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Asked by to Laurence, Greig, Dave, Chris, Aimee on 15 Jun 2014. This question was also asked by .
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Aimee Hopper answered on 15 Jun 2014:
The hardest thing I find is being able to keep the confidence that, actually, I CAN do this! At uni especially I had some massive confidence issues, but I put in the hard work and it paid off!
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Greig Cowan answered on 16 Jun 2014:
This is a tough one. There are quite a few hard aspects that I’ve experienced being a scientist. Here are a few:
1. Moving to a new country! This was tough as I had to leave family and friends so that I could be based at the location (CERN) where the scientific experiment was taking place. It was tough, but also amazing.
2. Some of the measurements that we are making are very precise (for example, measuring the lifetime of a particular sub-atomic particle) and therefore require you to really understand and calibrate your experimental apparatus and methods. This can be pain-staking work and requires many attempts before you find a solution that you are confident that works. However, when you get something working and make a publication, it is a great feeling!
3. Making my first few public presentations at scientific conferences. I was never very confident with public speaking at school but it is really essential in the scientific world as you need to be able to talk to others about your work and explain why it is important. I still find it a bit nerve-wracking, but it becomes easier each time I do it 🙂
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Laurence Perreault Levasseur answered on 16 Jun 2014:
Science-wise, I think the hardest (well, maybe the right word is more something like the most stressful) thing I’ve done is a talk I gave last year at a conference in Corsica. I had been working on improving a theory mostly on my own, with input from a very small group of other scientists, for about a full year. I was going to this conference because the professor who invented that precise theory in the 80s was going to be there, alongside with a lot of other world experts in related subjects. Giving an hour-long talk to the person who invented my research subject was definitely stressful (a lot more than the regular scientific talks at conferences!!), but in the end I did it and it went really well. I got a lot of positive comments and inputs (and corrections on things I was understanding wrong!), so it was a very positive experience!
The hardest thing in my personal life I thing has been to live away from my husband for the past 3 years. I’m currently based in Cambridge, UK, and he is an astrophysicist at Stanford, in California (which is pretty far away). Happily next month I’ll be moving back with him!!
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Dave Jones answered on 16 Jun 2014:
Common theme between the answers here:
Has to be moving away from home! It has been great and I really enjoyed it, especially moving to a country where they don’t speak English and so having to learn to speak Spanish! Was really amazing and I’m so glad I did it, but it was really scary in the beginning!
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