Masters Discussion Forum

Yes there's plenty of unemployed with degrees and plenty employed not within science - in fact, the majority.

I've no idea whether they would do pay per piece tasks. I expect most people want a stable job.

Do you want to stay in the field of your study? You can always get job in other sectors with a science degree and keep trying to get work in your subject area.

Scientists are traditionally known to belong to laboratories and research centers. Their lives revolve around research, experiments, reports, and lots of complicated stuff. It is quite demanding being a scientist of any kind, but one misconception that has to be quashed is that the job requires the scientist’s physical presence.

Science-based professionals are no longer confined to laboratories. You can earn a lot by working as a freelance scientist.

No, I'm not aware of any but I do have some knowledge. You can join a group that shares the same interest and go through the same challenges. Also, There aren't that many scientists in the world, and you can easily penetrate the market if your services are carefully packaged and professionally marketed. You can also limit your skills area to only chemistry, engineering or physics. his way, you will be able to attract specific clientele over time and build a reputation as an authority in the field.

Hi, Qzaman91,

There are unfortunately many science graduates who are unemployed or working in areas that are far below their level of education. I personally know PhD graduates, great ppl, but working as casual workers at factories and volunteers. There are science grads who are working in non-academic roles, but the chances of finding employment like that is highest when you just graduated from your first degree. You can still transition after you received your PhD, but that normally takes a bit more effort as unfortunately there are assumptions that PhD holders are harder to train and work along with (not necessarily true, but there are a few bad apples out there who ruin it for the many genuine ppl).

What sort of tasks are you referring to? Most tasks for academics requires significant input eg. supervising students, writing papers, writing grants, giving presentations at conferences, etc. It is hard to put monetary value per task. Would the person be paid per hour for doing the task including preparation? I am unsure how fair or feasible paying per piece of task is for academics, especially as a long term career.

emmawood - Which group are you referring to? I have never heard of such a group where you can join to be a freelance scientist. I understand that you can work as a bioinformatician or data scientist at home, but you still will have to visit the uni regularly to get the data and discuss the analysed results. You certainly cannot do your research experiments outside of the lab because 1) it is dangerous with some chemicals and 2) working in a non-controlled non-sterile environment produces inaccurate data. And your quote "There aren't that many scientists in the world" is unfortunately inaccurate. If we have so many in US alone ( https://nexus.od.nih.gov/all/2016/05/31/how-many-researchers/) think about the number globally.

This is true and in fact there are a number of startups moving into the area of connecting freelance scientists with companies that need the help of an expert e.g. www.kolabtree.com. Many of them can work remotely.