• Question: Is there much money in being a scientists?

    Asked by zachemborough to Christine, Edd, Jess, Nicolas, Zara on 12 Jun 2011. This question was also asked by jameswyatt.
    • Photo: Edward Codling

      Edward Codling answered on 10 Jun 2011:

      Hehehe – I’m not going to tell you how much I earn! 🙂

      Seriously though, being a University lecturer is quite well paid – we get a little bit more than a school teacher for example. It is certainly enough to live comfortably on but you won’t get rich in science unless you invent something really clever (and then sell it!). However, considering how many years we have to study / train before we can start we don’t get that much when compared to (e.g.) a lawyer or doctor (or banker!)

      I think most scientists are motivated by the desire to find out new things and contribute to developing human knowledge rather than money!

      However, to become a scientist you need to spend a lot of extra time studying – e.g. doing extra degrees like an MSc (a Masters degree) or a PhD (a 3-year research project). You would then usually have to do a few years as a ‘postdoctoral’ scientist (i.e. a scientist who has got their PhD degree) before you could become a University lecturer.

      However, if you are keen on science then I would definitely recommend to carry on studying it – even if you don’t get a job in science, the skills you learn (e.g. how to critically think) are useful in any job.

    • Photo: Jessica Chu

      Jessica Chu answered on 11 Jun 2011:

      Hi,

      Someone else asked a very similar question so I will use bits of my answer to your question, hope you don’t mind 🙂

      Between me and my PhD friends, we are funded by different sponsors and we roughly get between 13K – 18K a year to cover living cost during the time for our degree.
      Hopefully we will be on a higher salary after we finish our PhDs!!

      Just to give you an example of people who is on the other end to me e.g. people who have made a really successful drug or invention- they will be earning loads more…..

      There is a Professor called Malcom Stevens, who is retired now but a while ago, his research group have made a drug called Temozolomide which is very effective to treat certain types of brain cancers. In 2009, the sales of temozolomide reached 1 billion US dollars!!!!!! and Prof. Stevens will get a share of the profit!!
      I hear that nowadays he spends most of his time on his yacht traveling around the world with his wife 🙂

      There is a building called BioCity in Nottingham (a big building that have a lot of lab space to rent out to small science businesses) and I see quite a few nice Mercedes, Jaguar and Porsche parked outside. So I think there is definitely potential to earn a lot of money if you have a really good product (same as in the business sector).

      I think you can study science and end up not being in the lab and still get a decent earning!!!
      I spoke to someone who studied Biochemistry at uni and did a PhD in Pharmacy and ended up being a patent lawyer (someone who does all the copy rights paperwork to make sure no one else can copy the work done by some researchers).

      For example, some chemists have made a new molecule that they are developing to treat malaria and the chemists would like to protect their work so no other researchers can steal their idea and make the same molecule without permission.

      The patent lawyer have told me that they charges about 600 pounds an hour to discuss all the paperwork involved and each molecule takes several hours – in the region of 3,000 pounds to complete all the paper work needed to protect the new idea.
      Because this patent lawyer have a science background (which is needed in patenting science ideas – the chemists can explain to patent lawyer how the molecule work and what the structure is etc. so the lawyer is able to advise the chemists how best to patent their molecule.

      It could be a new molecule they want to patent or a new machine that is helpful to scientists!!

      With this career option – you will need to spend another 2 or 3 years to pass all the (law) exams after the science degree because in the end you will become a qualified patent lawyer (as well as a scientist!!!).
      Once he completes all of his exams he will be earning around 80,000 a year.

      Or a Regulatory Affair person does not do any lab work themselves on the job but someone who is a scientist and have done lab work in their degree. Their job is to check all the experiments done by a research group to make sure all their results make sense and it is at a very good standard before their potential drug can be launched on to the market. They earn quite a good salary too 🙂

      Hope this helps 🙂

    • Photo: Zara Gladman

      Zara Gladman answered on 11 Jun 2011:

      Lecturers and chief scientists are well paid – the further up the ladder you go, the more you’ll get. Maybe not as much as an accountant or a top lawyer but a pretty decent salary… and of course, if you discover something incredible, you could end up a millionaire. Your salary may also depend on what kind of scientist you are – there’s less money in ecology and conservation, for example, than cancer research.

      Most scientists aren’t scientists for the money though – they’re scientists because science is interesting, making discoveries is exciting and, quite simply, science changes the world! Many of the things we learn through science can be used to make the world a better place. Stuff that money can’t buy!

    • Photo: Nicolas Biber

      Nicolas Biber answered on 12 Jun 2011:

      From my experience and from the experience of most scientist I know there is not more money in being a scientist than in any average job. But as I already stated in my answer to sjw12345678910111213141516171819202122232425’s question: to me, being a scientist is not about earning lots of money, it’s about doing work I am happy doing and I feel is useful. I could not put it better than Zara: Science rewards you with stuff that money can’t buy!

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