First off, I'm doing fine. Better than fine, if I say so myself. Ending my scientific career served me well. Not that three years ago I didn't know it would. Of course, I did. I, more or less consciously, struggled with the decision for a few years before I finally made it. In the end I was pretty sure of what it was I wanted to do.

I was initially somewhat surprised by the number of people who insisted on treating the fact of me not getting a pointless degree as either a tragedy or a failure with no regard for my explanations. More so, considering this was not even one of the topics for discussion I was trying to ultimately direct attention to.

I was much more interested in thinking about the conflict between the now widely accepted belief that science could only move forward by open exchange of ideas and experimental evidence on the one hand, and the factors affecting a researcher's personal gain and career progress on the other. Or the conflict between the ideals of education and the forces of economics that inevitably rule academic science.

For most of the arguments I put forward along those lines, I have not detected much enthusiasm or comprehension in response. Nevertheless, I got a lot out of RG.net. It helped me crystallize my post-academic thoughts, and the feedback was quite interesting.

I now realize that most of the advice I tried to impart to "young scientists and engineers" around here was naive. I was more or less speaking to a younger copy of myself. The problem — and it eluded me for a long time — is that I am not typical, normal or average.

I have probably left a lasting memory of myself in my former lab at TSRI. At the moment, if you google "Reza Ghadiri", the first three results all lead here. RG.net is not a product of anger, bitterness or spite. But I do like to have my say, and I do push back when pushed. This, among other things, was a creative and effective way to do just that. Ironically, with luck on my side, even this kind of attention from me might still end up like something for Reza to brag about at least a little.

That's about it, I think. Good show, as they say in Britain. Thanks to all. I am thinking of starting another blog more relevant to my new life and work. But that's an altogether different story.

So ask away, wait for somebody else to ask first, or for me to say something regardless. Questions like, I don't know, "Just how badly do you hate Reza Ghadiri?" or "Are you a bus driver now?". Anything you like.

Only one catch: I'll answer anything I like. :)

I think it's time for me to clarify where this "Reza Ghadiri Project" is heading.

Direction 1. Perspectives on academic science

Three previous posts that fall under this category are: "On the Nature of the PhD Program in Science", "A formula for success in Academia" and "Publishing strategically: You got to know when to hold ‘em". Scientific research does not come out of a vacuum. It involves institutions and individuals — with choices to face, decisions to make, strategies to develop and consequences to create. With my focus mainly on natural sciences, academia and the Western world, I am interested in how science is done, how it can, cannot and possibly should be done, and why.

Direction 2. "Rate-my-PhD-or-postdoc-supervisor-dot-something"

There are review websites for nearly everything nowadays. Books, cars, companies, jobs, co-workers. There is one called RateMyProfessors.com, where professors are reviewed as lecturers by (undergraduate) students who attend their classes. So here's an idea: what about reviews of professors as laboratory heads and research group leaders — by students and postdocs they supervise?

We'll see. It would have to be anonymous, but civilized. First, a section for submitting and reading PI reviews could open right here, on rezaghadiri.net. If and when this idea gets off the ground (i.e. if reviews do start to come in), it will get a website of its own.

UPDATE (Feb 28, 2011): OK, here it goes.

What does this have to do with Prof. Reza Ghadiri?

Not much, really. Neither does Dr. Ghadiri have anything to do with why I left the PhD program. I never said he did.

I am using my experiences in the Ghadiri lab and Prof. Reza Ghadiri himself for illustration purposes, as an informal case study. And, of course, I am using Dr. Ghadiri's fame, however small it might be compared to that of Britney Spears, to attract attention to this website. I will, however, eventually run out of stories and things to say about Reza Ghadiri. At that time, the title and the domain name of the site may change to better reflect content.

My motivation for doing all this

At this point, I would be hard-pressed to come up with anything besides that I find it all interesting. I do think it beats collecting stamps. The kinds of issues I want to raise are important in the grand scheme of things — and personally for anyone who chooses to make science part of their careers and lives. I'm not counting on changing the world overnight, single-handedly — or at all, for that matter. But I do hope to at least promote the discussion.

What is RezaGhadiri.Net? It is the online home of a web project I started in January 2010. It is named after Reza Ghadiri, but make no mistake: Dr. Ghadiri himself has no part in it. Unusual? Not really. Just think of all the colleges, medical centers, parks and avenues named after George Washington.

My Story in a Nutshell. I studied to be a scientist and worked in academic research labs for a long time. Long enough to take a good look at how the scientific community operates. To know the good, the bad and the, well, ugly details that are not normally advertised. In April 2009, 5+ years into the Ph.D. program at Scripps, I quit graduate school and discontinued my scientific career. I am very glad I quit, even though I am still glad I had that experience. And now I have things to say – about postgraduate education in science and academic science in general.

Feel more than free to participate:

1. spread the word: post a link to RezaGhadiri.Net where you think it will generate interest (your blog, twitter, facebook, forums etc.)
2. discuss – registration, real name or email are not required to comment

This is an experiment. Is it time to talk about a change in how people organize themselves to do science? Or are things fine the way they are? Who cares? Do YOU?

Figure 1. Number of daily visits to the Reza Ghadiri • Net website in the past 4 weeks.