• Question: Is it fun being a scientist or does it get boring

    Asked by anon-181544 on 6 Jun 2018. This question was also asked by anon-181557.
    • Photo: Joey Shepherd

      Joey Shepherd answered on 6 Jun 2018:

      Honestly both. It is fun most of the time – you are doing experiments in the lab, coming up with new theories, talking to other people who love science, writing abut your science. Also you usually get to do a bit of travelling to meetings and conferences so you see a bit of the world and meet people from different countries. But sometimes it can be a bit boring but only occasionally – usually during a particularly long or tedious experiment where you have to do the same things lots of times over! On balance though it is definitely more fun, and we are doing jobs we love and are passionate about so what might not seem fun to some people (looking at bacteria for example) is very fun for us!

    • Photo: Laura Hemming

      Laura Hemming answered on 6 Jun 2018:

      I agree with Joey. On the whole I would say it’s really fun – for me I find it really fun to be able to chat to prisoners about their emotions, and I also really enjoy analysing data and also writing. But sometimes there can be repetitive administrative tasks – for example printing out / photocopying questionnaires, filing and data entry. But like Joey said, this happens much less than the fun stuff, and honestly, full disclaimer I sometimes find filing and data entry quite soothing ha.

    • Photo: Joanne Sharpe

      Joanne Sharpe answered on 7 Jun 2018:

      I think, unless you’re really lucky, some aspects of any job are boring! I am rarely bored because I love doing experiments in the lab, talking science with other researchers, writing about my own research, and going to conferences. Sometimes though, you might be faced with the third day of doing the same tedious task over and over, and admittedly that is boring. But I think on the whole it’s a very fun job! It’s important to find out what you enjoy doing so that there are more fun parts than boring parts.

    • Photo: Nathan Clarke

      Nathan Clarke answered on 7 Jun 2018:

      Definitely both. Part of this stems from human nature; we’re mostly creatures that thrive off of novel experiences. Even the most exciting experiences can become mundane through routine exposure. Personally, I think the trick to finding a job/career is to find something that keeps you interested on balance and regularly ‘coming back for more’. I get sick of chocolate if I eat too much in one sitting, I’ll certainly be excited by it again in half an hour. Science is a bit like chocolate.

    • Photo: Ashley Akbari

      Ashley Akbari answered on 7 Jun 2018:

      Definitely both – I have times when I really enjoy my role and times when I find things a little bit boring… but there is definitely a balance to be struck – and I find that more importantly it is down to the people I work with and collaborate with as they make the science I do more enjoyable.

    • Photo: Camille Parsons

      Camille Parsons answered on 7 Jun 2018:

      I think it’s fun, I do not get board however I do find some days challenging. I really enjoy the many different aspects to my job, from meeting with clinical doctors, completing maths investigations, creating graphs and tables of the results for people to understand the results, writing papers to be published and travelling to conferences/meetings. However sometimes there are deadlines and so things get a little pressured.

    • Photo: Liza Selley

      Liza Selley answered on 8 Jun 2018:

      Some of my work is very repetitive and easy so sounds boring to most people.
      I work with huuuge datasets that have information about 1000s of different molecules and have to spend hours copying and pasting the data so that I can look at it properly. Even though it’s not as fun as a lab experiment I still feel excited when I do this because there is such a high chance of finding out something cool at the end. I just whack the headphones in and get clicking!

    • Photo: Donna MacCallum

      Donna MacCallum answered on 8 Jun 2018:

      Being a scientist can be frustrating when you keep trying to do something and it doesn’t usually get boring! It’s most fun when you start doing something new

    • Photo: Claire Donald

      Claire Donald answered on 8 Jun 2018:

      Science can be a lot of hard work but also a lot of fun. It is never boring if you are doing something you enjoy 🙂

    • Photo: Lauren Burns

      Lauren Burns answered on 8 Jun 2018:

      Just like any job, there are its dull or frustrating moments, but overall the fun out-ways the negatives in my book every day!

    • Photo: Hannah Farley

      Hannah Farley answered on 10 Jun 2018:

      Unfortunately everything can be boring, but I think it is generally fun. I enjoy the science bits the most – you also have to do presentations on your research and write it up, and these are the parts where I struggle to stay focused. I find the presentations nervewracking and would much rather be in the lab.

Comments