After half of a semester’s study on scientific computing, it should be of no trouble for everyone in the class to reach the common ground that scientific computing is an important subject in the field of computer science. But how important is scientific computing compare to other subjects in the field. As we know, in the real world, at most time, importance of a profession is directly proportional to its earning. So salary is a good indicator of the importance of scientific computing.
I started up by looking up the Internet for job listings that specifically ask for people with scientific computing experience. The following is a list of job titles and their corresponding salaries I found.
|
Job |
Salary |
|
Laboratory Services Manager |
$56,313 per annum |
|
Senior Medical Writer |
$90,450 - $110,550 per annum |
|
Senior Development Scientist |
$56,280 - $64,320 per annum |
|
Senior Regulatory Affairs Associate |
$70,350 - $80,400 per annum |
|
Scientific Computing Administrator |
$79,000 - $83,000 per annum |
|
Manager Scientific Computing |
$48,000 per annum |
The median annual earnings for my small sample are $73,866.
How competitive is the salary for scientific computing relative to the whole computer science industry? To get an answer to this question, I went to the website of U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics and read the following:
“
In May 2006, median annual earnings of wage-and-salary computer applications software engineers were $79,780. The middle 50 percent earned between $62,830 and $98,470. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $49,350, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $119,770. Median annual earnings in the industries employing the largest numbers of computer applications software engineers in May 2006 were as follows:
|
Software publishers |
$84,560 |
|
Computer systems design and related services |
78,850 |
|
Management, scientific, and technical consulting services |
78,850 |
|
Management of companies and enterprises |
78,580 |
|
Insurance carriers |
74,230 |
In May 2006, median annual earnings of wage-and-salary computer systems software engineers were $85,370. The middle 50 percent earned between $67,620 and $105,330. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $53,580, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $125,750. Median annual earnings in the industries employing the largest numbers of computer systems software engineers in May 2006 are as follows:
|
Research and development in the physical, engineering, and life sciences |
$97,220 |
|
Scientific research and development services |
97,180 |
|
Computer and peripheral equipment manufacturing |
93,240 |
|
Software publishers |
87,450 |
|
Computer systems design and related services |
84,660 |
|
Data processing, hosting, and related services |
78,270 |
”
As we can see, the median salary for scientific computing falls right in the middle 50 percent earnings of the industry. This shows us that scientific computing, as a profession, is as profitable as most of other professions in computer science. Hence, scientific computing, as a subject of study, is as important as most of other topics in computer science as well.
Reference:
http://www.scientific-computing.com/jobs.html
Scientific Computing Administrator
Manager Scientific Computing
http://www.indeed.com/salary?q1=manager+scientific+computing&l1=Idaho+Falls%2C+ID
U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics (for computer science)
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