Victor Ambros was denied tenure at Harvard. But he was not a usual PI. The Harvard Crimson describes: 1⃣ He took an especially hands-on role in mentorship: “Duan recalled the experience of arriving in the U.S. for his Ph.D. as a non-native English speaker. Ambros spent time personally mentoring Duan in how to write and give presentations in English, which Duan said proved “very helpful.” Duan said Ambros also taught him how to believe in himself as a scientist. “Victor is just an intensely curious person, and that curiosity is infectious. You can’t help but be really curious around him because he’s always asking interesting questions and being provoking.” - H. Scott Silverman. 2⃣ He did not step away from lab work to focus on the administrative work and funding, unlike many other professors. “Victor is NOT a very typical PI because he has his own bench,” Duan said. “He wants to stay closer to the science. He would work side by side with all the other people who were actively doing the same.” 📍Why tenure was denied? David Baltimore’s opinion (Caltech president, 1975 Nobel laureate): “The denial of tenure was consistent with Harvard’s hiring junior faculty and then not giving them tenure. The fate of junior faculty at the University was to teach and conduct research — but ultimately be replaced by new junior faculty before they could rise through the ranks. It just underlines the foolishness of that approach to building a great department.” After Harvard, Victor Ambros moved to Dartmouth and then the University of Massachusetts. 📍 My view: Tenure track is rarely about with Nobel-level work. At most universities, tenure requires metrics to be fulfilled. This also includes recommendation letters from peers that should be excellent. As a result, most professors are VERY careful during tenure track (outside the US too). They avoid risky research and focus on metrics (more papers, more funding, more students, etc). Too much at stake. The problem is - Every university wants to have a Nobel laureate but uses a metrics-based system to filter people out. Instead of encouraging their young faculty members to pursue risky & groundbreaking research, most departments urge them to focus on other things. ❗️ Basically: Tenure = something feasible, doable, countable Nobel Prize = once thought infeasible but achieved I think this gap is what many young scientists are so upset about. Metrics are great for business, but in science it should be used with great care. #science #AcademicChatter #chemtwitter