• Question: How long have you been researching/working on your chosen area of research and has their been any set backs in the process which may have prevented advancement in your line of work?

    Asked by E5th3r to Samuel, Richard, Nikolai, Nicki, Cristiane on 11 Mar 2015.
    • Photo: Samuel Ellis

      Samuel Ellis answered on 11 Mar 2015:

      Well I have been working on pathogens (microbes like bacteria which make you ill) for the last 2 years. I have been lucky enough not to have any major setbacks yet (fingers crossed), but experiments do go wrong all the time or not give the results you hoped for.

      At the moment it is looking like something I have been trying to make work for the last month or two won’t be suitable, so in a way that was time that hasn’t achieved anything. But really, even negative results are useful because at least you then know what doesn’t work for the future!

    • Photo: Nikolai Adamski

      Nikolai Adamski answered on 11 Mar 2015:

      Setbacks? Plenty!
      That is the nature of the beast we call science. If science would be that easy (flick of a switch) then we would have solved all the problems in the world a long time ago.
      For example I do field experiments, so I am dependent on the weather. In the spring of 2011, we had a horrible drought (we don’t have irrigation on our field). My plants didn’t develop properly and I could trash all my experiments. The summer of 2012 was a complete washout: It wasn’t as bad as the drought the year before, but many experiments couldn’t be done properly and again had to be trashed. I’m sorry if I sound like an angry farmer (they do complain a lot about the weather :D).
      As long as I understand why things didn’t work out I can try to come up with solutions for it. That keeps my frustration levels to a minimum.
      If something does wotk out though, I am a happy bunny and it gives me plenty of motivation to keep going.

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