tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9186457242428335144.post6927439102642876610..comments2024-03-28T00:36:13.790-07:00Comments on Volatile and Decentralized: Visit to UtahMatt Welshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04255792550910131960noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9186457242428335144.post-58016927279373813552009-03-25T10:31:00.000-07:002009-03-25T10:31:00.000-07:00Matt, we enjoyed your visit!Matt, we enjoyed your visit!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9186457242428335144.post-27673573542271320822009-03-24T22:27:00.000-07:002009-03-24T22:27:00.000-07:00In general: a) grad students are cheaper than staf...In general: <BR/><BR/>a) grad students are cheaper than staff (sometimes 0.5x)<BR/>b) NSF prefers to fund grad students<BR/>c) Staff always need 12mo support, grad students frequently go on internships, get fellowships, and, if somehow funding suddenly drys up can usually TA (plus time to Ph.D. is ~5-6 years while staff can stay for a decade or more)<BR/>d) Consequently, many people only want to hire staff when they feel confident about being able to provide significant job security... a-c mean that you need to feel flush to do this. <BR/><BR/>All that said, I think people are probably overly conservative here since my experience is that good experienced staff are worth their weight in gold.Stefan Savagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04899968055883156907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9186457242428335144.post-36579556168770192932009-03-24T22:14:00.000-07:002009-03-24T22:14:00.000-07:00Why couldn't other departments have a higher staff...Why couldn't other departments have a higher staff/postdoc : grad student ratio? When you write an NSF/DARPA/whatever grant, do they really care if your staff budget is going to grad students rather than staff and postdocs? Or is it that grad students cost less per person than staff/postdocs?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com