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One of the things I did as a student to supplement the meagre maintenance grant involved driving tractors around and tying up clematis. Not a wholly unpleasant time, to be honest, although it was the overtime that really made it worthwhile.

Then came the summer when I couldn’t get the gig at the plant nursery, and ended up jobbing for a gang (that’s a work gang, quite common in rural Lincolnshire) for six weeks. One of the things I had to do was clean the floor of a petfood factory (and believe me, if you ever see petfood being made you will never buy it again). That was pretty gross, but not as bad as the mate I was with, who had to handle the whole organs from slaughtered cattle before they went on the conveyor belt–complete with pulsating tumours and the like.

So, here at The Scientist we’re running a survey of pay in the Life Scientists. It’ll be published in November, and we’re giving away three US$100 Amazon gift certificates. (The survey is open to US-based employees only I’m afraid, but read on.) To