Clara Prats: "Entry into a research career is very precarious."

BarcelonaResearcher and physicist Clara Prats (Barcelona, ​​1979) is one of the few professionals who has dedicated her research entirely to Catalonia. She focused her thesis on computational models of infectious diseases and 15 years later she continues working with the same team she started with.

Prats, one of the 100 most influential Catalans according to Forbes, entered the working world as a babysitter: "Then I was a summer camp counselor and a children's choir director. I was always very involved with children." And very involved with music. When it came to choosing a degree, she hesitated: "I'm the daughter of a scientist and a musician, and I liked both." "In the end, I thought that if I wanted to maintain both, it would be easier to dedicate myself to science as a profession and music as a hobby." And, with her first salary, she opted to buy a piano.

The scientist graduated in physics, a very masculinized sector: "The role model isn't Marie Curie, but someone close to me, an ordinary person like my mother. I had the role model of a scientific woman at home; she had breakfast with me every day." Therefore, she had never questioned being able to dedicate herself to it: "Motherhood is when you notice the differences." "You often take your research home with you, and when you have children, you have to learn to organize yourself differently," Prats explains. In fact, she asserts that the presence of women decreases in the 30s and 40s, coinciding with this stage of life.

The physicist asserts that she is fortunate to be conducting research at the university and, therefore, combines research with teaching, a job she enjoys "really": "You have a significant management load and you have to do a lot of other things, but, on the other hand, you have job security." "My salary doesn't depend on the projects," she explains. After rising through the ranks, she is now a professor at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia with a fixed salary. However, she needs to raise funds to be able to conduct good research: "Depending on the resources you get, you can attend conferences, buy materials, or hire someone for the project." In this sector, there are no fixed schedules: "You have quite a bit of flexibility, but at specific times when there's a lot of work, you even have to work on weekends."

One of the most rewarding professional challenges was serving on the COVID-19 Scientific Advisory Committee: "I will never again conduct research with the same impact." She helped improve the situation: "I'm aware that my work is paid for with public money, and my obligation is to return that knowledge to society, including the future engineers I'm training."

As for her salary, she believes her work is currently well-paid: "Furthermore, I'm being paid to do something I really enjoy." "However, entry into a research career is very precarious," the scientist emphasizes. Doctorates are usually completed between the ages of 25 and 30: "You have to access them with grants that are financially tight and are generally incompatible with overtime." And the postdoctoral period is also precarious: "It's very common to go abroad. Due to the lack of opportunities, but also because the pay here is actually very poorly." Theses are written by students with "excellent academic records" who, upon completing their degree, have very attractive opportunities in companies. Thus, anyone who dedicates themselves to research here is purely a "vocation."

As for personal finances, apart from paying the mortgage, she doesn't have any major expenses: "I have a hard time buying things. I struggle with writing a letter to the Three Kings. I prefer to give gifts to the people I love. Or spend money on concerts or experiences." In fact, she adapts her lifestyle to her income: "I tend to be very positive, and if a difficult time comes, I know I'll adapt. I'll find a way to get through it." In this sense, if a career in research didn't work out, she wanted to teach in secondary school, that was clear to her.

Today, however, he wants to continue along the path he has open: "The projects evolve with me. I really like that it is an interdisciplinary work. I work with people from very different profiles, doctors, biologists... This enriches me a lot. In each meeting I learn something because as Wagensberg said ".