• Question: how long did it take for you to became a scientist and was it hard work studying and do you regret it or not

    Asked by anon-250287 to Tom, Rebecca, Emily, Elspeth, Ben, Antoine on 11 Mar 2020.
    • Photo: Ben Cropper

      Ben Cropper answered on 11 Mar 2020:

      1. It’s difficult to say when you ‘become’ a scientist, but I got my Ph.D. place when I was 22, straight after I did my degree
      2. Yep, it was hard work. It was a big culture shock especially going into university, I needed to do a lot of work there especially.
      3. No I don’t! I would have regretted it if I didn’t I think.

    • Photo: Tom Dally

      Tom Dally answered on 11 Mar 2020: last edited 11 Mar 2020 4:05 pm

      I started my PhD in 2015, and my current job in 2019 – so I’ve been a scientist in some form or other for a few years now, and it was definitely hard work, at every stage of the process. There were a few times along the journey where I wondered whether I was cut out for science, but this seems to happen to a lot of people. I don’t regret any of it, though! I love what I do, and feel priveleged to be able to do it.

    • Photo: Emily Goddard

      Emily Goddard answered on 11 Mar 2020:

      I probably became a scientist when I started my PhD, after my degree, so after five years at university (one year working in a pharmaceutical company).
      Some of the studying was hard work, yes, there’s so much different Chemistry out there, and people will always find some areas easier than others. I found organic chemistry the hardest to learn, but loved learning about sustainability and green chemistry so that didn’t feel as hard work!
      I don’t regret it. Sometimes I think other people’s degrees sound really interesting and I’d have liked to have done that, but actually I’m really happy with what I do and think it’s given me loads of different skills 🙂

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