WTF is going on there?
Exodus from Oxford
-
they have smart people, but it is a disfunctional place. partly down to arrogance, partly down to carelessness. made a few wrong decisions in the past too. it will be interesting to see if Cambridge avoids some of the Oxford mismanagement - if they do, they will leapfrog them easily.
-
Insider: Quah 99% sure to leave,
Young is NOT leaving, he is part time retiring but will certainly still be around (just take fewer supervisees and does fewer lectures)
Mukherji will leave, potentially only for two years however.. So might or might not come back
Overall disastrous though - no senior hires made to replace any of these and even new young APs aren't in (quite) these niches
-
I have an impression that some UK departments are actively winding down their theory groups because micro theorists are sometime perceived as useless mathubators by senior administrators, who are often from other disciplines. Is this what's happening at Oxford?
-
Oxford Micro still strong: Meyer, Klemperer, Crawford, Young, Bond, Keller, Quinn.
Meyer good - active. Klemperer, Peyton Young, Crawford are not really active anymore. Bond does not really count as a theorist. Quinn is definitely not at the same level.
The problem is that all the best, active theory guys are moving: Mukerjee, John Quah. This follows Chris Wallace, David Myatt. What is it about Oxford that these very good semi-seniors move out?
Huffman leaving, but not for CMU.
I think that Oxford simply isn't ready to match the market - overestimating its brandname. It is soon going to be reduced to a liberal arts college, chrissake.
Btw, I am not an Oxford insider - I just watch very carefully.