• Question: how is it like to be a scientist and how long have you been a scientist

    Asked by kayelloa to Tiffany, Nik, Hitesh on 11 Jun 2012. This question was also asked by babyblue, edenkellyx, thaliapunkgoth1234, nataliethurlow.
    • Photo: Tiffany Taylor

      Tiffany Taylor answered on 11 Jun 2012:

      As I’ve said before, there is no such thing as “a scientist”. Being a scientist can mean lots of things to different people. It might be working in a lab with chemicals or on diseases, it might be working in Africa studying big animals, it might be developing the next satellite to go into space…

      But to me, I find being a scientist challenging (it can be a lot of work at times and things don’t always go the way you want), I find it really interesting (because I get to find out about new things all the time), and I find it really varied (I’m always doing something different).

      I guess I have been a scientist in some way since I got interested in animals at about 10 years old! But I started to feel like a real scientist when I went to University at 19, and I felt like other people saw me as a real scientist when I got my PhD at 26. So depending on when YOU think I became I scientist, it’s either been 16 years, 7 years, or 9 months. I’ll let you decide 🙂

    • Photo: Nicola Ibberson

      Nicola Ibberson answered on 11 Jun 2012:

      I’ve been working in a lab since I was 21, so that’s four years now. In my job, you aren’t referred to as a ‘scientist’ until you’ve undertaken a four year training programme approved by the government, so technically I’m not a scientist yet!

      I think being a scientist is about having a passion in science, and so long as you have that, being a scientist is very interesting! I work for the NHS, and I get to help patients, which is a major part of the job enjoyment for me. If I was put in a research lab working on flies, I don’t think I’d like being a scientist at all!

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