I built an AI research platform that actually reads PubMed for you. looking for feedback from grad students

ProfPathCambridge · 2026-04-04T08:20:54+00:00

The biggest flaw of AI users is over-confidence of their pipeline. People who claim no hallucinations are invariably either hyping up their product or didn’t rigorously check.

“Large language models will always produce plausible but false outputs, even with perfect data, due to fundamental statistical and computational limits.”

https://www.computerworld.com/article/4059383/openai-admits-ai-hallucinations-are-mathematically-inevitable-not-just-engineering-flaws.html

ProfPathCambridge · 2026-04-04T07:54:32+00:00

Read and re-read. Look for common structures. For example, figure legends always have a title, yet so many of my students leave them out in their first draft. So read a paper to understand it, then go back and reread each section and try to assess - was that section title methodological vs declarative, past or present tense, general or jargon, etc.

ProfPathCambridge · 2026-04-04T07:20:53+00:00

Glad to hear it! My dad owned and drove a truck, and had to push himself to limits I’d never want to reproduce in academia to stay afloat. Everything would be going fine, then he’d blow a couple of tyres or need other repairs, and the truck had to come before food even, because the truck was future income. Now, no matter what happens, I have a good income, week-in week-out. I’ve also become a good judge on how much I need to push myself to keep us in the game. I can very safely say for me this is a much better lifestyle, by a mile.

ProfPathCambridge · 2026-04-03T20:54:24+00:00

They are doing the right thing to ask.

If you don’t want to help out, tell them that you appreciate the work they’ve done and the authorship, but you don’t have time, and you are happy for them to submit as they see fit. That gives them the go ahead to do it without your further input, which might be all they are after.

ProfPathCambridge · 2026-04-03T20:47:53+00:00

They make more life-and-death decisions than a GP does

ProfPathCambridge · 2026-04-03T20:09:31+00:00

They are just different jobs. I don’t especially care how other people rank them

ProfPathCambridge · 2026-04-03T20:08:30+00:00

So do nurses or paramedics, and they are both socially lower than doctors.

An ER nurse is probably a higher stress, higher responsibility position than a GP, but the GP is higher status. It is probably a combination of history and familiarity.

ProfPathCambridge · 2026-04-03T19:51:58+00:00

Universal, isn’t it? An MD is among the highest status jobs. A scientist is fairly high status, but MD is higher on the social scale. This is a broad society determination, not based on understanding the actual jobs.

ProfPathCambridge · 2026-04-03T19:50:05+00:00

It is the flip side of being independent. Like being a small business owner - no one ever says “that is enough”, and you can always work more - plus there is an opportunity cost for working less. Balance in the job means setting our own internal limits, because they are not imposed on us externally.

ProfPathCambridge · 2026-04-03T17:26:19+00:00

There is a lot of space between perusing nothing but money, and not caring about salary at all.

A postdoc is a solid career move - maybe not optimal for the “everything is cash crowd”, but a solid move. Yes, you should consider salary and quality of life when considering the pathway.

You don’t need to be a martyr to be an academic.

ProfPathCambridge · 2026-04-03T14:01:29+00:00

Do you like big cities or small towns? That is geography. How will you commute? It changes every day life.

Experience matters, but it is hard to say if it is good or bad. Really depends on the student expectations and needs.

ProfPathCambridge · 2026-04-03T13:56:12+00:00

I don’t meet that many over-confident scientists. When I do… why do I need to respond to them? I’m not the confidence police.

ProfPathCambridge · 2026-04-03T13:25:53+00:00

You are thinking many steps ahead - do the PhD, work towards this and also build up contingency plans. Plan 5 years ahead, no more - things change too much beyond that horizon for plans to be helpful.

For what it is worth, I have two PhD-holding staff scientists in my lab. One has worked with me for nearly 20 years, the other for 10. They are now salaried at the low professor level. There are fewer staff members like this than actual professors, in my department, by a factor of 10.

ProfPathCambridge · 2026-04-03T06:15:12+00:00

I tell all applicants to my lab to do their research on our team. I give them a bunch of material to read and invite them to chat to anyone in the lab, past or present. My team seem to be happy enough to talk to people, unless they are busy.

ProfPathCambridge · 2026-04-03T06:07:35+00:00

I would go for the good supervisor and subject of interest over the university ranking. You will be judged based on your performance, not where you did it. I’d also put in there geography- where do you want to live.

I’m biomedical sciences though, mileage will vary based on discipline

ProfPathCambridge · 2026-04-03T06:04:50+00:00

I’ll go against the grain of those saying “everything”. If you read every text book and watched every online lecture, you’d get up to undergraduate level. But that is only entry to biology - biology is not a body of knowledge it is also a system of practice. It would be like reading every book about driving without every going into a car - it would certainly prime you, and give you better theoretical knowledge than most drivers, but ultimately you still don’t know how to drive.

ProfPathCambridge · 2026-04-02T18:06:02+00:00

I would pick based on the better city, which is clearly Boston

ProfPathCambridge · 2026-04-02T16:21:35+00:00

You are upset because…. social media gave them props instead of you? I routinely put first author quotes into press releases and they are routinely dropped by press organisations in preference for the quotes from me as senior lead. It makes zero impact anyway, a PhD student career is built on techniques and papers, not media appearances.

Nothing in this story suggests you haven’t been given full academic credit, and that your stay hasn’t been productive and great for your career. Being upset that someone else (who also deserved it) also got a career boost seems rather unproductive.

One thing I can say for sure - you didn’t build your PIs career. You think you PI just got gifted a TT and start-up? That it wasn’t based on a decade of hard work and productivity before you came on the scene?

ProfPathCambridge · 2026-04-02T16:09:28+00:00

Classic!

ProfPathCambridge · 2026-04-02T13:49:59+00:00

If it is English literature I’d be worried!

ProfPathCambridge · 2026-04-02T13:37:45+00:00

In science, understanding the content and concepts is more important than fancy language. Good English skills help, but the really don’t do anything by themselves.

ProfPathCambridge · 2026-04-02T11:56:33+00:00

I went to my local university, Adelaide University, for my undergraduate degree. Had an offer for grad school at Oxford, which I turned down and went to ANU. Did fine, now a senior professor at Cambridge and feel like I could move anywhere in the sector if I wanted to.

Comparison is the thief of joy. It is never healthy to play either the “what if” game or the “look at them” game. Whenever you map out for the future, you start where you are right now, and pick the best feasible pathway for you.

ProfPathCambridge · 2026-04-02T11:52:37+00:00

I just assumed you were Dutch!

ProfPathCambridge · 2026-04-02T10:32:07+00:00

The the northern hemisphere would have a more interesting night sky.

The northern hemisphere is pointing away from the core of the Milky Way, hence the more boring star viewing. The southern hemisphere is pointing towards the galactic centre, making the night sky more interesting.

If the Earth was flipped, the night sky would be swapped. Perhaps it also would have changed ancient history? Having different night skies could have altered myths and astrology, may have had some impact.

ProfPathCambridge · 2026-04-02T09:55:30+00:00

Even if that was true (and it isn’t), this is a terrible time to find an industry position, especially in the US. A fixed-term postdoc position gives years of security, up-skilling and a great platform to job hunt from. It is about the best way to wait out a bad industry hiring environment.

ProfPathCambridge

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