3 ms·

> and done by scientists who get paid the big bucks doing it. Uh, no. Grad students make bupkiss while they could easily pull six figures after completing a b

by titzer 4y ago

> and done by scientists who get paid the big bucks doing it. Uh, no. Grad students make bupkiss while they could easily pull six figures after completing a bachelor's. They do this because they are a curious, masochistic bunch who find working on important problems to be a worthwhile endeavor.

dmbche 4y ago
Like how much is a grad student actually making per year? As a student that will be able to get a PhD or post afterward?
- titzer 4y ago
  It's under $40k, typically. Here's data for CMU: https://www.cmu.edu/stugov/gsa/campus-advocacy/stipend-report-2021-2022.html https://www.cmu.edu/stugov/gsa/campus-advocacy/stipend-repor...
  - dmbche 4y ago
    Thanks for the link, I had looked and in canada it's even lower, at 29,000k for a biology grad student. While it's not rich people's money, it's more than enough to be very comfortable, especially compared to someone working minimum wage. I don't feel bad being very critical of how their time is being spent - especially here.
dmbche 4y ago
Is it only grad students or is there a lead researcher that asks for grants and such? I'm not a scientist myself, the ones I know are working for the governenent or are professors. While they are not rich they are much better off than the average person. And is feeding mice plastic and then seeing if they have plastic in them a worty endeavour? It's fine because they aren't paid as well as if they were working corporate? I'm also aware that a lot of people have to tailor their doctorate work to their advisor, meaning it could very well be that no one doing this experiment was "curious" or believing that it was "important". I'm sure you know many bitter PhD's that studied things they find utterly pointless today - I had many teachers laughing at their own peer reviewed work.

3 ms·

> and done by scientists who get paid the big bucks doing it. Uh, no. Grad students make bupkiss while they could easily pull six figures after completing a b

by titzer 4y ago

dmbche 4y ago
Like how much is a grad student actually making per year? As a student that will be able to get a PhD or post afterward?
- titzer 4y ago
  It's under $40k, typically. Here's data for CMU: https://www.cmu.edu/stugov/gsa/campus-advocacy/stipend-report-2021-2022.html https://www.cmu.edu/stugov/gsa/campus-advocacy/stipend-repor...
  - dmbche 4y ago
    Thanks for the link, I had looked and in canada it's even lower, at 29,000k for a biology grad student. While it's not rich people's money, it's more than enough to be very comfortable, especially compared to someone working minimum wage. I don't feel bad being very critical of how their time is being spent - especially here.
dmbche 4y ago
Is it only grad students or is there a lead researcher that asks for grants and such? I'm not a scientist myself, the ones I know are working for the governenent or are professors. While they are not rich they are much better off than the average person. And is feeding mice plastic and then seeing if they have plastic in them a worty endeavour? It's fine because they aren't paid as well as if they were working corporate? I'm also aware that a lot of people have to tailor their doctorate work to their advisor, meaning it could very well be that no one doing this experiment was "curious" or believing that it was "important". I'm sure you know many bitter PhD's that studied things they find utterly pointless today - I had many teachers laughing at their own peer reviewed work.