Andrew Akbashev
@Andrew_Akbashev
Scientist (PI). Doing fundamental research in #Materials and #Electrochemistry. Ex-PSI. Ex-Stanford. Run a Podcast (on Youtube).
ANNOUNCEMENT: I am launching a resource for students, postdocs, faculty, industry researchers and science-based entrepreneurs. I want to make a bigger change. 📍 Key reasons are: 1. Students struggle with advisors, research, presentations, visas, internships, etc. Most have no…
“You either fail or you are a genius.” I heard of kindergartens in the US that prepare you to pass the exams to a private elementary school, which in turn gets you prepares you for the exams to a special high school, which in turn prepares you to compete for Harvard / Stanford /…
This is hilarious. Spectra without spectra. Published just fine. - Journal? "Molecules" (MDPI). - Peer Review quality? Zero. - Editor's attention? Apparently none. I know that life in academia is hard. But getting access to a real XPS is not so difficult today...
How to check that paper was never really reviewed? These authors published deconvolution components... of nothing. Literally, no spectra were shown. They did it consistently again, again and again. How could any reviewer miss it? @Robert_Palgrave pubpeer.com/publications/C…
In academia, ‘visibility factors’ play a HUGE role. A PhD is just a bare minimum. In the past, I applied for faculty positions & was interviewed across the US (and a bit in Europe). I naively assumed that a great research proposal were key to getting a faculty position. But…
Some students are desperate to get a PhD position. Some say they’ve spent years applying and trying. As if it's a golden ticket to a better future. I understand them - I was there too. One thing I’ve learned over the years is: Your true passion may be misaligned with PhD.…
“I really love my country, but a lot of my mentors have been telling me to get out, right now.” - PhD student at a top US university. Nature poll: 80% of postdocs consider leaving. 75% of PhD students consider leaving. A postdoc in a biomedical field.: “Don’t want to leave, but…
Many big discoveries were hiding in plain sight. Now, a new breakthrough: the antibiotic kills drug-resistant bacteria without harming human cells. From a garden, scientists took some soil, put it into Petri dishes and stored for a year. Then, they exposed the microbes to…
Publishing for the sake of publishing makes you a noise generator. How does it work? Quite simply: - The deeper your studies, the more each study takes, and the less you publish. This makes your research more interesting and easier to follow. - However, boring research…
Senior PhDs deserve more than endless lab duties. They deserve a defense that is done in time. Overstaying in the PhD program is normally a bad idea. Downsides are: - The students get too rooted into your lab and will find the next transition harder to make - The students…
$20,000 for a PhD-level agent. For the same amount, you could hire 5 PhD students (or 3 postdocs) in the US. Two thoughts on this: 1. I understand the reason for such prices. OpenAI is burning through cash like crazy. In 2024 alone, they spent $5 billion to run its services.…
