Pepper people

Coming September will be the start of my third year as a PhD student. I have learnt a lot. Though I still do not see the light at the end of the tunnel.

It is also officially the end of the first half of my time here. I say officially because I would likely stay a bit past the four year mark as the average length of a PhD at ETHZ is around 4.5 years.

I am still daunted by the lack of feedback on my performance. As a job, I don’t think I am at the risk of being fired, though I am not sure if a metaphorical promotion is in order either. As a student however, I don’t know what I am learning.

I sense more and more acutely the disconnect between academia and the real world. Researchers, even the best ones, often pay only lip service to how their results may be used in benefit of humanity. What is valued, at least in the academia route of life, is novelty and, more and more often, flashy imagery. I participate in this effort by making my own flashy images and videos, and promote them as much as I am able.

I have started considering my options after I graduate. As much as I would like to stay in Europe, all signs points to the United States. It still remains the land of opportunity as much as Trump would like to mess that up. While funding is being cut from science across the board, research money keeps on being poured into the military. This in turn funds a selected set of universities.