Barcelona Supercomputing Center reviews

PIs were absent almost all the time and not so helpful, extreme insecurity due to economic crisis and increased turnover of staff.

Salaries are quite low, especially when compared to similar European institutes. There's always excuses being made using the governmental salary freezes, but somehow if you negotiate well there is the option of extra payments or some voluntary bump of the salary. That said progression is generally non-existent and you will be stuck with what you negotiated until you leave. It is a great place however to making contacts for your future career and with reason is called a "trampolin" by many BSC folks. There are almost no options of progression or long term career development as the group structures are very static. Once senior people leave they are normally replaced with noticeably less experienced colleagues that are not in the same position of bringing value to the institute. Processes are bureaucratic and time consuming. Contracts and payments of expenses for example take months to complete.