Tag Archives: higher education
Getting rid of the GRE
An investigation by Science has found that, today, just 3% of “PhD programs in eight disciplines at 50 top-ranked US universities” require applicants’ GRE scores, “compared with 84% four years ago”. This is good news about a test whose purpose I could never … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged academic diversity, Cornell University, Educational Testing Service, graduate studies, GRE examination, H-index, higher education, impact factor, PhD, scientometrics
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Why we need *some* borders between us
Borders are often a bad thing because they create separation that is unconducive for what are generally considered to be socially desirable outcomes. And they’re often instituted to maximise political outcomes, especially of the electoral variety. However, as electoral politics … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Op-eds
Tagged #MeToo, affirmative action, borders, deliberative democracy, democratic society, higher education, human spaceflight, leaky pipeline, privilege, quota system, reservations, SpaceX, status quo
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A science for the non-1%
David Michaels, an epidemiologist and a former US assistant secretary of labour for occupational safety and health under Barack Obama, writes in the Boston Review: [Product defence] operations have on their payrolls—or can bring in on a moment’s notice—toxicologists, epidemiologists, … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds, Science
Tagged 1%, higher education, humanities, ivory tower, Jeffrey Epstein, manufacturing doubt, political participation, publish or perish, reason for state, scientific knowledge, scientific research, scientism, social science
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Spotting scientists, lazy scientists
Calling scientists as a community ‘lazy’ is to abdicate the responsibility to make it easier for them to enjoy the fruits of their labours. Continue reading
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Tagged bureaucracy, China, CNR Rao, higher education, Japan, JNCASR, science community, scientists, South Korea
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Notes from my interaction with Dr. Kannan Soundararajan, Infosys Prize winner
My article on this interview and Dr. Soundararajan’s opinions appeared in The Hindu’s EducationPlus supplement on October 22, 2012 titled “It’s a mixed bag“. — Dr. Kannan Soundararajan is a professor at Stanford University and the director of its Mathematics … Continue reading
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Tagged analytic number theory, higher education, Infosys Prize, Kannan Soundararajan, pure mathematics, research
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