• Question: how many hours do you work?

    Asked by biskinkiki1234 to Angus, Christian, Hannah, Laura, Simon on 18 Jun 2013. This question was also asked by dandav, holliesmith7.
    • Photo: Angus Ferraro

      Angus Ferraro answered on 18 Jun 2013:

      I work about 8 hours a day – pretty standard. The great thing about being a scientist is that I can do those hours whenever I want. If I need to take the day off work for whatever reason, I can just go ahead and do it (as long as I don’t have any meetings or anything else someone relies on me for).

      I rarely start work before 9. Most of the time I try to finish by 6 but sometimes if I’m really into it I’ll keep going until 7. Occasionally I will do a bit on the weekend, but only if I have nothing better to do! If I do some work on the weekend when I’m not busy, it easier to take days off in the weeken when I am.

    • Photo: Simon Holyoake

      Simon Holyoake answered on 18 Jun 2013:

      I normally work 9 hours per day, but I have a young son so I normally stay at home on mondays to look after him so my wife can work on her studies

      if I do fieldwork however, I normally work until we lose the light, which can be upwards of 16 hours in the summer!

    • Photo: Laura Roberts Artal

      Laura Roberts Artal answered on 18 Jun 2013:

      I usually work from 10am to 6pm, but it depends on what I need to do on a given day. If I’m teaching, I tend to work longer hours. Also, if I’m doing experiments, I’ll work as long as I need to in order to get the experiment finished.
      If I’m really busy, or have a deadline I’ll also work at the weekend, but I try not to, you’ve got to have some time off!
      When I’m doing field work, I tend to work much longer hours, to make the most of light. A typical day would be 7.30am to about 7pm.

      Luckly, my work allows me to be quite flexible and like Angus, if I need to take time off during the week, I can! I just try and make up for it at weekends or by working in the evenings.

    • Photo: Hannah Bentham

      Hannah Bentham answered on 18 Jun 2013:

      When in the office, I try to work a normal a9-5 day but sometimes I have to work late if I have a deadline. And sometimes, I don’t want to stop, especially when I am close to a break through.

      When on fieldwork (doing experiments outside, often abroad) the days tend to be longer, but so much more fun!

    • Photo: Christian Maerz

      Christian Maerz answered on 19 Jun 2013:

      It varies, depending on how much I have to do. Usually I arrive at uni between 8 and 9am, and leave around 6pm. So around 9-10 hours per day. Sometimes I work at home on the weekends, but I try to avoid it.

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