• Question: what do you like the best about being a scientist

    Asked by 20shannon03 to Charlotte, Sam, Richard, Majid, hannahmoir on 6 Mar 2016. This question was also asked by angel-rose, millie, 887fate25, lily2004, hannah, 698fate38, JAKEISAWSOME123, Dan the man, 742fate38, Chloe Anderson, 269fate38.
    • Photo: Charlotte Green

      Charlotte Green answered on 6 Mar 2016:

      This is a great question….I think on the whole the best thing about being a scientist is that no two days are the same. There is so much variety in being a scientist I don’t think anyone would ever say its a boring job. Here is a list of some of the things I do as a scientist: 1. obviously I work in the lab doing experiments but there are a huge variety of these, 2. teaching students and others experiments, 3. presenting my findings and attending meetings, 4. writing up my results for publications, 5. applying for funding , 6. attending conferences (I have been to San Francisco and Japan just to hear about science which is pretty cool), 7. problem solving (sometimes things to work so you need to work out why, which is fun especially if you are like me and love quizzes).

      Then of course the other amazing thing about being a scientist is the rewarding aspect of doing it. Knowing that your research may change peoples lives one day or help discover new treatments for disease or just increase our understanding of how our bodies work. To be honest this is very exciting and is probably what drives a lot of us….to contribute something back to the world.

      🙂

    • Photo: Richard Sulston

      Richard Sulston answered on 10 Mar 2016:

      Charlotte hit the nail on the head with two days never being the same, it keeps everything exciting!

      Additionally, I really enjoy the experience of researching things that, sometimes, no one has ever looked at before. Scientists often get the opportunity to be the first person in the world to discover something new. This is my favourite thing about being a scientist.

    • Photo: Sam Smith

      Sam Smith answered on 10 Mar 2016:

      My favourite thing about being a scientist is that it allows me to travel the world, and meet colleagues from all over. I’ve really enjoyed that part of my career, and I hope that it will continue. I’ve been able to see some amazing places, and meet great people (including patients). This has taught me a lot about how people from different cultures interact.

      But being able to go to work every day and do something that I believe can make a difference to the world is a really great part of my job. Not a lot of people get that opportunity, so I need to make sure I do my best to fulfil my goals.

    • Photo: Hannah Moir

      Hannah Moir answered on 11 Mar 2016:

      I love working with people and conducting research that hopefully will help people’s health and well being. I love working in the lab and running experiments.

    • Photo: Majid Ahmed

      Majid Ahmed answered on 16 Mar 2016:

      There are many things I love and I will just name a few below:

      – I work with a great team of bright people and I get to meet so many different people through my research and my university

      – I get to talk all about my work and how great it is to other scientists and to the general public like yourself

      – I get to travel and visit different labs, go to different conferences and take part in some cool workshops

      – People respect me and tell me I am clever (but I don’t often feel like it – I just feel I am normal)

      – My work is helping people who are ill

      – My work is contributing to our scientific understanding

      -I am one of a handful of people around the world who can do some of the experiments that I do.

      There are many more good things… too many to list.

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