• BertramDitore@lemmy.zip
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    3 days ago

    In grad school I remember being encouraged to submit a paper to a journal that would have charged me a few hundred dollars to put it in for peer review, and I told my advisor no, I needed to buy groceries, I would not throw my money away for an extra line on my CV. He got all flustered and it was a great example of why higher education is so fucked. My advisor, who ostensibly understood my background and means, could not understand how such a relatively small fee would be so prohibitive. He was incapable of understanding that I was essentially unemployed while enrolled as his grad student, and every dollar of funding went to bare essentials so I could continue breathing. He had access to discretionary funds for this exact kind of issue (I found out later), and didn’t think to offer.

    Without independent wealth and deep personal connections it’s incredibly difficult to succeed in academia, regardless of the quality of your research.

    • Tollana1234567@lemmy.today
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      23 hours ago

      thats why its so gatekeeped, cant get a career in biotech, research you have to be published at some point, very few get it at undergrad let alone trying to get lab experience or even an INTERNSHIP. thats why most bio majors are health and not something as convoluted as research. its a cascading problem.

    • Jason2357@lemmy.ca
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      2 days ago

      Uuhh, beyond the fucked up publishing system, your advisor was a self destructive dick. It was his job to pay that. His lab and career benefit and hes the one that gets funding for research operations.

      • SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca
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        2 days ago

        your advisor was a self destructive dick

        He was likely an unfunded loser who could not even get a grant to cover page charges.

    • chiliedogg@lemmy.world
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      3 days ago

      I got lucky in that my publication was through a journal that doesn’t charge money for access or submissions. It’s part of our professional organization and our annual membership fees cover the journal’s expenses.

    • SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca
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      2 days ago

      My advisor, who ostensibly understood my background and means, could not understand how such a relatively small fee would be so prohibitive.

      No advisor expects a student to pay publication charges. My lab pays about $10,000/yr into this racket.

      • BertramDitore@lemmy.zip
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        2 days ago

        I don’t know what to tell you. Your experiences are your own, and I’m glad your lab takes care of you.

    • Skullgrid@lemmy.world
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      3 days ago

      Without independent wealth and deep personal connections it’s incredibly difficult to succeed in academia, regardless of the quality of your research.

      Always has been, why do you think he’s called SIR Isaac Newton?

      EDIT : Turns out his knighthood was afterwards, but he did have connections. There are several examples of science being the domain of already rich people.

    • FishFace@piefed.social
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      2 days ago

      In grad school your institution should be paying for fees like that. If the school itself isn’t paying, then doesn’t the supervisor have a grant they can file it under?

      • Norah (pup/it/she)@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        2 days ago

        Did we not read the same comment? The advisor did have funding for that sort of thing and just plain didn’t offer. Maybe he wanted to have a big pizza party or something ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

      • BertramDitore@lemmy.zip
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        2 days ago

        Archaeology. But it was in the UK and I’m American so everything was a bit tougher than it should have been. My advisor for sure should have paid, and could have, but he was an asshole who didn’t bother to understand my situation.

        • Tollana1234567@lemmy.today
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          23 hours ago

          that is wierd, usually the university pays for, why did he mention it if he isnt going to pay, unless he wants to take partial credit too.

        • arrow74@lemmy.zip
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          2 days ago

          Also a archaeologist, very unusual that your department didn’t pay for this.

    • SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca
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      2 days ago

      Without independent wealth and deep personal connections it’s incredibly difficult to succeed in academia, regardless of the quality of your research.

      oh bullshit.