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Comment by bitxbit | Hacker News Reader

I think it comes down to US and UK in terms of general science research. I would include Japan but language is an issue (for many). Despite what the average math and science metrics in the US imply, I actually think it’s a direct result of more practical approach to education in the US. There are unbelievable opportunities for young students who want to excel in sciences. I was around graduate level research environment since the 8th grade. And I would say it wasn’t all that unusual as long as you knew where to look. Access to science research is unparalleled in the US.

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My home towns school stopped giving homework when I was in high school because the budget ran out for paper halfway through the year.

There may be unparalleled access to science research in the US, but it is unevenly distributed

As a parent, I agree with you 100% and this is a big problem in the US because quality of teaching has gone down drastically over the past twenty years. I think teaching in public schools should be a mandatory public service (or highly incentivized ie loan forgiveness) for college graduates.

Having a bachelors doesn't make someone a good teacher. There is a reason teachers get teaching degrees.

Having a teaching degree doesn't make someone a good teacher. In fact, one of the most common criticisms of the U.S. public schools is the education degree which is one of the least rigorous degrees one can get, hence attracts people of low aptitude to the field.

Actually, there are student loan forgiveness programs in place for teachers for exactly this reason

My immediate reaction to this is you _probably_ had well-off parents in or adjacent to academia, and (separately) are likely to be in the demographic majority here.

Opportunities like OP described are not as rare as all that. I grew up in an agrarian town but was able to access a lot of the resources of the nearby university through programs like the Cooperative Extension Service. They are not things that fall in your lap, you need to find them and take part; but you don't need well connected or educated parents to get them.

No. I grew up in inner city, poverty, single parent. Believe it or not most scientists are extremely generous with their time and these programs do exist for students who seek them out.

How hard it is to access it as an adult with a career? I'm an immigrant software engineer but I'd love to work in research (I think).

Is there a path other than a PhD at this point?

There is no need to jump in as a PhD. Enroll as an undergraduate anywhere that has a good department in the area you're interested in, and then express interest and work as hard as you can -- if you show promise, the faculty and graduate students will notice you and enjoy your conversation. However, if you want a paid career as a researcher, you will absolutely need a PhD.

If you know python and college level statistics you should be able to find someone. Everyone needs to crunch data (and some graduate students feel its beneath them :-)

If you're a software engineer and willing to take a pay cut, plenty of research labs will be happy to take you on.

Try to hustle your way into a Research Software Engineer [0] role somewhere. The role isn't formally acknowledged in the U.S. (outside of Google) but you can usually find them posted on university job boards as "Programmer/Analyst" or something similar. Downsides include crap pay and the potential for your job to spontaneously disappear after soft money [1] runs out.

[0] https://rse.ac.uk/who/

[1] https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30621/what-is-a...

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