Well That Didn’t Work

26 Replies

Apologies to anyone who finds the title too flippant. This is a serious situation, and I am taking it seriously. But this is how I write. I mix the absurd and the profound. I build stories.

In May, I was offered the kind of position I’d been searching for for years, the kind of position almost everyone in my life at that point was searching for: a permanent position as a theoretical physicist. As these positions almost always do, it required an international move: I’d be leaving Denmark, and going to France.

Originally, I had planned to defer the position for a year, to have time for my wife and I to tie up loose ends. That, it turned out, wasn’t possible: the position would have to start before the end of 2023. I talked things over with my wife, and we decided to move in August. She works in education, so it would, we hoped, let her start a job with the start of the school year. We’d settle in, get to know a new country and find our place in it.

She didn’t end up finding that place. That wasn’t because she couldn’t find work: that came easy. It was because, as far as employers here understood, she wasn’t allowed to work. The EU Directive on Freedom of Movement is very clear: spouses of EU citizens (I’m German) have the right to work EU-wide, independent of whether they have any document from their host country saying so, as long as they live with their spouse. But different countries implement this differently. The Danish government makes this right clear on their website. As soon as the spouse of an EU citizen registers with Danish immigration, shortly after they arrive, they get a letter saying their case is in process, and they conditionally can work. If they happen to have been lying, their case can still be rejected, but if it is only the employee is punished: the employer couldn’t have known, after all.

France is different. If an employer hires someone who lies about their right to work, the employer is at fault, so employers are afraid to hire without explicit documentation from the French government. Government websites do not mention that spouses of EU citizens have the right to work, and leaves it off of lists where it should appear. And the French documentation is slow. My wife applied the day after we arrived, in August. Five months later, the French government finally opened the file. They gave her a document saying she had the right to remain in the country…but not yet the right to travel or work.

In the end, my wife decided that she didn’t want to stay in the country that did this to her, and seeing the effect it has had on her I have to agree.

Academics don’t get to choose where to live. People do, though, especially in places like the EU. I can choose for us to live in Denmark, to build a life in a country that has treated us well. I just have to leave academia to do it.

So that’s the plan. I have resigned from my position in France, the moving truck has picked up our stuff. We’re headed back to Denmark. I’ll spend a couple months as a visiting professor at the Niels Bohr Institute, courtesy of some extremely generous former colleagues.

After that? Something else. Probably Data Science, that seems like what most of the ex-physicists are doing these days. Ultimately, I’m up for anything I can do in Copenhagen that leverages my skills. I’ve got ten years of experience coding in weird programming languages, learning new kinds of math, and writing once a week for you guys. I’m optimistic I’ll find something. (And if you’re looking for someone like that in Copenhagen, let me know!)

I do still care about physics, even if I won’t be researching it. So I’ll keep blogging, and the blog will keep having physics content. I’ve dabbled in science journalism more recently, and I’ll keep doing more. It won’t be a full-time job for the moment, but in the long run who knows? For my physics contacts, if you’re willing to be a sounding-board for dumb questions, that would be really valuable. And if you run into a story, something that sounds like it would make good science news, then let me know!

For all those attending the conference I’m organizing: it will still go on, even if I’m less likely to be a part of it. I still have four capable co-organizers, after all.

Over the next few weeks I’ll have a few more posts about this, from different angles. I have a few more things to say, some personal, some practical (for example, a guide for EU citizens bringing non-EU spouses to France). My wife will have a guest post: she’s had some crazy things happen to her here, and deserves to have her story told.

In the meantime, I’d be happy to hear from people. I know many of you will be shocked. (Props to the old friend who figured it out from my LinkedIn posts!) I’ve met a lot of support so far, a lot of very understanding people. But whatever your reaction, I’m willing to talk through it.

26 thoughts on “Well That Didn’t Work”

  1. Nikolaos Syrrakos

    Dear Matthew,

    It is a pity that the situation with your wife’s employment didn’t work out. Bureaucracy in France is notoriously complicated, but this shouldn’t be an excuse for messing up peoples lives. Leaving academia is a big move, but I am sure you will find other interesting things to occupy yourself. And even though you will not be active in research, there are many ways to keep in touch with physics.

    I wish you and your wife all the best in your new journey. I will be looking forward for your next posts here.

    Best wishes,

    Nikolas

    Liked by 1 person

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  2. Gary Wieselman

    I’m so sorry for the French government not being prompt with the paperwork for her employment. Hopefully you will find a position which will allow you to remain in the field of physics. I enjoy your blog, and hope you can keep on writing it too. This is a formal thank you. Gary Frasure-Wieselman Wisconsin, USA *Should Trump win, perhaps I will be applying for asylum in the EU!

    Liked by 2 people

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  4. Lance Dixon

    Dear Matt,

    I’m really sorry to hear about your trials and tribulations with French immigration policy, and that it led you to have to abandon your position at Saclay.

    As one of your research collaborators (maybe even your “pseudo-advisor”) I just have to say how much of a pleasure it was working with you on multiple papers over several years, for the many physical and mathematical insights that you brought to our projects, but also your good spirits, fortitude, and friendship. A large part of the joy of physics is who you do it with, and I’ll remember our times together fondly. I wish you all the best in your future endeavors, and I’ll be watching in particular for your future articles in science journalism.

    Best wishes,
    Lance

    Liked by 3 people

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  5. John Joseph M. Carrasco

    Dear Matt,

    Congratulations on prioritizing family and quality of life so strongly! (And to my tastes appropriately!) I’m so sorry to hear the transition to France has been such a misadventure. How incredibly emotionally charged the sense of whiplash for a situation that could (and should!) have worked out so wonderfully to turn into an ordeal.

    It’s great that you and your wife are sharing your experiences. In addition to your science journalism, I hope you can also broadcast and propagate the joy you find in your next career challenges and opportunities as avidly as you‘ve shared your engagement with physics.

    All my best,
    JJ

    Liked by 2 people

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  6. JKMSMKJ

    Sad to hear that, 4Gravitons! My weekends have started with your articles for the last, who knows how many, years. Please continue this blog even if you have to rename it to 4Regression or 4QBits or 4AGI or IfNot4French. Thank you as many have written before me!

    Liked by 1 person

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  7. Puck

    Thank you for sharing your story! I’m sorry about France’s governmental bullshit, and I totally understand choosing instead to live in a country that doesn’t do that!

    I’ve really enjoyed following your blog over the years & I’ll enjoy following whatever the next chapter holds for you.

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  8. NORTIER Florian

    Dear Matthew,

    We do not have the pleasure to know each other, but I am ashamed of what my country did to your wife and academic career. Your story should be known.

    Best wishes for your new work life!

    Liked by 1 person

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  10. jeanabousamra

    I don’t know you and it’s my first time reading this blog, but I want to say that reading your story makes me so deeply ashamed I would frankly like not to be French. How ironic it is that France prides itself on being a “land of asylum”. Sadly, I personally know several (ex-)foreigners who have suffered or are suffering similarly scandalous treatment from the administration.

    Liked by 1 person

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  12. A

    As someone who has left physics for data science a few years ago (and has seen many friends make the same transition), I just want to send some encouragement. The road to find a job in industry can be very difficult, it is absolutely possible and in the end you will have a higher quality of life. You will have more control over where you live, and will likely have more financial resources, which will give more options for you and your family. I found that one of the biggest changes in mindset was to realize that I was not “leaving academia” but “starting something new and exciting.” Good luck, I am sure it will work out for the best.

    Liked by 1 person

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  15. olmosirk

    Mostly just joining the hope you find your footing and to lesser extend that this blog continues.

    As possibly completely useless option; undergraduate teaching position. Yes, salaries aren’t what they should be, hours neither. But it’s sufficiently clearly defined to leave you with time to do real science. Without all that crap intitutionalised is full of. Because, imho, proper fundamental science can only be a hobby, it can’t be an industry. We’ve wondered so far into the wasteland one needs neither CERN nor JWST to start looking for a better direction.

    Take care.

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  16. Marcus Spradlin

    Dear Matt,

    I’m very sorry for the field’s (and France’s!) loss but I wish you and your family all the best for the future. I fondly remember your visit to Brown, and the seminar you gave, around the time of your paper 1308.2276. Some in the audience were eager to “see the answer”, and you had to open your laptop and patiently explain that it existed in the form of a Mathematica file; congratulations on being among the first sets of people to push our knowledge of super-Yang-Mills theory beyond the limit of human comprehension.

    Best,
    Mark

    Liked by 1 person

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  17. Mike

    An opinion orthogonal to the usual ones: the problem is somewhere (somebody) else. Yes, EU has a lot of bureaucratic procedures that can be annoying, but how one can leave (be forced to leave) a dreamjob just because of somebody else’s not getting a doc in 5 months? The only solution is: divorce!

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      1. sma045

        I’m just a fan from the other side of the world. The head guy there makes great youtube videos. In the latest, https://youtu.be/U434Sy9BGf8?si=eirtjUZWPw_iDSvr , at the end he invites potential employees to contact them.

        The thing that’s impressive is that they aren’t just doing design, they’re building a lot of related stuff and selling worldwide. They also are doing simulation and other software development.

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  19. Karel

    Dear Matt,

    I just saw your post on Linkedin. I’m sorry to hear that it didn’t work out in Paris, but I’m sure that you’ll find something new and interesting. Anyway, let’s meet up for some whiskey once you’re back in Copenhagen

    Best
    Karel

    Liked by 1 person

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