Scientist go to conferences held at exotic places. They go to winter schools where they teach in the morning and ski in the afternoon. Researchers are getting paid for following their passion and pursuing their hobby.

If they are group leader they have the freedom to choose their subjects of study. Scholars are trusted by society (may be not in the US, but surely so in Germany) and admired for their intelligence by their relatives. They go to work ill-dressed and are proud of it. And they do not sit behind their desk all day (unless you are a theoretician). This sounds like an ideal job.

The above fairy tale is invariably told by senior scientists when talking to prospective students. However the truth is quite different. Scientists are distrusted and feared by politicians and policymakers. (The public at large couldn’t care less.) Scientists have to continuously justify their spending of public money. Their job is usually safe, but the support for their research is not. There are way too many scientists in the western world, given the amount of money society is willing to spend on science. So scientists have to fiercely compete for financial support for their research. In addition to fighting with their colleagues for the available money, they fight which each other about priorities (see my essay in Nature Pushing for Power), recognition and citation scores.

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