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Are scientists tied down by bureaucracy?

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By scooby
Thief said:
I'm not in science. I'm in "support" and don't get the opportunity to chat with those in the rarified air of "science". If the guy who made the condescending remark is right then there shouldn't be many comments. But since he brought it up I thought I would pursue it. Are those in the science and research areas paying any attention and how, if it all, are the issues discussed (funding, protocol, bureaucracy etc.) here impacting them.

I've been curious for a while now just how much the imposed protocol/documentation burden is hampering real science. I see it at my level that it takes anywhere from three to four times as long to get work done now as compared to when I started in the late 90's but again...that's not science.

How tied down are the postdocs and PHd's now and are we likely to see any relaxation or elimination of non science related "fluff" when the money gets really gets tight.

Comments

Anonymous said…
It is so bad that some scientists are now listing their IWSs as publications in a refereed journal.
8/06/2011 6:32 PM
Anonymous said…
They are not tied down. They are shut down. It is no longer possible to do most types of lab work at the Labs -- it's just way too expensive.
8/06/2011 10:56 PM
Anonymous said…
Oops. I cut that last one off. It's way too expensive in large part due to the over-the-top safety regulations. It's also almost impossible, even given money, to actually do work because the rules are so complicated and the training requirements are, in a word, nuts, that people have just given up.

I could offer examples but the list is just too long.
8/07/2011 12:51 PM
Anonymous said…
Please, offer examples. That is where the fun begins.
8/07/2011 10:34 PM
Anonymous said…
Plenty of other government sponsored jobs that aren't tied down to the crazy NNSA bureaucracy if you have the proper skills. Why whine when you can walk? Here's just one example of many:

www.federalnewsradio.com/?nid=15&sid=2497197

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

Cyber recruits key part of NSA hiring blitz

August 15, 2011

The National Security Agency is on a hiring blitz. The cryptologic intelligence agency — home to the government's chief codemakers and breakers — announced its intention to hire as many as 3,000 people over the next two years, many of them cybersecurity experts.

In fact, NSA recruiters even took a trip to Las Vegas in the last few weeks to look for potential hires at DefCon, a high-profile hacker conference there.

Dickie George, the technical director of the Information Assurance Directorate at NSA, told the Federal Drive the agency is partnering with academia and industry to find the "best and brightest" in cybersecurity.

"We really need people who can solve hard problems," George said. "And network security is one of the hardest problems around."

However, the shortage of cyber pros doesn't only affect government, but also industry, he added.
8/15/2011 8:11 AM
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