Life of a Lab Rat

One of the things that a visiting alien might comment upon, were it to observe laboratory life for more than a few days, is the strange hours that scientists keep. Working longer than the hours stated on the payslip is a badge of honour in academic labs. Calling someone a '9-to-5er' is about the worst insult imaginable.

There are multiple reasons for this. Academic research is competitive, and to compete with the Americans (say) with their huge labs and armies of postdocs we must work longer hours, we are told. Working all day Saturday means you can be nearly 20% more productive than someone who does not. Imagine if your bank account gave you 20% more interest than other banks! Every little bit helps in the battle for publication and funding. If you stay a couple of hours longer in the evening you can repeat that PCR today, which means you will have stolen a day's march on the competition. You can eat lunch at your desk while you write a paper.

Should I go home now, or do that transformation, set up those cultures, spend another hour here? By squeezing extra hours out of each day I can create the impression of industry and expediency, no matter what the real benefit is.

It is not always possible to 'work smarter'; some experiments do not fit nicely into a five day 9 to 5 week with lunch breaks. An hour on Sunday can make the difference between getting a result by Friday and perhaps the experiment not working at all. Previously we have talked about the anti-social behaviour of cells in culture, and it gets worse. I have some embryonic stem cells in storage, which when they are thawed and growing will require attention every single day. Never mind weekends — I can forget about going on leave.

Sometimes it's beyond our control, an operational constraint. Time slots at the Daresbury synchrotron are in 24 hour quanta, from 0800 to 0759 the following day. Usually at least two of you go, and one sleeps while the other runs experiments. But in order to use the time allocated (letting beamtime go unused is a heinous crime indeed) I have on occasion driven the 200 miles to Daresbury to be there at 8, worked through the day, taken 3 hours in the evening to have dinner with a friend, worked into the night and driven home at 4 in the morning.

I have received a 'phone call from the boss at dinner time (we had literally just sat down) on a Saturday, with news that an X-ray set was free and I should dash into the lab and start work. Is that normal, by any definition? On that occasion I did refuse, by the way.

There is a discussion about this at the LabLit forums. One participant, a group leader in the UK, says

I have also noticed that 'not working sufficient hours' is the number one grievance that labmates hold against one another. They all seem to keep subconscious track and score [. . .] in reality this is all utter tosh - I see little correlation between long hours and productivity (as measured in manuscripts, getting a job, whatever). But timekeeping — it's a real source of contention! Maybe it's the easiest measurable variable.

Maybe it's because I have only worked for turbo nutters, but I was surprised when I read that. What do you think, people? I know that I have worked late into the night to finish experiments for a paper revision, and made stupid mistakes. I also know that I like to see my family before they go to bed.

The excellent Piled Higher and Deeper has a couple of takes on this subject, which would be funny if they were not so true. . .

UPDATE: The UK is about to get hit with the 'maximum working hours' stick. I wonder if it will make any difference to our profession? (No.)