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How scientific is the theory of evolution?  Even though it is being taught in schools and university as absolute truth, the reality is quite the contrary. 

While there are many articles on this topic available on the internet, here I really want to share my personal experiences with the world of research in an effort to debunk the myth that all great universities are publishing quality scientific research which is backed by solid research.  As a former Research at McGill, University of Montreal and University of Geneva in the areas of Computer science, Physics and imaging, I now have a strong understanding of the research world.

Goals of Universities and of the Research Centers

1) Research Output / Publications of individuals

Maximize the amount of publications generated by the authors.  It is extremely important for PhD students and senior researchers to produce as many articles as possible as these are essentially the ticket to later positions as Professors in prestigious universities.

2) Research Output / Publications of the Research Center or University

As a whole the university or research center must also maximize the number of research publications as this is a source of prestige for the university and frequently a measure used to evaluate the quality of the university.

3) Publication in specific journals

In the research world it is well known that certain journals have more “weight than others.  In particular journals such as “Science” and “Nature” have much more scientific weight and are much more prestigious than other scientific journals.  As such there is a strong motivation to publish in specific journals.

4) Obtaining research funding

While some of the money available o researchers comes directly from public funding, much of the money must be sought after by grant proposals, government funding or funding from private institutions.

In the next article we will see how these goals influence and bias the research objectives.

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