Tag Archives: Scientist Dilemma

The Management Corollary

I finally close out my initial discussion of the Scientist Dilemma with an introduction of what I call the Management Corollary. Astronomy’s modern projects require effective management, yet nothing in our current system really prepares us for properly satisfying this need. Continue reading

Posted in General | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Astronomy is a Business

Astronomers don’t always like to think so, but astronomical facilities are a business. There are more and more choices available for all classes of telescopes. Each facility must strive to provide better value for money if it hopes to survive. Doing so, though, requires a careful balancing of research and development with more mundane operational needs. Continue reading

Posted in General | Tagged , | 5 Comments

The Scientist Dilemma

In preparing talks on lessons learned from Sloan Digital Sky Survey Operations, I began to formulate what I refer to as the Scientist Dilemma: projects want scientists in their support roles to have their work grounded by scientific rationale. Scientists, however, expect to spend at least some part of their time doing science and the two competing sets of needs and expectations can sometimes lead to problems. Continue reading

Posted in General | Tagged , | Leave a comment