It鈥檚 not a question you can casually ask a colleague, or even a friend. Politics and religion might be fair game but never your pay packet. So how are you supposed to know whether you鈥檙e getting a fair deal if you don鈥檛 know what your colleagues earn, or what the going rate is?
Perhaps you鈥檙e considering a career in academia and wonder when you鈥檒l be able to buy a house, or thinking of switching to the 鈥渄ark side鈥� 鈥� aka industry 鈥� and want to know what perks you should ask for. Or maybe you鈥檙e just curious to know how much your boss earns. Either way, we鈥檝e got it all. Last September, we asked 5000 scientists from all walks of life what they earn and what benefits they enjoy. Read 鈥�The state of pay鈥� to find out what they said.
Once you鈥檝e seen what people earn on paper, find out what it means in practice. In 鈥�The lab diaries鈥� there鈥檚 an insight into the lives of three young scientists working in the big three 鈥� academia, industry and government. It turns out that, for some, job insecurity is more of a concern than money.
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Finally, read 鈥�I, scientist鈥� to see how the digital revolution is slowly taking hold of science. Welcome to a world in which both the tools used in the lab and scientists鈥� research output are accessed via apps and social networks, and where blogs are the forum for scientific discourse. There could soon even be an app for making scientific discoveries. Are you ready for this brave new world? If you don鈥檛 know where to begin, there鈥檚 a list of the 10 best lab apps to help you dip your toes in the water.
New 杏吧原创鈥榮 careers coverage doesn鈥檛 end here. See our regular Insider section in the main magazine for all the latest news and trends or check out the website as newscientist.com/topic/careers.