• Question: What is your least favourite thing about science

    Asked by dabigman123 to Sarah, Mohan, Jen, Dan, Christopher on 6 Mar 2017.
    • Photo: Sarah De Vos

      Sarah De Vos answered on 6 Mar 2017:

      Things can get pretty intense sometimes, which is a good thing but it’s important to switch off from everything at times to recharge 🙂

    • Photo: Mohan K

      Mohan K answered on 6 Mar 2017:

      Science in academia (being a university researcher) can put a heavy strain on your social and family life. There is also the constant pressure of having to produce results to justify your contract… a contract that may only last a couple of years at a time. That is why I opted for a career in science in the NHS- more stability and the chance to directly influence and improve patient care.

      The flip side of all that is that i do miss being at the ‘cutting edge’ and finding out new things rather than the incremental improvements I do now.

    • Photo: Jen Dennis

      Jen Dennis answered on 6 Mar 2017:

      Great question and quite a hard one to answer. I think that, like Sarah, I find it gets a bit intense at times and it can be hard to “switch off” at the end of the day. But you learn how to do it soon enough!

    • Photo: Daniel Fovargue

      Daniel Fovargue answered on 6 Mar 2017:

      One frustrating thing in science (especially research science in universities), is that you can get beaten to the punch. What I mean is that, you can put a lot of work into an idea but if someone else discovers it before you, then what you did basically doesn’t matter.

      This is because all science is public and shared by everyone. I guess its a risk that all scientists take to be able to play on the cutting edge of science!

    • Photo: Christopher Mirfin

      Christopher Mirfin answered on 7 Mar 2017:

      Science research is usually funded by governments and charities for only short periods of time, so it’s difficult to make long term plans

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