Faustian Bargain

In his Opinion article, T.V. Rajan has written a thoughtful and accurate portrayal of what has happened to too many biomedical researchers in recent years. I agree with virtually everything he says. I am a college professor who teaches and does modest research with undergraduates. After a quarter-century, I still love science and show it, still do my own research, and still spend hours in the library reading papers to try to keep up. When my students go off in the summers to do research a

Written byDavid Sadava
| 1 min read

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

In his Opinion article, T.V. Rajan has written a thoughtful and accurate portrayal of what has happened to too many biomedical researchers in recent years. I agree with virtually everything he says.

I am a college professor who teaches and does modest research with undergraduates. After a quarter-century, I still love science and show it, still do my own research, and still spend hours in the library reading papers to try to keep up. When my students go off in the summers to do research at large centers, they find team leaders and entrepreneurs, not scientists. And they come back to my classroom confused. Doesn't a scientist do science? they ask. Don't scientists like science? Is this a life to which my students should aspire?

Too many faculty colleagues of mine at research-intensive institutions spend all day in their offices writing grants to "lay more bricks." They certainly don't seem ...

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

Published In

Share
Illustration of a developing fetus surrounded by a clear fluid with a subtle yellow tinge, representing amniotic fluid.
January 2026

What Is the Amniotic Fluid Composed of?

The liquid world of fetal development provides a rich source of nutrition and protection tailored to meet the needs of the growing fetus.

View this Issue
Human-Relevant In Vitro Models Enable Predictive Drug Discovery

Advancing Drug Discovery with Complex Human In Vitro Models

Stemcell Technologies
Redefining Immunology Through Advanced Technologies

Redefining Immunology Through Advanced Technologies

Ensuring Regulatory Compliance in AAV Manufacturing with Analytical Ultracentrifugation

Ensuring Regulatory Compliance in AAV Manufacturing with Analytical Ultracentrifugation

Beckman Coulter Logo
Skip the Wait for Protein Stability Data with Aunty

Skip the Wait for Protein Stability Data with Aunty

Unchained Labs

Products

Sino Biological Logo

Sino Biological's Launch of SwiftFluo® TR-FRET Kits Pioneers a New Era in High-Throughout Kinase Inhibitor Screening

SPT Labtech Logo

SPT Labtech enables automated Twist Bioscience NGS library preparation workflows on SPT's firefly platform

nuclera logo

Nuclera eProtein Discovery System installed at leading Universities in Taiwan

Brandtech Logo

BRANDTECH Scientific Introduces the Transferpette® pro Micropipette: A New Twist on Comfort and Control