• Question: How long did it take you to become a scientist?

    Asked by anon-149921 to Daniel, Hannah, Maggie, Ry, Scott on 10 Nov 2017. This question was also asked by 684grak22.
    • Photo: Maggie Lieu

      Maggie Lieu answered on 10 Nov 2017:

      Anyone can be a scientist with zooniverse.
      https://www.zooniverse.org/projects

      For me, I did a university degree then a phd and that took me 7.5 years

    • Photo: Ry Cutter

      Ry Cutter answered on 10 Nov 2017:

      Depending on what you mean by scientist.
      It took me A-levels and a masters degree to get where I am now (which is about 6 years). But anybody can be scientist, you just have to investigate the world around you!
      Also, the link Maggie sent is very useful to help us get lots of science done!

      Good question,

      Ryan

    • Photo: Hannah Middleton

      Hannah Middleton answered on 10 Nov 2017:

      I have done a Physics and Astrophysics undergraduate course at university, which took 4 years. After that I started a research PhD (when I was 23) and that took me 4 years to complete – I have recently finished writing my thesis and just passed my final examination last month! So 8 years so far!

    • Photo: Scott Melville

      Scott Melville answered on 13 Nov 2017:

      I’ll join in with Maggie and Ryan and tell you that:
      Anyone can be a scientist 🙂
      It’s a bit like being a vegetarian – it’s a decision that you can make, about how you feel about the world and the way that you think should be done. Scientists are just people that use evidence in order to construct their opinions, and question how and why things work the way that they do.
      Professional scientists (the ones that get paid) usually have a university degree, which can take three or four years. It took me four years to get my first degree and start earning money 🙂

    • Photo: Daniel Williams

      Daniel Williams answered on 14 Nov 2017:

      I guess it depends how you define being a scientist!

      I started studying physics and astronomy at university in 2010, and it took me 5 years to get a masters degree. However, I published a scientific paper before I finished my undergraduate degree; I think I’d regard the work I did for that as being the first time I worked as a scientist, and I was 22 when I did that.

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