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Asked by kaboom to Suzi, Damien, Rachael, Simon, Tim on 12 Jun 2011. This question was also asked by gabbielissemore12.
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Suzi Gage answered on 10 Jun 2011:
Hi @kaboom (same kaboom as kaboom2 or different?!)
and @gabbielissemore12This is a really good question, it’s not very clear is it? When I worked as a research assistant I was on a normal monthly salary, like any other job. These salaries can be paid by the University, but most often, when a Scientist wants to do some research, they apply to the Government who run things called ‘Research Councils’ which provide money to research they believe will be interesting. This money can then be used to pay salaries and buy equipment and all sorts of things. Some charities also use money they have to pay researchers to investigate science questions.
At the moment I’m a student, so I am not on a monthly salary anymore. Instead, I get a grant cheque from a Research Council every 3 months, and I use this to pay rent, bills, and buy food, clothes, everything. Although it’s not as much as my old salary, it’s still plenty to live on and I can still afford treats and things for myself too (thank goodness, I love shoes!!!)
I hope this answers your question 🙂
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Simon Bennett answered on 10 Jun 2011:
Hello,
Same as suzi, the studentship you get for doing a PhD is tax free however so it is a bit more than it looks.
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Rachael Ward answered on 10 Jun 2011:
A very important question!
When I was doing my PhD, it was the same as Suzi and Simon have explained.
After my PhD I got a postdoc research position that was funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC) via the Government. They gave me 3 years salary which was paid at the end of every month and is taxed, just like any other job. You can also apply to charities to fund your research.
When I worked in pharmaceutical companies, they paid me monthly, like a normal job too. -
Tim Fosker answered on 10 Jun 2011:
Hi ya,
Like Suzi, Simon and Rachael I was once paid by a grant from a research council (a government department that manages how government money is spent on research) while doing my PhD. Now I have a permanent job at a university. The university pays for me to spend half of my time teaching students and half of my time doing research. Of course the university needs to get money from somewhere. The money for university staff comes from the fees students pay, government funding and research grants that people like me apply for.
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Damien Hall answered on 12 Jun 2011:
Like Suzi said, if you’re not (yet!) a scientist yourself, it’s not that clear that for scientists research is a job like any other one! That’s because research is usually the hidden bit of science.
Think about it like this: if you ever hear about science on the news, it’s usually because there’s some new drug, or a new species has been found, or a new planet or something. But those discoveries are just the tip of the science iceberg – in order for those discoveries to be made, lots of research had to be done first.
– For the drug, there had to be trials to see if it worked and check it wasn’t harmful.
– For the new species, someone had to go to the jungle or wherever and find it, and that meant that they had to think it was worth spending the money to go, and that meant they had to have found out that there was a reasonable chance that there was something there to be found.
– For the new planet, they probably had to spend hours going through data from telescopes to see new specks of light that they hadn’t noticed before, and then they had to study the light to see what it could tell them about what was producing it.All that background work (that’s what a lot of research is) is necessary for the discoveries to be made, and if someone didn’t do the background work there would be no discoveries, so people get paid to do it as well as getting paid when they actually discover something!
Comments
Kath commented on :
When I was a phd student I would only buy shoes if I acheived something like submitting a paper or being awarded a talk at a conference. So either I had to limit my shoe-buying or I didn’t earn much money, probably both!