• @moistclump
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    213 days ago

    I’m here as a science-fraud and lurker, and I do not know what a PI is in this context.

    • (⬤ᴥ⬤)
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      102 days ago

      after the Great Science Cockup of '89 all scientists are overseen by a noir-style private investigator, the whiskey and cigar costs are high but they have solved ~8 murders per year since

    • baltakatei
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      143 days ago

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principal_investigator

      In many countries, the term principal investigator (PI) refers to the holder of an independent grant and the lead researcher for the grant project, usually in the sciences, such as a laboratory study or a clinical trial. The phrase is also often used as a synonym for “head of the laboratory” or “research group leader”. While the expression is common in the sciences, it is used widely for the person or persons who make final decisions and supervise funding and expenditures on a given research project.

    • @Contramuffin
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      42 days ago

      PI = principal investigator, or the leader of the lab. Also known as the professor. The closest comparison to regular jobs would be that the PI is the manager. They typically no longer do actual lab work and typically fulfill a role that is entirely managerial, so they’re often removed from and therefore entirely oblivious to goings-on of the lab. It’s a somewhat common occurrence for lab members to have a concern that the PI dismisses because they’re unaware of the severity of the concern, or for the PI to have a concern that lab members have already addressed

      • @tomatolung
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        22 days ago

        The PI’s I deal with on Research Vessels almost always get their hands dirty. Both in the lab and on deck, so managing is more of an added responsibility, as opposed to a managerial shift to desk bound life.

        Maybe not true for all areas.