Interesting tasks, bad top management
Vantaggi
I've worked for years in this organisation, contributing to developing software for data management and exploration in plant biology. My experience with my small team was mostly good. Plus, an easy-going and flexible workplace, most people are very sociable.
Svantaggi
As an organisation dominated by an academic mindset, the IT people are largely undervalued and lowly paid. As a software engineer, I kept fighting with badly managed experimental data, and I kept being ignored when proposing to adopt the best practices in data management and software development. Plus, the top management is very bad at giving direction, managing the organisation and managing finances. The result is that every couple of years they are almost bankrupted and instead of firing themselves, they fire half personell, especially IT people, as if AI wasn't fundamental for doing proper research in agronomy and plant biology. So, it's fine if you want to have some experience in a scientific research environment, but think twice before staying with them for too long.