New benches, and the manpower problem

New experimental benches have arrived, so the lab’s physical setup is largely rebuilt and can take a larger group. If staff handle well and senior students teach juniors, in principle we could teach experiments no matter how many people join. The present staff are, luckily for me, strong at experiment, research and teaching — becoming staff as a scientist is a hard selection.

Graduate school is different. Unlike football or athletics, there is little natural selection by age or region for people aiming to become scientists. In practice most people who want a graduate place can find one, even at Tokyo or Kyoto, even in medicine. So some cannot yet teach juniors, and some become trouble, and we cannot simply grow without limit. Space is limited too. We want sincere, able people, not unlimited numbers.