• Question: How did yuo become a scientst

    Asked by anon-359861 on 18 Mar 2023. This question was also asked by anon-359991.
    • Photo: Craig Johnston

      Craig Johnston answered on 18 Mar 2023:

      I got the grades at School that I need to study Chemistry at University. After completing my undergraduate degree in Chemistry I could have looked for jobs in industry as a scientist but I decided to do a PhD instead. Again with a PhD in Chemistry you can continue to work at University as a scientist but also in industry. Many undergraduate degrees have opportunities for students to spend some time in industry to gain experience there and see if they like it.

    • Photo: Martin McCoustra

      Martin McCoustra answered on 20 Mar 2023:

      I enjoyed science at school and decided to do a degree in chemistry. At first, I thought that I might become a chemistry teacher or even an analytical chemist. But I found out at university that I really was pretty good at it and enjoyed doing experiments. Working as a summer student in the BP Refinery in Grangemouth really confirmed to me that I didn’t like being told what to do. So, the only real job where I could make my own decisions on what I did was to become an academic scientist. My PhD was the first step on that ladder… and I’ve been climbing it since.

    • Photo: Rebecca Walker

      Rebecca Walker answered on 20 Mar 2023:

      I enjoyed science from a young age and already knew when choosing my subjects for Standard Grade (now Nat 5) and Higher (like GCSE and A-level) that I wanted to take at least 2 sciences. I enjoyed Chemistry the most and decided to pursue it at University. I did some short research placements over summer holidays during my degree and that confirmed to me I wanted to pursue a career in research 🙂

    • Photo: Sarah Lyons

      Sarah Lyons answered on 20 Mar 2023:

      I enjoyed chemistry and biology at school so decided to pursue both at university. I also took “Earth Science” in my first year of uni as I needed a third subject. I very nearly dropped biology in second year to pursue chemistry and earth science but decided I was keen to work in health sciences as I wanted a career that could help people in some way so went forward with chemistry and biology. I did a (paid) industrial placement at a pharmaceutical company in my third year as part of doing a Masters degree. I really enjoyed my placement and it help make the decision to pursue a pharma career. As I came to the end of my degree, I decided to do a PhD as I felt doing independent research would put me in good stead for going into pharmaceuticals as I would have more lab experience.

    • Photo: Maryam Sani

      Maryam Sani answered on 22 Mar 2023:

      I studied chemistry at university because I enjoyed it in school. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do after I completed my degree so I went into teaching and then I went on to do a master’s degree in Analytical Chemistry.

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