• Question: what is the hardest part of your jobs?[:

    Asked by anon-348202 to Ollie, Amy, Aakash on 17 Feb 2023.
    • Photo: Amy Morris-Drake

      Amy Morris-Drake answered on 17 Feb 2023:

      For me it is the data analysis part. I love designing experiments and running them in the field (in South Africa on wild dwarf mongooses), but then I have a load of data that I have to analyse. Data analysis is an essential part of the job, and it’s exciting in that it gives you the results of your experiments. But numbers are not my strong point (I was never that good at maths at school!), and data analysis can be quite mathematical.

    • Photo: Aakash Mukhopadhyay

      Aakash Mukhopadhyay answered on 17 Feb 2023:

      When experiments do not work, it is quite demoralising. Also after making a discovery, we need to publish our research in the form of a “paper” or article. Whether our paper can be published is judged by other scientists and it is quite hard to convince other scientists about the importance of our discoveries

    • Photo: Ollie Thomas

      Ollie Thomas answered on 28 Feb 2023:

      For me I think the hardest part is believing in myself. I’m surrounded by a lot of very smart people and sometimes I might go weeks or months without any of my experiments working. It can be hard to remember that I deserve to be where I am and I’m just as competent as everyone I work with.

Comments

  • Photo: Maria

    Maria commented on :

    For me, the hardest part is when experiments don’t work. In science and research, a lot of the work you do will not work or will need altering, and this can be difficult to overcome.

  • Photo: Ester

    Ester commented on :

    For me is writing. When we have done the experiments and have understood our data we need to write an articles for everyone to know what we have discovered. I find that challenging and boring.