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Asked by coconut to Clare, Dave, Glo, Ozge, Sean on 16 Jun 2011. This question was also asked by katie12.
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Clare Woulds answered on 15 Jun 2011:
Doing science research is mostly about overcoming problems! At sea I have had equipment not working properly, and have had to stay up until 2am trying to fix it. In the lab I have had problems with contamination in the instrument I was using which produced errors in my results. These things usually take time, care and perseverence to sort out.
One of the biggest challenges I have faced was getting all my equipment out to India for a research cruise. I had to take three fridges (fancy ones that can control the temperature very precisely). They could not be placed on their side as that would break them, but they were too tall for most aeroplane holds. It took a lot of paperwork and many visits to the India visa centre to sort that trip out!
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Gloeta Massie answered on 15 Jun 2011:
Coconut – that is one of most thought-provoking questions I have ever been asked. Let me think about that one and get back to it after I’ve had some sleep. (It’s 12:06AM for me right now!)
The next day – maths. I am really not good with math. Thinking about math actually makes me want to burst into tears – I find the idea so frustrating. Let me put this in perspective. There is an exam that you have to take in the US that is used for graduate school applications. Generally, scientists score really, really well on the math section. I didn’t. I didn’t to the point that when I sent an email to a potential supervisor he wrote back, “Sorry – there was a typo in your email – when you sent it over – it said that your math score was x. Ha! I know that can’t be right – so what’s the actual score.” True story. When I told him that the score was accurate he very bluntly said, “You don’t stand a chance of getting in the program with that math score.” It didn’t matter, at all, that maths aren’t my area of focus or that I don’t use advanced maths, well, ever. The door had been slammed. I found that this door was slammed repeatedly for that reason. It was a very, very frustrating and upsetting experience for me – to be so close and to find all of the doors slammed in my face for reasons outside of my control. I even thought about quitting science all together. But, to quote a friend, “When you find the doors are shut, grab a chainsaw and cut yourself a new one!” So – I did. If it weren’t for all of those doors slammed in my face, I wouldn’t be living a really good life in Australia now. Moral of the story – don’t let other people’s ideas of who they think you are keep you from being who you want to be. 🙂
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Dave Sproson answered on 15 Jun 2011:
I think it was probably when I was trying to run a simulation of the whole ocean on a super-computer. Almost everything was working really well, but there was just one problem in the physics simulation that made the surface temperature of the ocean look really unrealistic in the spring, when it was warming up. It took me a few months to figure out what was going on, and nearly drove me mad in the process, but was such a great feeling when I eventually sussed out what the problem was!
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Ozge Ozkaya answered on 16 Jun 2011:
It must have been finding a scholarship to do my PhD. I wasnt eligible for most scholarships due to my nationality and it was very disheartening, but I managed in the end!! I was looking and applying everyday for months!
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