• Question: How old were you when you became a scientist

    Asked by much487red on 5 Jun 2023. This question was also asked by many487red, fear487red, Billy🧬🔬.
    • Photo: Kathleen Duffin

      Kathleen Duffin answered on 5 Jun 2023:

      Well that depends a bit on when you think you can start to call yourself a scientist 🙂

      When I was around 8 years old, my mum would come along to Brownies and do science experiments with us, which I loved! But I am not sure that counts as me being a scientist…?

      I started medical school when I was 18 and started working as a doctor when I was 25. I started doing my PhD (so working as a scientist rather than a hospital doctor) when I was 32.

    • Photo: Ana Vitlic

      Ana Vitlic answered on 5 Jun 2023:

      I am not sure at what age I started to consider myself scientist 19 was when I started, 26 when I got my first degree, so later than most.

    • Photo: Alana Hopkins

      Alana Hopkins answered on 5 Jun 2023:

      I completed my degree and got my first job in science when I was 25. However, I have studied science/chemistry since I was 20! 🙂

    • Photo: Adelaide Young

      Adelaide Young answered on 5 Jun 2023:

      When I was young I did a sleepover at the Science Museum in London, I’m not sure if they do them anymore, but it was a great experience and I think that really captured my imagination and interest in science.

      I always knew I would like to learn more and chose to study science at University. A lot of students who come into the lab often have an idea of what being a scientist looks like or have experiments which make them feel more like a scientist. For me when I first started it was probably starting to do tissue culture (growing cancer cells in a flask) when I really felt like a proper scientist; I was probably about 22 at the time.

    • Photo: Jen Antrobus

      Jen Antrobus answered on 5 Jun 2023:

      I have wanted to be a scientists since I was 16 after I read a book called The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. When I was 18 I went to University to do a medical genetics degree, then I went and studied cancer research. At age 26 I have just submitted my PhD thesis and started my first job as a scientist!

    • Photo: Kehinde Ross

      Kehinde Ross answered on 5 Jun 2023:

      Well, I finished my PhD at 28 then I worked as a researcher in a lab but I was probably 35 when I started to see myself as an actual scientist who could decide on areas of scientific enquiry for myself – and get funding to do it.

    • Photo: Giampiero Valenzano

      Giampiero Valenzano answered on 5 Jun 2023:

      I started being passionate about science in medical school (so when I was about 20 to 24). I did some experiences abroad that really sparked my interest and then decided to start my PhD (so work in the lab everyday) right after med school. But everyone has a different path !

    • Photo: Amy McLuskie

      Amy McLuskie answered on 6 Jun 2023:

      I would say when I was studying for my undergraduate degree, so probably when I was about 19/20. I always enjoyed and had a keen interest in science at school. I knew this was something I wanted to pursue further and have a career related to science.

    • Photo: Zahra Rattray

      Zahra Rattray answered on 7 Jun 2023:

      I completed my degree in pharmacy when I was 22, became a pharmacist at 23, and qualified from my PhD when I was 27. It very much depends on what route you chose to take.

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