ONe for Stevie Walker

[Mr T.]

Hey Dude,

You were saying only the other day that if you had your time again, you'd be a plumber! Read this and thought of you....


Biologist quits research laboratory to earn more money fitting gas boilers
By Sally Pook
(Filed: 24/02/2004)


A molecular biologist whose research could help arthritis and cancer sufferers is to abandon his academic career for a better paid job as a gas fitter.

Karl Gensberg, 41, has been a post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Birmingham for 13 years but says he can no longer afford to work on short-term contracts in the education sector.

The scientist, who is married with a son, spent six years studying human biology and molecular microbiology only to realise he could earn more money and have more job security fitting boilers.

Dr Gensberg, who earns £23,000, believes that unless conditions in the profession improve, more academics will be forced to follow suit.

He knows of two other colleagues who have left Birmingham, one to run a boarding house in France. The other is considering joining the Royal Mail.

"My plumber was fitting my boiler and said he assumed I had loads of money because I had a PhD," Dr Gensberg said. "I happened to have my pay slip to hand, so I showed it to him and he was absolutely gobsmacked.

"He said he earned £33,000 and some of his colleagues took home £50,000. I just thought what am I doing? My work is a combination of zero career structure, contractual abuse and pathetic pay, which is a pretty poor package."

Dr Gensberg, of Streetly, Walsall, studied for his degree and PhD at Aston University and then started work at Birmingham, where he has been on four short-term contracts. Each time a contract comes to an end, he has to compete for another, sometimes at a lower salary than he was previously earning. On one occasion, he took a £5,000 pay cut.

"I feel like a fool," he said. "My plumber probably left school at 16 and has probably always earnt more than me.

"I am just not prepared to keep looking around for jobs that are so badly paid. The university has never offered me a staff job. It is incredibly frustrating and disappointing.

"I feel my education was a complete waste of taxpayers' money."

Dr Gensberg has been carrying out research into the effects of electro-magnetic fields on the body. He believes his work, which investigates how wounds heal, could eventually help to relieve the pain of arthritis sufferers and cancer patients.

He says no one has so far made proper molecular studies into how such fields can speed up the healing of wounds on the body.

Dr Gensberg is now studying part-time at Sutton Coldfield College in Birmingham and will qualify as a full-time gas fitter in July. He completes his contract at the university in April.

"I know it is extreme but I can't see any other way. I always thought if I worked hard I would progress, but it doesn't seem to work that way."

Dr Gensberg is not alone in feeling badly paid. Thousands of academic staff began a week-long series of strikes yesterday after they rejected a three per cent pay offer. More than 1,200 staff at Birmingham are expected to strike.

The Association of University Teachers (AUT) says academics' pay has fallen behind other employees by up to 40 per cent in the last 20 years.

At least 2,000 staff are leaving Britain for America and Europe, where they can earn up to 50 per cent more, according to the AUT's figures.

"The tragedy is that there are hundreds of people like Dr Gensberg who are doing work of national or international importance who are now leaving higher education in Britain in their droves," said Paul Rees, a spokesman for the AUT.

Dr Gensberg claimed that when he told the university of his plans, they said they might offer him a job as a gas fitter.

A spokesman for the university could not confirm this. In a statement, it said: "Dr Karl Gensberg is employed on a fixed-term contract which will end shortly and therefore the university has been seeking to redeploy him.

"He has been given time off and flexibility in his working hours to pursue another career."

The Institute of Plumbing said it was difficult to enrol on gas-fitting and plumbing courses because so many people believe it is well-paid. A spokesman said: "The average salary is about £30,000 but you can earn up to £50,000."

[Paul Beal]

AUT have called a for strike today and tomorrow for the exact reasons given above - which is possibly why I have answered this before Steve

I am lucky to be on a good stipend as a PhD student, on getting my PhD there is a chance I will have to take a pay drop to get some post doctoral experience - not a nice prospect. Science is haemorraging talented people for this very reason.

I also work in an area which could help cancer treatment - aswell as malarial treatment (and other parasite diseases) and coronary disease - all in one protein family!!

Paul

[Dr Stevil]

Nice one Bren! Spells it out loud and clear.

It'll only get worse too, those on or about to do a PhD can expect £12,000 tax free and no council tax to pay, therby a clear £1000 a month, a new post doc on , say, £20,000 will come out with about £1200 a month and have to pay say, £100 council tax, leaving them all of £100 a month better off assuming they're below the threshold for paying back their Student loans and if they get a better paid post-doc then the could very easily be worse off then as a student, as Paul has indicated he might be, not very enticing is it after umpteen years of study

[peter k]

Quote;
I feel like a fool," he said. "My plumber probably left school at 16 and has probably always earnt more than me.

Peter;
No bleedin' wonder. He can't even spell "earned"!

Peter

[Dr Stevil]

Turns out one of my colleagues in the lab used to work with this guy at Brum Uni, she says of him "he was always really p***ed off, even more than you..."  

[Mr T.]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (peter k @ Feb. 24 2004,11:45)]Quote;
I feel like a fool," he said. "My plumber probably left school at 16 and has probably always earnt more than me.

Peter;
No bleedin' wonder. He can't even spell "earned"!

Peter

Peter, my dear chap,

You take the American conjecture! Both spellings are accepted in English ('earnt', and 'earned'), as is 'learnt' and 'learned' - the Anglo contingent (i.e. European English speakers) tend to use the 't' ending, whereas our American cousins use 'ed' - again, it all comes down to received custom and usage, and the Yanks opted for the soft 'ed' ending whereas the UK/Euro mob went for the hard 't'.

[Janos]

The thing that got me about research is that even if you were a top rated department, there's still no guarantee that you'll get funding.

Crazy.

Laters,
   Janos