Marea With an E

What’s a Scientist worth?

After my last post on the recent (albeit predictable in an Olympic year) debate about funding for sport versus The Arts in Australia it occurred to me that Science should put the begging bowl out as well. Afterall we are supposed to be a “clever country” as well as a lucky one yet expect our researchers to spend a lot of their time writing endless submissions in the hope of getting some crumbs from the funding table. We need to get Roy and HG on to this to give Canberra and the Minister for Science (whoever that, is such is their profile) a spray. How a postgraduate researcher on a Commonwealth Scolarship is expected to survive on around $28,000 a year is beyond me. Well, I hear you say, it is tax free they shouldn’t complain! And that’s the point. They generally don’t complain and just get on with it because they love what they do. And…sometimes they get to go to the most amazing places on earth. Sure beats sitting in an office all day looking at spreadsheets. I think I’d rather be on the Antarctic ice like these UTS Science researchers, “coring a sample” for analysis back on board the Aurora Australis. Better still I’ll go for a spin in the chopper!