• Question: How long did it take top get where you are now?

    Asked by 895spdm24 to Lisa, Mark, Rachel, Sammie, Stephen, Tim on 5 Mar 2018.
    • Photo: Sammie Buzzard

      Sammie Buzzard answered on 5 Mar 2018:

      After 6th form I did and undergraduate degree for 3 years, 1 year of masters degree then 4 years of working for a PhD (that part is better because you get paid!). Since then I’ve had my current job for just under a year. Science can be tough because even once you have your PhD it can be hard to get a permanent job, most people working in universities do a few shorter contracts of 1/2/3 years first of all which can be difficult but I don’t mind too much as it’s a good chance to work in lots of different places- I might move abroad for my next job.

    • Photo: Stephen Wilkins

      Stephen Wilkins answered on 5 Mar 2018:

      After leaving school I did a 4 year undergraduate masters and then spent 3 years as a PhD student (which was paid, albeit badly). I then spent 3.5 years as a non-permanent (fixed term) researcher before getting a permanent faculty position. In my field people generally do 3-10 years of fixed term work before getting a permanent faculty job, though many people leave for other careers before then.

    • Photo: Lisa Baddeley

      Lisa Baddeley answered on 5 Mar 2018:

      After 6th form, I did a 4 year integrated Masters and then it took 3.5 years to get a PhD (all of which I did at Leicester). After that I did two research positions which each lasted 3 years (one in the UK and one here on Svalbard) and I was a project manager for a science company for 2 years in Sweden. So, 15.5 years after leaving 6th form college I started the job I have now which is an Associate Professor (so a permanent job) here on Svalbard. As the others have said, once you have your PhD you often do a few short term contracts of about 3 years. A lot of people travel abroad during this time (some come back to the UK and some don’t).

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