Financial woes ail early-career scientists

On paper, Madelyn Ray had a fully funded PhD, supported by a teaching assistantship from her institute. Ray’s supervisor also topped up her stipend with little cheques from his research grant. Yet, graduate school was a hustle for the neuroscientist, as she struggled to make ends meet in super-expensive Boston, US. ‘It was another level of stress,’ says Ray. ‘Already you’re putting yourself under all of this pressure to get this doctorate degree, to run your experiments, to get results that work to publish, to teach. Then to add on to that, you’re worried about affording food and housing; it’s something that I feel you shouldn’t have to worry about.’

Ray picked up odd jobs, such as nannying and online secretary work, to supplement her earnings. ‘Everyone in my lab had a second job,’ she says, referring to her fellow graduate students. ‘Typically, people were finding jobs … working at clubs and bars, things that were late night and on weekends so that it wouldn’t interfere with their lab schedule.’

Frustrated, graduate student unions are fiercely protesting across US campuses to demand more benefits for their members. But the problem is even more widespread. Around the world, many early-career researchers like Ray enthusiastically set off to solve intriguing research problems but are finding it hard to sustain themselves in academia.