Academia to Industry

Like Judith Britz,1 I left the academic career path 15 years ago, for economic reasons. I left academics, it did not leave me: the papers I wrote 15 years ago are still being cited. I loved the science, but after five years living on $5,000 a year, the grim economic prospects and high career risk associated with academic science disqualified it from serious consideration. Risk is supposed to be associated with reward, but that's another subject. Do something with me: Take out a dollar bill and l

| 1 min read

Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
1:00
Share

Do something with me: Take out a dollar bill and look at it. It bears the likeness of our first president, the signature of the secretary of the treasury, the great seal of the United States, and quite a few other political symbols. It's a political document.

Money is our mechanism for the collective expression of value. If you're doing something people find valuable, they will tell you about it, using that mechanism. On the other hand, if you're doing something nobody cares about, you won't be rewarded for it.

Money is more than just money; it's a message. If you're not making any money, get the message. The world will never know, nor will it ever care about, the brilliant papers I never wrote. Nor will I. I am convinced that I am well-placed in the service of my fellow man. I am delighted by the intellectual challenges and ...

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to digital editions of The Scientist, as well as TS Digest, feature stories, more than 35 years of archives, and much more!
Already a member? Login Here

Meet the Author

  • Judson Jones

    This person does not yet have a bio.

Published In

Share
A greyscale image of cells dividing.
March 2025, Issue 1

How Do Embryos Know How Fast to Develop

In mammals, intracellular clocks begin to tick within days of fertilization.

View this Issue
iStock: Ifongdesign

The Advent of Automated and AI-Driven Benchwork

sampled
Discover the history, mechanics, and potential of PCR.

Become a PCR Pro

Integra Logo
3D rendered cross section of influenza viruses, showing surface proteins on the outside and single stranded RNA inside the virus

Genetic Insights Break Infectious Pathogen Barriers

Thermo Fisher Logo
A photo of sample storage boxes in an ultra-low temperature freezer.

Navigating Cold Storage Solutions

PHCbi logo 

Products

Sapio Sciences

Sapio Sciences Makes AI-Native Drug Discovery Seamless with NVIDIA BioNeMo

DeNovix Logo

New DeNovix Helium Nano Volume Spectrophotometer

Olink Logo

Olink® Reveal: Accessible NGS-based proteomics for every lab

Olink logo
Zymo Logo

Zymo Research Launches the Quick-16S™ Full-Length Library Prep Kit