is $340 above the current minimum at UC. (Postdocs with 5 yr experience must make at least [...]
It is that time of year again. Hundreds of astronomy graduate students and postdocs are entering the mysterious and stressful world of job hunting. Listings for postdocs are starting to hit the Job Register now while the faculty position listings will start to heat up later in the Fall. To help take the edge off, [...]
Scientific career renewal | Nature Jobs “Scientists must force themselves off the research treadmill periodically if they are to remain creatively stimulated. The culture and bureaucracy of science must encourage them to do so.” Taking “The Road Not Taken”: On the Benefits of Diversifying Your Academic Portfolio. (arXiv:1008.1586) | astro-ph “…young researchers should always allocate [...]