• Question: How old do you have to be a scientist?

    Asked by anon-355325 on 17 Mar 2023. This question was also asked by anon-355317.
    • Photo: John Clark-Corrigall

      John Clark-Corrigall answered on 17 Mar 2023:

      There’s no age limit on being a scientist, you can get jobs working in laboratory without a university degree, sometimes there are college courses or apprenticeships depending on what you want to do. Traditionally doing a degree is the usual route so an actual job as a scientist starts from 18-21 at the youngest.

      But before that you carry out experiments in lessons, there are wider opportunities like The Big Bang competition, where you do experiments and present it to scientists like myself to try and win prize money for more experiments. Or attending the Royal Institution Christmas lectures, (also available on iPlayer on BBC4) they’re both things that make you a scientist too!

      https://www.thebigbang.org.uk/the-big-bang-competition/
      https://www.rigb.org/christmas-lectures

    • Photo: Aishwarya Mishra

      Aishwarya Mishra answered on 17 Mar 2023:

      There is no age limit to being a scientist. If you do an experiments in your day to day life or lab and find an answer to an unanswered question, you are already a scientist.
      However, as a career path as well you can become a scientist right after your school or undergraduate university by starting through an internship in a company or university. If you want to continue through university, you can keep on being a research for years or you can be a scientist in industry just after your degree from univrsity.

    • Photo: Laura Lockhart

      Laura Lockhart answered on 17 Mar 2023:

      I’d say 0! You’re doing experiments and figuring things out from the moment you are born!

    • Photo: Benjamin Foster

      Benjamin Foster answered on 21 Mar 2023:

      There is no age limit! We can all be scientists just by asking questions and thinking critically about the world around us!

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