Question: What are the working hours for a scientist?

Sam Geen answered on 6 Nov 2020:

How many hours people work is a difficult problem now. Like people say, your contract will say something like 40 hours a week. But scientists in universities don’t just do research – they go to meetings, write lectures and teach classes, grade lectures, write applications for money to do research, write job applications, travel for conferences, etc, etc. In the Netherlands and the UK, there are more and more students who need a good education from us, more competition for money and not enough stable jobs. In the UK, the University and College Union (UCU) is doing good work to fight for better conditions to do research in, but there’s a lot of work to do. Over 100 years ago, people often worked 16 hours a day, 6 days a week and children had to work too. If you were injured by a factory machine, your pay was cut and there was no proper healthcare. Unions and left-wing organisations fought to give people more rights and more time to enjoy life, but today there’s a rise in unstable contracts like working for Uber or Deliveroo, housing is more expensive but jobs are harder to find. We have to make sure that we fight to keep these rights like people 100 years ago did. Scientists often love what they do and find it fun, but we also need to rest, develop other interests and have active social lives. For example, Einstein played the violin – having other interests is important to recharge your mental energy and broaden your horizons.