• Question: With your work, do you have time for your family?

    Asked by kimberly1999 to Vicky, Carla, Madgie, Nick, Werner on 12 Nov 2013. This question was also asked by bethtucker.
    • Photo: Vicky Forster

      Vicky Forster answered on 12 Nov 2013:

      Hey Kimberly,

      I’m happy to say now I’m a fully qualified scientist, I do. Whilst I was doing my PhD degree though, sometimes i was working up to 80 hours a week, which didn’t leave much time for anything else, including my family! I live quite far away from my parents, so we normally keep in touch by phone anyway – but now I am fully qualified I have more time to spend with family and friends, thankfully.

    • Photo: Werner Muller

      Werner Muller answered on 12 Nov 2013:

      This is really a hard question to answer. My family is not so interested in the work I am doing as it takes away time from family activities. It is a challenge to find the proper balance. Sometimes this is difficult.

    • Photo: Marlene Lorgen

      Marlene Lorgen answered on 12 Nov 2013:

      My family have always been very close and the university that I work at is close to my home so I am lucky in that I get to spend quite a lot of time with my family. Doing a PhD means that you can choose your hours of work so when I have a lot going on, I will work very long days to make time for a break at the end of the week.

    • Photo: Nick Groves-Kirkby

      Nick Groves-Kirkby answered on 14 Nov 2013:

      Yes, normally. I can be very flexible with my work, which means I can organise my time so that I make sure I see my friends and family. It’s usually them who are working too hard to see me!

      The only time I don’t see so much of them is when I travel. Scientists often go abroad to meet other scientists or visit other labs, and these trips do mean having time away from home. On the up side, I get to visit new places all the time, which I quite like!

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