Hacker News with Generative AI: Academia

Is Philosophy Still Useful in the Age of Science? (write.as)
As someone interested in pursuing a philosophy PhD, there are many things to worry about. Could I get accepted? Could I get funding? Will I be lonely? Will I come to hate it?
Philosophy, Science, Academia, Career, Research
5 points by pppone 17 hours ago | 3 comments
Getting a paper accepted (maxwellforbes.com)
In 2019, I submitted a paper that was rejected with review scores 2.5, 3, 3. One week later, I resubmitted it with minor changes, and it was accepted with scores 4, 4.5, 4.5.01 For context, that’s an almost unspeakably dramatic jump in scores, from “middling reject” to “strong accept.”
Academia, Publishing, Research
205 points by stefanpie 1 day ago | 124 comments
"No longer able to purchase reagents using NIH grants at Harvard Medical School" (reddit.com)
I am a post-doc at Harvard Medical School in a lab that is exclusively funded by NIH grants. Today all my purchase orders were cancelled and I was told we are no longer able to purchase supplies with an NIH grant.
Science, Academia, Funding, Research
7 points by areoform 2 days ago | 0 comments
AI in my plasma physics research didn’t go the way I expected (understandingai.org)
I’m excited to publish this guest post by Nick McGreivy, a physicist who last year earned a PhD from Princeton. Nick used to be optimistic that AI could accelerate physics research. But when he tried to apply AI techniques to real physics problems the results were disappointing.
Artificial Intelligence, Physics, Research, Academia
362 points by qianli_cs 3 days ago | 295 comments
MIT paper on AI for materials research found to be fraudulent (thebsdetector.substack.com)
A few months ago, I remember reading some press about a new economics preprint out of MIT. The Wall Street Journal covered the research a few days after it dropped online, with the favorable headline, “Will AI Help or Hurt Workers? One 26-Year-Old Found an Unexpected Answer.” The photo for the article shows the promising young author, Aidan Toner-Rodgers, standing next to two titans of economics research, Daron Acemoglu (2024 Nobel laureate in economics) and David Autor.
Artificial Intelligence, Research, Fraud, Academia, Economics
55 points by outrun86 6 days ago | 8 comments
US brain drain: Nature's guide to the initiatives drawing scientists abroad (nature.com)
As attacks on US science by the administration of President Donald Trump continue, countries worldwide are stepping up their efforts to recruit US research talent.
Science, US Politics, International Relations, Immigration, Academia
7 points by gnabgib 7 days ago | 0 comments
US brain drain: the scientists seeking jobs abroad amid assault on research (nature.com)
The decline in opportunities for US researchers is driving some scientists to seek job overseas, in particular in Europe.
Science, Research, Academia, Immigration, United States
12 points by rbanffy 9 days ago | 4 comments
The Academic Pipeline Stall: Why Industry Must Stand for Academia (sigarch.org)
The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) froze all outgoing funding, including new awards and scheduled payments on active grants.
Science, Academia, Funding, Research, Industry
146 points by MaysonL 11 days ago | 147 comments
On thinkers and doers (2022) (strangeloopcanon.com)
Why we might need something like tenure for many more people, to cultivate more thinkers in a doer's world
Academia, Work Culture, Thinking, Innovation
55 points by andrewrn 12 days ago | 44 comments
Professors say UAB is 'altering' research proposals, pressuring faculty: Letter (al.com)
Faculty at the University of Alabama at Birmingham say some administrators are restricting efforts to research the health of minority populations.
Research, Academia, Minority Health, Faculty Concerns
10 points by Jimmc414 14 days ago | 2 comments
How to avoid P hacking (nature.com)
It can happen so easily. You’re excited about an experiment, so you sneak an early peek at the data to see if the P value — a measure of statistical significance — has dipped below the threshold of 0.05. Or maybe you’ve tried analysing your results in several different ways, hoping one will give you that significant finding. These temptations are common, especially in the cut-throat world of publish-or-perish academia.
Science, Research, Statistics, Academia
116 points by benocodes 14 days ago | 87 comments
Investigation: Uncovering Chinese Academic Espionage at Stanford (stanfordreview.org)
This summer, a CCP agent impersonated a Stanford student.
Espionage, Academia, China, Stanford University
11 points by libpcap 14 days ago | 2 comments
Chinese Academic Espionage at Stanford (stanfordreview.org)
This summer, a CCP agent impersonated a Stanford student. Under the alias Charles Chen, he approached several students through social media. Anna*, a Stanford student conducting sensitive research on China, began receiving unexpected messages from Charles Chen. At first, Charles's outreach seemed benign: he asked about networking opportunities. But soon, his messages took a strange turn.
Espionage, Academia, China, Stanford University
22 points by adtac 16 days ago | 5 comments
Knowledge-based society, my ass (mihaiolteanu.me)
Right after I get admitted, I inform Professor that I also have a full-time job. He insists that we must start working right away. I quit as a result and instantly breathe a refined air. I am now a scientist! A week later I approach Professor and let him know I'm ready for work.
Academia, Personal Experience, Work-Life Balance
370 points by molteanu 24 days ago | 102 comments
PhD Timeline (xkcd.com)
PhDs, Humor, Academia, Comics
355 points by hexmiles 25 days ago | 105 comments
Reversing the fossilization of computer science conferences (cacm.acm.org)
A specific case of the general bureaucratization of science threatens to make conferences irrelevant.
Computer Science, Conferences, Academia, Science
84 points by tosh 25 days ago | 62 comments
MIT Committee Report on the Changing Nature of Information (1983) [pdf] (archive.org)
Ask the publishers to restore access to 500,000+ books.
Information, Academia, Publishing, Archives
31 points by iloveburritos89 26 days ago | 5 comments
Yale faculty call for admin hiring freeze and independent audit (yaledailynews.com)
Over 100 Yale professors are calling for the University administration to freeze new administrative hires and commission an independent faculty-led audit to ensure that the University prioritizes academics.
Academia, Higher Education, Faculty, Administration, Auditing
7 points by txcwg002 27 days ago | 0 comments
Fight Fiercely (scottaaronson.blog)
Last week I visited Harvard and MIT, and as advertised in my last post, gave the Yip Lecture at Harvard on the subject “How Much Math Is Knowable?” The visit was hosted by Harvard’s wonderful Center of Mathematical Sciences and Applications (CMSA), directed by my former UT Austin colleague Dan Freed. Thanks so much to everyone at CMSA for the visit.
Mathematics, Academia, Lectures
15 points by Tomte 29 days ago | 0 comments
Norway launches scheme to lure top researchers away from US universities (theguardian.com)
Norway has launched a new scheme to lure top international researchers amid growing pressure on academic freedom in the US under the Trump administration.
International Relations, Academia, Research, Norway, United States
17 points by mitchbob 30 days ago | 5 comments
An Utterly Incomplete Look at Research from 1825 (bcmullins.github.io)
This series looks at research from years past. I survey a handful of books and articles in a particular year from math, economics, philosophy, international relations, and other interesting topics. This project was inspired by my retrospective on Foreign Affairs' first issue from September 1922.
Research, History, Academia, 19th Century, Literature
34 points by wannabebarista 31 days ago | 2 comments
Harvard showdown is the latest front in a long conservative war against academia (theguardian.com)
The showdown between Donald Trump and Harvard University may have exploded into life this week, but the battle represents just the latest step in what has been a decades-long war waged by the right wing on American academia.
Politics, Academia, Conservatism, Education, United States
19 points by rntn 33 days ago | 0 comments
Fear and loathing of the English passive [pdf] (ed.ac.uk)
Grammar, English Language, Linguistics, Academia, Research
7 points by fanf2 34 days ago | 0 comments
College Towns: Urbanism from a Past Era (governance.fyi)
How Universities Accidentally Preserved the Walkable America We Demolished Everywhere Else
Urban Planning, History, Academia, Cities
66 points by toomuchtodo 35 days ago | 137 comments
arXiv moving from Cornell servers to Google Cloud (arxiv.org)
arXiv is part of Cornell Tech, the graduate campus and research center of Cornell University. All arXiv employees are Cornell University employees.
Science, Academia, Cloud Computing, Cornell University
225 points by ColinWright 35 days ago | 162 comments
Nearly 300 apply as French university offers US academics 'scientific asylum' (theguardian.com)
Nearly 300 academics have applied to a French university’s offer to take in US-based researchers rattled by the American government’s crackdown on academia, as a former French president called for the creation of a “scientific refugee” status for academics in peril.
Academia, Immigration, Politics, France, United States
18 points by mraniki 36 days ago | 0 comments
The Silencing of Scientific Curiosity (maryannedemasi.com)
As a scientific writer and researcher, I’ve witnessed the decline of medical journals firsthand. Once forums for open debate and intellectual rigour, they’ve morphed into gatekeepers, more concerned with preserving a narrow orthodoxy than pursuing truth.
Science, Journalism, Medical Research, Academia
12 points by XzetaU8 37 days ago | 4 comments
Alarm on campus after FBI raid on Chinese cybersecurity professor's home (theguardian.com)
When FBI and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents descended recently on two homes owned by Xiaofeng Wang, a Chinese national and cybersecurity professor at Indiana University, many in the idyllic college town of Bloomington were shocked.
Cybersecurity, US Politics, China, Academia
9 points by c420 37 days ago | 0 comments
I speak at Harvard as it faces its biggest crisis since 1636 (scottaaronson.blog)
Every week, I tell myself I won’t do yet another post about the asteroid striking American academia, and then every week events force my hand otherwise.
Education, Academia, Crisis, Opinion
107 points by Tomte 38 days ago | 103 comments
Fun ways of deciding authorship order (2016) (wordpress.com)
Last spring, I did a poll related to authorship order in ecology. I’ve written up a couple of posts presenting the results of that poll (part 1, part 2), and plan on writing more. But, for now, I want to focus on some . . . less standard ways of deciding authorship for ecology and evolutionary biology papers.*
Research, Ecology, Science, Authorship, Academia
72 points by qifzer 38 days ago | 34 comments