Britain is probably not atyipical in this.

Maybe some people work in research just to pay the bills, but I think most do it because they love it. They tolerate low pay, bad management, and uncertain future employment because they have a passion for knowledge and understanding. Generally not even the ego-driven desire to make a great discovery, get rich, be a famous scientist, just to find some useful nugget of information about how some tiny part of the universe works.

At the end of their employment, most perhaps get a reasonable pension, and are booted onto the retirement heap, where their greatest subsequent contribution to humankind is cooing over grandkids and perhaps encouraging them to study science. Or stacking shelves at a supermarket.

Most would much rather continue their research, but with better personal care and without the poor management.

So I propose this: specialist care homes attached to research facilities, where aged scientists can carry on their research, keep their minds active, and contribute to humankind’s scientific knowledge.

They might not have access to the latest cutting-edge machines, but perhaps last-year’s cast-offs from leading research would be enough.
-- Frankx, Nov 01 2019

Old Scientist Old_20Scientist
The official journal for the scheme. [8th of 7, Nov 01 2019]

Maybe they could team up with my UniNursity UniNursity
Awhile ago... [RayfordSteele, Nov 02 2019]

Universities already have a thing called "tenure" ...
-- 8th of 7, Nov 01 2019


Yes, but that’s only a tiny fraction of the research community
-- Frankx, Nov 01 2019


This is a truly excellent idea. I personally know perhaps 10 or 15 world-class scientists (some of them Nobel laureates) who have not been kept on as emeriti, and who still have active minds and nimble brains.

Cast-off equipment (much of it in perfectly good condition and reasonably up to date) is abundant, not least because when a biotech company dies or a lab closes, it often has no good means of repurposing its equipment.

One problem is that science (OK, biology; but doubtless other fields) requires a fairly hefty consumables spend. You'd normally budget £1000 per month per person minimum, but you could do a lot with half that, especially since older scientists are not wedded to expensive plug-n- play kits and are quite happy to make their own buffers and reagent mixes.

In the absence of such an institution, I've built and equipped my own lab (which currently serves my company, but will become my personal playground as the company expands), so that I can die with a Gilson in my hand.
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Nov 01 2019


Actually, this got rather more serious as I wrote it. Originally it would have been “send retired nuclear physicists somewhere remote, so they have fun, don’t kill us all, and might discover something useful”
-- Frankx, Nov 01 2019


Prior Art <link>

But it was a long time ago, in another country, and besides the test cohort is dead ...
-- 8th of 7, Nov 01 2019


Thanks [MB], that means a lot. I’ve seen it too, perhaps not with Nobel laureates, but still...

And yes, actually stacking supermarket shelves.
-- Frankx, Nov 01 2019


True story:

I once moved to a notoriously (yes, notoriously) well-educated city and was waiting in line at the supermarket. I said to the cashier in passing, "They say that Ph.Ds bag your groceries here, but I've never met one." The old man bagging my groceries said "I have a Ph.D -- In nuclear physics."

[+] for the idea. I want my nuclear physicists many iterations away from being desperate for work.
-- 4and20, Nov 01 2019


Did you ask the gentleman "Are you happy to be filling grocery bags ?" which is actually the most important thing, shirley ?
-- 8th of 7, Nov 01 2019


I agree with the sentiment. Most people in the city theoretically did, which is why they apparently stayed in an overly educated market. He seemed quite happy to announce his background modestly. To be honest, bagging groceries was probably a giant step up, compared to his prior employment.
-- 4and20, Nov 01 2019


We are familiar with a retired surgeon (admittedly not quite the same as a researcher) who spends a great deal of time teaching youngsters to tie knots and use compasses prior to showing them how to sail small boats. It is apparrently "The most fun he's had in his entire life".
-- 8th of 7, Nov 01 2019


[Max] - it would seem odd for such a wound to prove fatal, unless you were experimenting with neurotoxins or something.
-- lurch, Nov 02 2019


I agree - although I have no idea what you're referring to.
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Nov 02 2019


^ I think it depends on which Gilson [lurch] visualised.
-- wjt, Nov 02 2019


In my mind, I was picturing something like an F81018G, with [MB] attempting to clear laboratory detritus with a flailing left hand whilst trying to multi-skewer a fleeing small-caliber experimental animal with the precision tool in his right.
-- lurch, Nov 02 2019


//I agree - although I have no idea what you're referring to// definitely [marked-for-tagline]
-- Frankx, Nov 02 2019


Ah, now it all makes sense. Sort of.
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Nov 02 2019



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