One of the hardest decisions I have ever made was to start or not a PhD at my university. After many years studying a college´s degree and a master´s degree in chemistry there, I was unsure about what to do next. I liked scientific research at the laboratory, but I also suffered its downsides: being unable to sleep before an important experiment, the long sessions of work, the frustration of not knowing what is not working...

Then I decided I would only have started the PhD if I have got a grant. Almost all my companions doing a PhD only got a grant after at least two years working for free, so I know that was very unlikely. However, if I accepted working for free, I would have contributing at keeping that injustice. Science in Spain is terribly bad funded, even for those that have completed a PhD.

At the end, I didn´t got the grant and I am looking for a job as chemist since july 2019.

About the second question, having a science career it is now worthless for entering forensic police in Spain. Some forensic police officers demanded a wage bonus for their science careers, and they got it after a lawsuit. The police bureau doesn´t want to pay that bonus to new officers, so they don´t consider science careers for the new applicants.