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Asked by anon-220171 to Rachel, Ettie on 1 Jun 2019.
Question: what is it like when you discover new things while doing experiments??
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Rachel Hardy answered on 1 Jun 2019: last edited 1 Jun 2019 11:01 pm
It’s an amazing feeling! However small the finding may be, the fact that it is new gives me such a good buzz. This is because I know that my own hard work and commitment to the project have lead to me finding out something that not many others (or none at all!) know about. Also, the fact that these findings may eventually lead to new, better and safer medicines for patients in the future mean that I have achieved something truly unique that will really help people to live better lives. The amazing thing is, you could also play a part in discoveries like these in the future using your own skills and love for science!
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Ettie Unwin answered on 3 Jun 2019:
I don’t really do what most people consider as typical experiments. I use a computer to predict how diseases will spread so all the experimentation is done by changing some values in my equations and looking at the results. Like Rachel I think finding new things is amazing. The potential that small things we find in our day to day jobs can have for people around the world is huge. I like being able to play my part.
Comments
Nina commented on :
I think for many of us, this is high on the list of reasons why we became scientists – you can’t beat that feeling. For me it first happened in the early hours of one morning during my PhD. I had developed a new hypothesis about how cooling might protect brain cells from injury at the molecular level, tested that hypothesis, and found that it was supported by the data (having tried pretty hard to prove myself wrong!). For that snapshot in time, I was fairly certain I was the only person in the world who had made that observation and knew what it might mean. The amazing thing about being a scientist is that every day brings another opportunity to discover something new – sometimes it happens as predicted after many long hours of hard work, sometimes it happens by chance when you least expect it, sometimes it happens by accident when an experiment has gone wrong – ‘failed’ experiments are never a waste of time!
Rebecca commented on :
This is one of the reasons I love doing research, but it’s really excited when you find something new. It definitely gives me a buzz when I find something new, even if it’s not what I was expecting. Its then really interesting to try to work out how it has happened and then science behind it.
MattyB commented on :
It’s still very exciting when you get a new result that supports your novel hypothesis. I try to hold back a bit these days now because it very easy to get too emotionally attached to successful experiments and that can make it very difficult when you get negative results.
The key thing to remember there, as others have said, is that a negative result usually means that something interesting and unknown happens instead. A lot of the most ground-breaking science comes out of carefully looking at the data even when it wasn’t what you were expecting.
Shobhana commented on :
This is always really exciting when you find something you didn’t expect! I had thought that the main problems affecting the people I work in rural India were related to the risk factors for heart disease – like having high blood pressure or high blood sugar. After going to these areas, I found out the main problems facing the people there, were related to not eating the right type of food and also not having enough food to eat! This made me change the focus of my research to have more of an impact on the people I work with. Often we find out the real problem only after starting the research process!
Matthew commented on :
In all honesty, at first they are kind of exciting and also scary at the same time… as you quite often have to recheck things to make sure they are right, so when you first find something you are excited because you might have made a real breakthrough, but then slightly nervous and scared too, as when you go back and recheck your information/data, you might find that you’ve got something wrong somewhere!!
Kate commented on :
For me it’s the most amazing feeling. Until you tell someone else what you have found, you’re the only person in the world that knows this new ‘fact’ about the universe.
It’s the best part of the job!
Marianne commented on :
It’s a bit like you’ve been let in on an amazing secret. There is a moment where you think that could literally be the first person in the world to see what you’ve just seen. It’s a bit surreal but very fun!
Ambre commented on :
Very good question. It is a very mixed feeling for my part and it happen quite a lot when you work with fungi or microorganism, as they are fascinating and always surprise us. It is of course an amazing feeling, the feeling I was looking for when I choose science as a career. But, in same times you have your head who start fuming with more and more experiment. So, it can become frustrating because you don’t have the time to follow through or because it is at the opposite of your current research.