• Question: How may days a week do you work and how much holiday time do you get, being a scientist?

    Asked by to Becky, Clara, Daniel, Simon, Thomas on 12 Mar 2014. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Clara Nellist

      Clara Nellist answered on 12 Mar 2014:

      Being a scientist is a normal job, so my contract says I should work five days a week for about eight hours a day. But because I love what I do, and it often doesn’t feel like working, I sometimes end up working in the evenings and a bit a the weekend to make sure I finish everything I need to do. Also, when I have an experiment to run at CERN, I will go over to Switzerland and work for maybe 14 hours a day to make sure I make the most of the time and that everything runs properly.

      The great thing about my job is though that it’s pretty flexible so I can fit my time off around my experiments. So if I work late one evening, I’ll let myself sleep in a little the next day to make up for it. Also, because I work in Paris, I get French holidays (and they get a lot!) so I can take up to 45 days, which is nine weeks off a year. This might not seem like much compared to school holidays, but my friend in the USA only gets two weeks off a year so I feel very lucky!

    • Photo: Daniel Roach

      Daniel Roach answered on 12 Mar 2014:

      As an academic, I get quite a lot of paid leave – but I’m so involved in my work, its been a while since I’ve taken any!

      I typically work 5 days a week, but I’ve been known to work more, if I’m stuck on something and can’t let it go!

      It’s not like proper work, though:)

    • Photo: Simon Albright

      Simon Albright answered on 12 Mar 2014:

      Officially I only need to work 5 days a week, roughly 9-5. In practice I often do a lot more which is very common. Because I love what I do and want to do as much as I can I’ll often work longer hours and ocassionally do things at the weekend as well.

    • Photo: Becky Martin

      Becky Martin answered on 12 Mar 2014:

      I must admit that whilst my work has a serious side, a lot of the time my computational modelling feels a bit like playing computer games! So find some science that you love anyway, and it won’t feel like work.

      I get plenty of holiday as a researcher and I work five days a week, but I choose my days off work, so sometimes I have Wednesday off to go shopping, if I’m not helping with student computer lab sessions or meeting someone!

    • Photo: Thomas Elias Cocolios

      Thomas Elias Cocolios answered on 12 Mar 2014:

      I am quite passionate about what I do, so I have stopped counting my hours! It is certainly not 9-to-5, especially not when you enter the lab time warp. You know when you get in, but not when it will spit you out!

      And then, there is the on-line experimental time. The chance to get your experiment to go is such a privilege that when it goes, you work around the clock and forget to sleep. On my first ever experiment, for which I was fully responsible, I stayed up for 40 hours at once! I do not recommend it and would not do that anymore.

      Then, you have the conferences. Those are not holidays, but you get to travel and discover the world! And meet new people, discover new cultures.

      I do go on holidays every now and then too. Don’t worry!

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