If you want to change the world, become a scientist. From putting a man on the moon to placing a mobile phone in the palm of your hand, scientists are behind many of the advances in technology and medicine we enjoy today. From experimenting on the smallest of insects, to making the first artificial rain, to investigating diseases such as cancer, it's a dismal fact that this is the area most in need of innovation.In general, a graduate who chooses a specialist science will earn much more than those who don't. Some natural and engineering sciences have just as many specialisms as medicine or law, and depending on what you do, it could mean a substantial bonus.

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1 Following a principle, this is the most basic of all science specialisms at the University of Oxford. Gumbel argues that the reason it pays so well is because of the magic four letters in it, and this makes it a secure career choice even for those with a science background in non-academic courses, and even for people who never have gone beyond secondary school. "It takes an incredible amount of inner drive to do it," he says. "You spend so many hours thinking about it. Apart from being clever about different situations, it's one of the best gripes I have about life. If you have the right background, and you know what you want to work on, then trying to grow your early career through principles seems to be a good way of doing that."

2 Really low pay for all that academic exercise, isn't it? According to Jennifer Frieden, professor of sociology at Washington University in St Louis, academics are clearly making loads of money. "The economics often speak for themselves," she says. "Institutional reputations are all about money into faculty's pockets, and there's a big distinction between getting paid to do research and getting paid to subsidise the professional development of staff. I can name one or two well-known economists who take prestigious postdoctoral grants but somehow make it look good." Some universities even allow inept academics to make ends meet through government funding; others are better than this policy, in that they allow outsiders - including unpaid outsiders - to add to the field of scholarship. She points out that, in theory, then, it should pay better to make 20 per cent of your final salary than to pay your PhD student to sit the postdoc quiz.

3 Of course, there is also good reasons to become a scientist. You don't have to be a pathologically obsessive perfectionist to be a stay-at-home dad or have a pretty normal
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