is it hard to work in science? – Drug Development Zone

Question: is it hard to work in science?
- Keywords:
  career,
  opinion,
  work
Asked by to Amy, Anita, Daryl, Nimesh, Sandra on 19 Jun 2014. This question was also asked by .
- Anita Thomas answered on 19 Jun 2014:
  
  Hi catsparkes,
  
  Working in Science is hard, but it can be very rewarding. I’ve worked in a variety of Science labs – hospital departments, industry, and in research labs. I prefer research labs, as it allows me to be most creative, but it has a major problem: it can be VERY hard to get the money (funding) to be able to do the research I love. In fact, it is so hard to get funding that my university runs courses for research staff on how to change to other careers (eg publishing, government work, teaching etc).
  
  Good luck in choosing your career!
  Anita.
- Amy Monaghan answered on 19 Jun 2014:
  
  Hi Catsparkes
  
  That depends what you mean by hard. I believe that anybody can do science, and that anybody who wants to study it or finds it interesting should be allowed to. If you are wondering if it is hard to get a job in science – the degrees with the highest employment rates after university are those in science, engineering and maths!
  
  If you want a job as a scientist you have to be prepared to work hard as lots of experiments take a long time to work. You need to really want to get up and go to work in the morning, and you need to know that sometimes its ok to fail. Lots of the time my experiments don’t always work out as I planned them – but that’s ok, I just have to spend some time figuring out why, and what the new results mean.
  
  If you want to get involved in science now and help real scientists, some researchers are now setting up websites where you get to study the scientific data and help to cure diseases! Cancer Research UK have developed cell slider where you can help to analyse actual samples of breast cancer which means that you will be doing scientific research. The link is here:
  
  http://www.cellslider.net/
  
  To do science you don’t have to be the smartest person in your class or a geek that sits at home and reads every night. You just need to have a lot of enthusiasm and really enjoy what you are doing.
  
  Amy
- Sandra Chiwanza answered on 19 Jun 2014:
  
  Hi,
  
  I would say yes and no.
  Having worked in academia, manufacturing and now pharmaceutical.
  The one thing you need is passion for your subject and a hard-working ethic for your degree,that is the hardest part. However, the beauty of it is you do not need to be extra extra smart to learn it…
  Like Anita says, it can be rewarding depending on what motivates you…The best job I have had so far is in academic research. I think it is the sense of owning your own work and the freedom that makes it really worthwhile. But is requires a lot of self-motivation and sometimes long unsociable hours.
- Daryl Jones answered on 19 Jun 2014:
  
  Science is very demanding, we scientists work long hours! Sometimes i wish i had a job where i could go to work at 9 and leave at 5. But most days i don’t mind working long hours because i enjoy science so much. It is exciting, and can be a very reawrding career! Other great careers are becoming a doctor or nurse!
- Nimesh Mistry answered on 20 Jun 2014:
  
  It depends. There’s such a variety of things you can do in science or related to science that you can easily find something you enjoy.
  
  The people I’ve met who work in science are really nice so that also helps if you want a job in that area. I’ve met lots of people from different backgrounds. No one gets judged on who they are, and that’s another thing that makes working in science a nice environment.
  
  Everything in life is harder if you don’t enjoy it, so if there is an area of science you’d like to do, go for it!

Question: is it hard to work in science?

Comments