'Scientists'

[goowe]

People always say 'Scientists'. Do these people not have job titles? Who funds them? Who do they work for? any info at all?!?!

[del_1690]

These people are usually funded by the government or other organisations to research different areas of our lives and try to work things out or find something to do something else. These scientists can be post-graduate students at uni or even professors who are given money to study such things. Without these people, our lives would be worthless.......wait a minute, THEY ARE!

[incitatus]

we are people too.....

[incitatus]

a breif answer, applicable to the uk only. There are two breeds of scientist, industrial and academic. industrial scientists work 9-5 days for companies who give them specific problems to solve. the companies then pay them huge wodges of cash and fill their lifes with happiness. Companies do not, however, do blue skies research: this means if there isnt a quick way of making a buck out of it the company isnt interested. The result is that almost all the major scientific advances come from the academic sector.

[incitatus]

Academic scientists start out as PHD students, who do original reseqarch whilst being paid from 8-16k a year. which is considerably less than many milkmen. Once this is done they move on to being post-docs (PDRA's) who run the research labs and help supervise the students. They are paid up to 24k (still less than a tube driver for a job requiring 7 years training). postdocs do most of the actual quality research in the labs, or at least make it happen. Above them are the uni lecturers, each of whom has a research group. and above them are the professors. (unlike the us, a lecturer is not automatically a professor). Lecturers and senior post-docs come up with ideas which they take to the funding councils, who decide if they will award money to research those ideas. This is a competetive process and can lead to tears before bedtime. 2 years without grants and most lecturers will be sacked.

[incitatus]

Funding can also be got from companies, who get the research done in universities because then they dont have to pay proper wages. Equipment in uni labs tends to be made in-house because we cant afford to buy it. Sometimes this is good, sometimes bad.

[incitatus]

The problem with dels answer was that it has it the wrong way round. government doesnt come to us and ask us to research stuff- or only very rarely. mostly WE think of the ideas and then we go begging for money.

[woofgang]

hmmm, Inci, do we get a hint that you have an agenda here?? ;-)

[incitatus]

No, Im just in a position to know. I am a scientist. An underfunded, underloved, academic one. Sniff......

[monty0703]

I know how you feel incitatus - just submitted an application for funding. At least the general 'scientist' label is better than the 'boffin' tag banded around by the tabloids.

[incitatus]

yes, i mean "boffin" sounds like a euphemism for sex in woking

[Azimov]

Of course, scientists are so much more valuable than milkmen since whilst delivering milk is a noteworthy profession, discovering the best method of toasting bread is quite obviously grounds for elevation to Godlike status, isn't it?

[saffstar]

And without them we wouldn't know that chocolate digestives are the superior dunkers!! My personal favourite tabloid/newsreader group are 'New Year's Eve Revellers' I don't think I've ever met anyone who admits to belonging to this shadowy group and I'm interested to know why they only go out once a year?

[spinchimp]

damn all natural philosophers