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Asked by JessyS on 3 Oct 2021.
Question: How many years of training did it take for you to start your job?
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Laia Delgado Callico answered on 10 Sep 2021:
Four years of a university degree in Chemistry, a year of a Master’s degree in Biophysics, and four years of a doctoral degree in Nanoscience, although these last four years already count as a job.
On the other hand, I continue studying courses that I find interesting and/or useful, training is a never-ending process for me and I love this.
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Malcolm Macartney answered on 10 Sep 2021:
8 years to achieve full qualification but you never stop learning.
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Richard Collins answered on 10 Sep 2021:
8.5 years.
4 years for BSc + MChem (Masters of Chemistry)
4.5 years for PhD. -
Catriona Cunningham answered on 10 Sep 2021: last edited 10 Sep 2021 12:05 pm
12 years total for me. 5 years studying medicine plus 1 year doing an intercalated BSc in Neuroscience (involves taking a year out of medical school). I then did a 4 year PhD and worked for 2 years as a researcher. To be a teaching fellow or lecturer in medical sciences you almost always need a PhD. That typically takes 8-10 years at university. I agree with Malcolm! I recently started my new job so have lots of new things to learn.
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Judy Bettridge answered on 10 Sep 2021:
Five years of a vet degree, one year Masters, Four years of PhD.
I was paid a small stipend while doing my Masters (which I think is quite unusual) because the funders were trying to attract more vets into research careers. Also, as Laia mentioned, your PhD is in many ways like a job, or an apprenticeship, as you do get paid, and have a reasonable amount of responsibility for working independently.
As a vet, I am expected to carry out and record at least 35 hours of training every year, to keep up to date and maintain my qualifications. Learning never stops 🙂
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Chris Henstridge answered on 10 Sep 2021:
Hi there, good question 🙂
I spent 4yrs at university doing an undergraduate degree, then 4yrs doing a PhD before i started working as a junior scientist studying the brain. However, it took me another 9yrs before i established my own laboratory! Now i run a small lab with a small team of junior scientists. -
Giles Strong answered on 10 Sep 2021:
The general career path in my area (academic scientific research) is: masters degree (either integrated 4-5 years, or bachelors degree (3 years) + masters degree (2 years) –> doctoral degree (PhD – generally 3-4 years, but can be longer) –> 4-6 years of post-doctoral work –> more permanent employment.
The PhD is the last major qualification one receives, however “training” never stops; technology and methods are constantly changing and it is necessary to stay up-to-date with what is the state of the art in one’s field.
Personally, I did 4 years to get a masters degree, 2 years to get another masters degree, and 5 years to get a PhD (during which I was employed). 11 years in total. That said, I have been aiming to be a scientist for as long as I can remember, so perhaps a more accurate estimate is ~30 years!
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Jacqueline Siu answered on 13 Sep 2021:
4 years undergrad (Immunology), 4-5 years PhD for a total of 8.5 years. All throughout my undergrad I had volunteered or worked in a research lab as well which helped a lot coming into the PhD.
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Katie Emery answered on 13 Sep 2021:
Three years of a university degree in Chemistry,
then 1 year Masters degree as an Intern in Drug discovery in Switzerland.
Then 4 years research for my PhD in Chemistry before I was qualified to start my first job.
But the training as a chemist never really stops because there is so many areas and applications of chemistry to learn. So even now, I continue to train to learn new techniques and new areas of chemistry by collaborating with my colleagues -
Andrew Hone answered on 13 Sep 2021:
I did a 3-year undergraduate degree (BA) in Oxford, then just over 3 years to complete a PhD at Edinburgh, where I did a bit of teaching for a few months after I had finished. Then I did a year of postdoctoral research in Rome (Italy) and another year as a postdoctoral fellow in Adelaide (Australia), before coming back to the UK. I got married in Italy and our first child was born there, so money was tight and I was quite desperate to get a steady job as soon as possible. After job hunting for six months, doing lots of interviews, I was really lucky that I managed to get a temporary lecturing job in Canterbury, and this was made into a permanent job a couple of years later.
In general, it typically takes about 10-15 years of training as a scientist before you can find a permanent job in a university. Usually it requires 6-8 years of study at university (BA degree+Masters+PhD) and then you need to get a few years’ experience as a researcher (this is called a “postdoc” job) before being employed as a lecturer. Some areas of science are more competitive than others, so the amount of experience you need will depend on what subject you work on.
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Jade Eyles answered on 13 Sep 2021:
After school I went to university where I studied my subject for 4 years (I did a BSc with masters). I then was lucky to start a PhD course which lasts around 4 years – this is what I need to be known as a seismologist! So in total it took me 8 years of learning/training to get my dream job!
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Nordine Helassa answered on 13 Sep 2021:
It took me 3 years to get a BSc, 2 years to get an MRes and 3 years for a PhD. So 8 years at University in total 🙂
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Pam Harrison answered on 14 Sep 2021:
After A levels i went to University for 4 years (including a year in industry) to achieve an MChem degree. I then started work as a scientist at AstraZeneca. The training never stops though as you always need to be aware of the latest advice and technology.
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