Will your work help young people?

Question: Will your work help young people?
- Keywords:
  career,
  work
Asked by supersonic to Francesca, Laura, Matthew, Andrew, Rebecca on 10 Nov 2014.
- Andrew McKinley answered on 10 Nov 2014:
  
  My work as a lecturer is all about teaching young people – our undergraduates. Before that though, we have to encourage people to apply to study chemistry, and that means working with schools to enhance the chemistry curriculum which – ultimately – will help young(er) people still in school – whether that is helping them realise what chemistry actually is, or helping them make alternate decisions which may not actually involve studying chemistry.
  
  It is my belief that deciding to *not* do something – provided it is for the right reasons and made with all the information to hand – is perfectly valid – it is how we narrow our search for what we eventually want to do.
- Matthew Camilleri answered on 10 Nov 2014:
  
  At the moment my work is doing research in order to make a cleaner cheaper way for medicine preparation, and therefore at face value it will not have a massive impact on young people.
  
  On the other hand everything has an effect on everything else, irrespective of how small that effect is. If my research works young people would have access to possibly cheaper medicines.
  
  Apart from research I also try to do a number of public engagement activities where I talk to a number of students with respect to sustainability.
- Laura Schofield answered on 10 Nov 2014:
  
  I would hope my research will have a huge impact on young people! If my process gets adopted by industry as a way to make plastic from fruit peel and other plant materials, it will mean that when you buy phones, the screens will be made from fruit peel! There are many other uses too but I hope that it will lead the way in making plastics more sustainable (meaning we can make them forever because we can keep growing fruit for the reaction!)
  I also, like Andrew and Matthew, work with undergraduates and in outreach activities. I like to think I make a difference there too! If I can help one person make a decision about whether they want to do science at Uni or as a career, I feel I’ll have done a good job!
- Rebecca Ingle answered on 10 Nov 2014:
  
  I do teach and do outreach work, which involves helping schoolchildren to learn various scientific techniques so I think that directly does help young people.
  
  In terms of my research though, I’m not sure if there is an impact specifically on young people. I think anything that advances what we know about science can be potentially useful (like my work might find a use in developing more efficient solar cells or understanding DNA mutations) but I think that’s not restricted to any one age group.
- Francesca Palombo answered on 10 Nov 2014:
  
  I hope my work will contribute towards health and wellbeing – for young people, in particular, I love participating in this kind of initiatives. If you find this one useful, then I am glad

Question: Will your work help young people?

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