I did a science PhD so I also got paid, enough to live modestly but comfortably. I shared an office with four other people but it was a big office. The incident with the chair probably had more to do with the struggle between the professors and the university to avoid paying for things like that than it did with an absolute lack of funds.

[–] SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

All of the grad students in my department - ten or twelve? - along with the few undergrads we had assisting our program - had to share a single medium-sized room, with no assigned seating. At least they had shared computers at every other seat. Sadly, I don't recall the chair situation.

[–] ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.works 1 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago) (1 children)

no assigned seating

One professor in my department was so protective of her lab's space that when she noticed me sitting at a desk assigned to one of her students, she went and complained directly to my advisor. The desk's owner was a friend of mine and on a month-long international trip at that time and I wasn't even making a habit of using his desk - it was just a convenient place to sit while talking to another one of her students.

How did you guys share computers? My work was 100% on the computer so we would have had to work in shifts if there had not been enough computers for everyone (but there were).

[–] SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 2 points 20 hours ago

I had a very fancy portable hard drive using the brand-new USB protocol that could power itself from the PS/2 port.