Question: How did you get to where you are now?

Justin Perry answered on 11 Oct 2022:

Apart from the fact that I wanted to be a scientist when I came to choose my A levels, it’s not been an obvious career path. I went to university thinking I wanted to do physics but quickly worked out that I was much better at chemistry and enjoyed it more. In my final year at university, I didn’t study as hard as I probably should have, and I had to change university to do a PhD in the subject I wanted to. That meant I moved abroad to Dublin where I was for 5 years, and got on really well and I knew I wanted to do research in chemistry as a career. I came back to the UK and I worked as a chemistry researcher at Durham University for 4 years which is fun but I wanted to research my own ideas. So I got a lectureship at my current university, Northumbria University, and I have been running a research group looking at plastics (though I tend to call them polymers and composites!) and biotechnology sometimes at the same time for over 20 years. I am now a Professor which indicates I am a senior person in the university, and in my type of research.

I guess I have worked hard (after a false start or two!), but that is easier when you are part of a team. If you like working together on a problem, science/chemistry is an environment where this can happen in a rewarding way.