• Question: does working as a sceintist give you financial freedom?

    Asked by donshaks10 to Davie, Gemma, James P, James V, Nuala on 26 Jun 2012.
    • Photo: James Pope

      James Pope answered on 26 Jun 2012:

      Hi donshaks10,

      I guess this depends on what you see as financial freedom. I think you can have a comfortable life in any branch of science, with enough money for a 3 bedroom house, a car and a holiday or two a year, while being able to go watch the football.

      If you want to be megarich, the richest you can be in science is to invent something new and really useful (like Bill Gates or Steve Jobs) or to work in the medical drugs industry, the oil industry or in mining geology. These sectors of science can make you very rich and I have a couple of friends working in these sectors and making a lot of money (maybe £60,000 a year, compared to my first job which will be about £22,000), but I think they get less enjoyment from their science than I do. I have the knowledge to work in the oil industry and while the money is always tempting, I don’t think I would have as much fun, I wouldn’t enjoy the work as much and money can’t buy you happiness if you don’t like your work, at least in my opinion.

    • Photo: James Verdon

      James Verdon answered on 26 Jun 2012:

      I don’t think many people go into science for the money. You’ll probably earn enough to have a normal house and car and a nice holiday or two, but probably not enough to ever call yourself rich. At the start in particular, the pay isn’t great, although as you go on and get more experience you can do well.

      As James P says, the best way to make more money from science is to start out in science and then move across to industry, where the pay is usually better. But then the work in industry is often less interesting….

    • Photo: Nuala Carson

      Nuala Carson answered on 27 Jun 2012:

      Hey donshaks10,

      I wasn’t really expecting a question like this! I think you get paid well for what you do, especially as really you get to do what you want (you usually choose what to research). As other people said you can get really rich, but its the same as every job – some people get paid really well while most get paid a decent amount

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