Madam, - A number of letters to your paper recently have bemoaned the small number of students taking science subjects at school, the poor uptake of places in third level, and the overall dip in the numbers of science graduates. Most correspondents seem genuinely to wonder why this is so. As a postdoctoral researcher, perhaps I can shed some light on the problem.
Scientists spend four years obtaining an honours degree, which is useless without a postgraduate qualification. Many go on to complete PhDs, and are woefully underpaid for a further four years while doing so.
The average PhD stipend is €13,000 a year. This works out at €5.87 per hour - 32 per cent less than the minimum wage. It is impossible to live independently on this amount and it is imperative, after finishing a PhD, to get a job that will offset the debt most people will have accumulated in getting this far.
After graduation, scientists are qualified to work, as postdoctoral researchers, for a salary that in no way reflects the years that have gone into their training. A newly qualified postdoc will earn €37,000 a year after eight years of study. Postdoctoral positions consist of contracts which are two to three years long. A scientist can expect to complete at least two of these contracts, totalling another six years. At this point, due to a shortage of lectureships and permanent positions, many will either leave academia for industry or teaching, or start to apply for their own grants. At no point in this process can a scientist expect to be made permanent or give a pension benefit, which makes for an interesting time when applying for a mortgage.
Today's Leaving Certificate students are smarter than I was. They are researching their options and speaking to people like me before filling in their CAO forms. Had I known I would spend my twenties broke and enter my thirties in debt and unsure of where my next pay cheque was coming from, I would have chosen another career.
The study of science is deeply rewarding and the varied nature of the work makes it one of the most stimulating careers possible for curious, interested people. However, as a way of life it is almost intolerable.
We're told we're valued. We're told we're precious. We're told we underpin the "knowledge economy". We're none of those things. We're over-qualified, overworked and underpaid. - Yours, etc,
EILIS FORAN,
Rivergrove,
Oranmore,
Co Galway.