• Question: Is your job well paying?

    Asked by anon-188313 to Pizza Ka Yee, Paul, Nadine, Alex on 15 Nov 2018. This question was also asked by anon-188268.
    • Photo: Pizza Ka Yee Chow

      Pizza Ka Yee Chow answered on 15 Nov 2018:

      Hi josh_elderfield,

      Hmm I dont know to define ‘well paying’. If well paying means my salary is good enough to buy a Ferrari, then no…But if well paying means my salary is good enough to make my happy (be able to have a cup of coffee, social with friends in a decent restaurant, theatre or movie etc), then yes 🙂
      Our salary as a research may not be very high as compared with a businessman or those who work for the government, but we get freedom to do what we want and flexible time in managing our lives and do some thinking too! We also have financial supports to go to different places when meeting new people in conferences. 😀

    • Photo: Alex Reid

      Alex Reid answered on 15 Nov 2018: last edited 15 Nov 2018 5:48 pm

      Hi Josh_elderfield thanks for the question. I am not a particularly financially orientated person but I do live comfortably and have all my needs met on the salary I am on, so I am happy 🙂 Academia is not traditionally a sector of society that people join to get rich though! I work in a university but some of my fellow scientists will join the ‘private’ sector, where scientists work for businesses researching their products and so on. I am sure they get paid a lot more. Also I get very jealous of medical sleep researchers. I am a sleep psychologist whereas medical sleep researchers will look more into problems such as insomnia and sleep apnea. There is absolutely loads of cash in these areas, and huge amounts of funding. There is a sleep lab in Northumbria I once visited that looks like the bridge of the Starship Enterprise! FYI a lot medical sleep researchers will be in the ‘Sleep Zone’ (I actually even know some of them), so feel free to ask them questions too 🙂

    • Photo: Paul Matusz

      Paul Matusz answered on 15 Nov 2018:

      Hi josh_elderfield,

      Important question. In Switzerland I earn about the national average, which means that I earn the same as journalists or medium level architects. Is that small? Quality of life is generally high in here, and I am indeed paid more than my counterparts in the UK.
      However, as long as I can leave ok, not worry about paying the bills, the fact that I co study what makes me passionate every day really helps me get up every morning. I would be dreading a well paid but boring job a lot. I would simply not be able to do it, I know myself.

    • Photo: Nadine Mirza

      Nadine Mirza answered on 16 Nov 2018: last edited 16 Nov 2018 12:07 am

      Hey guys!
      So right now I’m being paid at the stipend rate of a PhD student. That’s not a lot of money for the long term (like if I wanted to rent a flat that wasn’t just two rooms joined together or if I was supporting a family) but it’s a perfectly reasonable rate for a postgrad/research assistant, plus I make additional money from teaching. I can live rather comfortably in my own place just me, pay bills, enjoy amenities, treat myself every now and then and afford to travel to Pakistan twice a year to visit my family! And I still manage to put aside a comfortable amount for savings!
      Over time, as I become more qualified and specialise even further I expect it’ll be quite a bit more- initially double what I’m currently making, then for a good time it’d be quadruple what I’m making and hopefully one day it’ll be between six to seven times!
      Like Alex said, people don’t really go into academics expecting to become rich and though I try to think realistically at the same time I feel as if, if I go along with the career path I want, I could get a pretty decent and even competitive salary which could lead to a cushy life if I managed my work and money well. This would probably require having to do a very multidisciplinary job however, that combines lecturing/teaching and research with science writing and maybe some elements of working with patients- probably in the private sector! There’s a lot I want to do and I want to be able to earn well for myself so I plan to go full steam ahead and push the limit as far as I can!
      A lot of this would also depend on if I planned to stay in the UK or move back to Pakistan, which would dramatically change earning potential depending on what I decided to do more of- research or treat patients.

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