TECH Transfer : Science, Money, Love, and the Ivory Tower (English Edition) [Kindle-editie] beoordelingen het boek quotes

In the annals of dysfunctional universities, the mythical Kershaw University is recognizable. Ranked high among major research institutions by U.S. News & World Report, it has sunk into administrative somnolence under a beloved, untouchable president who lapsed into dementia some years ago. The tenured faculty is focused on further minimizing its negligible teaching requirements. Guaranteed annual raises are a non-negotiable goal. Bitter, internecine feuding on campus is normal. The students, ardent consumers of on-line “study aids,” concentrate on partying and sleeping late, when not demonstrating about something, anything. While many universities reap corporate millions from research in their laboratories, Kershaw’s scientists prefer to cut their own private deals, ignoring the Technology Transfer Office. Now, at last, the revered president has passed away, and the trustees have assembled to consider a short list of highly accomplished candidates screened by a prestigious academic headhunter. Unfortunately, most of the presidential prospects are tainted by one or another shortcoming or misdeed. The winning choice, wearily selected late in the day, is a virtual unknown, clueless about how to run a university. The science scene at Kershaw is troublesome. The celebrated chief of Kershaw’s biggest laboratory receives millions in grants from U.S. government agencies while quaking in fear that his craftily fraudulent research will finally be exposed, ending his career and leading to revocation of his countless honors and awards. Meanwhile, another of Kershaw’s scientific stars is hard at work on a secret Army contract to develop an anti-sleep drug for battlefield troops. To avoid detection by the politically correct, demo-loving student body, the sleep project is disguised as basic research financed by the National Institutes of Health. Sniffing for clues and a commercial deal is a dropout post-doc working for a venture-capital firm, with ample time out for a hectic love life. And that’s just a small part of the story in this first novel by Dan Greenberg, drawn from decades of reporting on science policy, politics, and academe in newspapers and popular and professional journals.