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Asked by anon-284213 on 4 Mar 2021. This question was also asked by anon-286146.
Question: hi, what is it like being a scientists?
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Jesko Koehnke answered on 4 Mar 2021:
Doing science is my favourite thing, and that is not an exaggeration. So being able to have this as a job and actually get paid to do it is something that makes me very happy.
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Matt Foulkes answered on 4 Mar 2021:
I honestly really really love it! And I think that’s so important in life, whatever you do and whatever you want to do in the future.
I find science (particularly chemistry) so fascinating and interesting. I love solving problems, analysing things, trying different ideas out, and getting to do practical things like chemical reactions. I really am still learning new stuff all the time, and that’s also something I love about being a scientist! I also find it really satisfying, knowing that in my job as a Senior Scientist, I am contributing towards making the next new drugs that will hopefully make it to the clinic in a few years’ time. Our overall aim is to help patients live longer and enjoy a better quality of life. So all of this means that I love my job! -
Miriam O'Duill answered on 5 Mar 2021:
The thing I love about being a scientist is the variety. No two days are the same!
Some days, I’ll be in the lab setting up reactions. Other days I’ll be taking apart a machine that has stopped working. Sometimes I go to conferences, give presentations about the science I do and talk to other chemists. It’s always great to meet new people and get new ideas. During term time, I spend a lot of time teaching – in lecture theatres, teaching laboratories, and lately online. And sometimes I spend days reading about the cool chemistry other people are doing, thinking about whether their discoveries can help me with the reactions I’m trying to develop. -
Martin McCoustra answered on 5 Mar 2021:
Honestly… it’s a lot of fun! An opportunity to work and learn with other people for across the globe, to visit some of those places and to see younger people do well. But it can be hard work and you need to be motivated to be a scientist. Things don’t just happen you need to work to get them to happen.
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Nikita King answered on 5 Mar 2021:
Its a lot of fun, you keep learning new things. I work in the lab and the office and I like the flexibility of working in both. With the current situation I can also work from home and can set up experiments still in the lab when I need to.
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Andrew Parrott answered on 5 Mar 2021:
It’s a lot of fun, there is always something new to try out or learn. I work in quite an applied area so I can often see the outcome of my work in the “real” world which is really exciting! As a job it gives quite a lot of flexibility, as I can work in the lab or from home. In fact sometimes I control my experiments in the lab through the internet, so I don’t have to travel to work as often – I am doing lab work from the comfort of my own home.
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Amy Sanders answered on 6 Mar 2021:
Sometimes it’s the best job in the world, I get to be a detective and try and figure out why people are feeling well.
Sometimes it can be tough, when we find a new blood cancer or at 3am when I’m at work and I’m super tired.
But really, I love it. I wanted to be useful and I am, every single day. I’m always learning new things and I’m making a different to our patients -
Michael Walford answered on 10 Mar 2021:
Interesting. Performing routine testing on a variety of materials, means that you often get very different results, sometimes unexpected. Some days can be difficult, doing the same thing day in and day out, but seeing as i get to set stuff on fire most days, its still pretty interesting
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Ben Esse answered on 10 Mar 2021:
It can be amazing and difficult all at once. As a scientist it is your job to push the boundaries of human knowledge to better understand the world around us, but that means it can be a very challenging job! However, this also means that you can discover things that no-one else has ever found before, which is amazing! I love my job and I wouldn’t want to do anything else.
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Zuzanna Konieczna answered on 10 Mar 2021:
Science keeps you on your toes! As a scientist, you keep learning every day. Sometimes your experiments work, sometimes they don’t. Either way, they tend to leave you with more questions to answer, and keep you busy planning the next steps. I like that aspect – trying to understand problems, testing ideas and finding solutions. It’s also probably lots more varied (lab work, office work, paper work!) and collaborative than one might think!
Comments
Sonia commented on :
It’s exciting to be in the lab to make substances and then go on to analyse and test them. I always get that feeling of satisfaction when I think someday, I may discover something that may changes people’s lives for the better.