Postdocs then and now

Alexei Kojevnikov’s recently published book is titled The Copenhagen Network: Birth of Quantum Mechanics from a Postdoctoral Perspective.11. A. Kojevnikov, Perspective, Springer (2020). During the period that Kojevnikov focuses on, 1920 to 1929, postdoc had not achieved its subsequent status as an established career stage. But it was necessary one. Funding for physics in Europe after World War I meager. Even Werner Heisenberg and Wolfgang Pauli struggled find permanent employment they earned their PhDs. For them others, temporary positions were lifeline.A central figure Niels Bohr, who served founding director Institute Theoretical Physics University Copenhagen. Denmark neutral during war. Lingering animosities kept Austrian German physicists collaborating with British French home countries less fraught 1920s Bohr’s ability raise money Rask-Ørsted Foundation, Rockefeller other wealthy benefactors enabled him fund visiting physicists, mostly young ones, countries. Among Oskar Klein, turned Theodor Kaluza’s classical five-dimensional field theory into quantum one, Douglas Hartree, developed numerical methods solving Schrödinger equation.Although “birth” appears book’s title, most action takes place 1923–27 when new observations atomic spectra—notably anomalous Zeeman effect—revealed inadequacy what became known old pioneered by Max Planck, Arnold Sommerfeld. Heisenberg, Pauli, Paul Dirac, saved day bold extensions theory.They did do so isolation. Besides passing through institute centers research, such Born’s at Göttingen, shared drafts papers corresponded each via mail. They networked, use modern term.I spent my years, 1988–90, Japan’s Space Astronautical Science Sagamihara, industrial city outside Tokyo. somewhat exotic choice driven opportunity. My research x-ray astronomy. Because Earth’s atmosphere opaque x rays, telescopes detectors have be mounted on spacecraft, which expensive. thesis data European EXOSAT. next astronomy spacecraft launched, Ginga 1987, Japanese.My funded Japan Society Promotion (JSPS) part program attract foreigners Japan. Candidates selected partner organizations countries, case UK’s Royal Society. JSPS occasionally hosted receptions Japan-based fellows. What struck me scarcity Americans. “They prefer stay US,” staffer explained me. Indeed, American postdocs met graduate student Cambridge worried presence overseas would harm prospects tenure-track position back home.This past June (the publisher Today) released report sought predict impact COVID-19 pandemic enterprise. Postdocs, report’s authors concluded, especially vulnerable, given need access laboratories. “Separated scientific cohorts, these scientists will difficulty resuming previous paths.”22. Physics, Peril Promise: Impacts Pandemic Physical Sciences (2020), p. 7.What connects 1920s, 1980s, COVID-19? One thing could travel. went abroad opportunities we couldn’t get home. Some are recovering more quickly than US is. If you’re US, please least consider applying abroad. Without looking too hard, found strongly correlated many-body systems Aarhus Denmark, condensed-matter Chinese Academy Sciences’ Beijing, active galaxies galaxy formation Seoul National South Korea.ReferencesSection:ChooseTop pageReferences <<CITING ARTICLES1. Google ScholarCrossref2. 7. Scholar© 2021 Physics.