曹： 您觉得对在美国留学的医学院学生而言， 回国就业和留美有什么优势和劣势。
许： 每个人的需求不同， 就业选择就不同， 很难一概而论。 就做学术而言， 可能美国现在的学术环境更好一点， 但具体要因人而异。 美国现在有些制药公司在大量裁员， 这对中国来说， 倒是个好机会， 可以吸引更多这方面的人才回国发展。
和许教授聊天的过程中， 有个美国的博士来访， 我在门外等了一会儿。 看见一群复旦生科院的孩子在用电脑， 他们是许教授实验室招的学生。 按许教授的说法， 他们是对这个领域有兴趣的人。 一个个果然都很投入， 时不时乐呵呵地交谈。 我注意到他们穿着统一的文化衫， 背上有一个抽象的基因链和一句话“Life Is a Miracle”， 这个组合图案很适合他们的身份。 这句简单的话也触动了我， 人们常说芸芸众生， “芸芸” 是从数量上说， 生命随处可见。 但从内涵上看， 哪怕最细微的生命都是一个伟大的奇迹。 探索生命科学之路是不断发现奇迹的过程。 如果更多的人能像许教授说的， 快乐地去探索、 去发现， 那么无论从事哪个领域的工作， 生命的奇迹就在当下。
斯特灵图书馆墙壁上的雕刻，内容是：耶鲁学生挑灯学习，一边是猫头鹰，表示晚上； 另一边是骷髅，表示过度劳累离死亡不远
中国理科学生不重视语言能力， 这是最大的障碍之一。 语言能力对科学研究很重要， 博士后最后一个台阶上不去往往就败在语言上。 科学也是一种交流的过程， 不懂语言， 不能有效地沟通， 是中国学生很大的劣势。
美国小学到大学没有排名， 每个学生有自己的特点， 量化的分数不能说明很多问题。 等学生考虑未来工作发展的时候， 学校也会帮助他们发现自己的特长。
我们应该为中国民族骄傲， 中国人确实挺聪明， 但中国人对人类科技的发展贡献不大， 中国人将来在世界上要有竞争力， 如果没有创造力只有廉价劳动力是不行的。 以前我们的文化鼓励民族自尊心比较多， 今天我们应该反思我们缺什么， 怎样在下一个时代的世界竞争中有所作为。
中国学生： 走出自己的圈子（1）
David Mayhew； ； Harvard University； 1964； is Sterling Professor of Political Science。 He has been an American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow； a Guggenheim Fellow； a Hoover National Fellow； a Sherman Fairchild Fellow at the California Institute of Technology； a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences； a member of the American Political Science Association National Council； a member of the board of overseers of the National Election Studies of the Center for Political Studies and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences。 In 2000…2001； he was John M。 Olin Visiting Professor in American Government at Nuffield College； Oxford。 His research concerns ； ： Party Loyalty Among Congressmen； Congress： The Electoral Connection； Congressional Elections： The Case of the Vanishing Marginal； Placing Parties in American Politics； Divided We Govern； America？蒺s Congress： Actions in the Public Sphere； James Madison through Newt Gingrich； and Electoral Realignments： A Critique of an American Genre。
C： Regarding social science research； what are the characteristics of good research？
D： It’s hard to answer this question without being boring。 It should be innovative。 There is no point to do something that people have already done a lot before。 It has an interesting question to ask。 It should be sound and well…done and of course it is well…written or people won’t read it。
C： How would you weigh the importance of forming good research questions versus developing good research methodologies？
D： Both are important but if you don’t have an interesting and good question； you might start at a wrong point。 The problem of social science research in the ； too narrow to be interesting。 There is a large range of interesting questions to explore。
C： I think the definition of a good research is different for undergraduates and graduates。
D： For ； we tell them you are writing a book。 The dissertation should be movable to a book。 Some publishers told me that two departments are well…known among publishers for generating dissertation books； Chicago and Yale。 A dissertation book is often narrower than what will e ten years later because it is the first book and it is not famous or sound or important as the books we often see。 Nevertheless； a dissertation book should be reasonably broad； interesting and convincing。
For undergraduate； we usually get them to write something that is sound； well…quoted in literature and the question is reasonable； that a scholar would ask。 Generally speaking； undergraduates don’t know how to do these things for their long essays in senior year。
C： What does a foreign student need to know about doing research in the United States？
D： Sometimes there is a particular difficulty for some cultures。 People from those cultures are accustomed to rote learning（死记硬背的学习）。 I see it’s very mon that they always memorize things and spell them out again。 They have to be broken of that because American learning is not a rote learning； maybe it should be for the earlier grades； like elementary and high schools with language and math。 But by the time they are 18 or 20； there should not be too much rote learning； but for some cultures； that’s difficult and it’s a shock for them。
Also； you have to know how to use resources in the ； how to use library and how to use professors。 The latter one is important and you have to know some munication skills to get help and instructions from professors。书包 网 。 想看书来
中国学生： 走出自己的圈子（2）
C： I think the relations between professors and students in the States are different from that in China。
D： How is that？
C： When I’m talking to you； I somehow feel like talking to a friend； more casually and frankly。 When I was in China； I always felt a gap confronting a professor。
D： I’m not unique in the ； most professors in this country are like this。
C： I also feel that Chinese professors are busy with their research and don’t have too much time to talk to their students。
D： That’s very mon in the America too； but at Yale； there are not too many students so the professors can have more time with individuals。 I don’t have more than 4 students each year as their chief advisor。 Also； it’s a norm and expectation for a professor to spend more time on teaching。 They would have some problems if they are bad teachers。 Students have the newspapers and the school also has evaluations。 At Yale； students go to the puters to do the evaluation； I can see the ments and evaluation but other professors can’t。 These evaluations are informal； but if you don’t do well； the word will get around。
C： What steps should a student take to prepare for graduation studies？
D： Good English is ’s not new。 They don’t know what getting ’t have a 3 year cap like Law School。 It takes you five or six years to learn how to write a dissertation and that’s not the end of a rainbow。 You won’t be paid like a lawyer or a doctor。 I see many students came across this difficulty in the third or fourth year that they don’t want to continue but I don’t see many Chinese students quit and they seem to know what they are doing and be more embedded in this life。
C： If you were meeting with a group of students from China； what advice would you give them to help them be successful at Yale？
D： They should be enterprising。 Go out to use the system； to meet people and to try out classes。 Use Yale as a base and as well as a resour