why did you become a scientist? – MRC Festival Zone 2018

Lauren Burns answered on 1 Jun 2018:

People always fascinated me, why they do what they do, what drives them, how they decide whether or not something is a good idea. That’s why I took Psychology in AS/A Level, and furthered my knowledge in my Undergraduate degree. In all honesty, it wasn’t until my Masters degree I really started to understand and enjoy the ‘research’ side of things. Looking back it’s funny because it was a gradual thing, and I cannot pinpoint one day or event that made me think I was a ‘scientist’. I believe we are all curious about different things and seek answers to different questions about life, and I believe that means everyone is a scientist.

Nathan Clarke answered on 1 Jun 2018:

I became a scientist because I was interested in music. More specifically, I became interested in why music made me feel the way it did. Like Lauren, this was a gradual process. I preferred sports at school and was more interested in starting a band than doing my GCSEs.

That said, I’ve always liked knowing that there’s a good reason for why and how we do things in society. Science is the process of developing, testing and refining these reasons. It gives us the ability to say ‘this is the best way to do this’ or ‘that is the best explanation for why this is happening’. Luckily, if you care about having good reasons, you can learn to think like this.

Claire Donald answered on 1 Jun 2018:

I was a very inquisitive child and was always trying to investigate things- what happens when you do this? Does that fit in there? How does this work? Why is that like that? I’m still like that now, except someone is paying me to investigate specific things that might help other people in the future. I enjoy working in a lab and using lots of different bits of equipment. It means I’m moving around a lot too and not sitting at a computer all day. If only I could take the lab outside into the sunshine….

Joey Shepherd answered on 1 Jun 2018:

Even still at school I realised I wanted to be a scientist. I was always interested in how things worked, and why things are how they are. It was while I was doing A level biology that we had a topic on microbiology, which is the study of microbes (bacteria, viruses and fungi) and I found it so exciting that there was this whole microscopic world around us that we couldn’t see that I knew then I wanted to be a microbiologist to study these tiny beings and work out how they work and do things – and sometimes cause disease. If we know more about how they can cause diseases, then we can work out better ways to stop them!

Donna MacCallum answered on 1 Jun 2018:

I loved science – loved research – and just wanted to do more. It’s great to be paid to do something that you would do as a hobby!

Claudia Bonfio answered on 1 Jun 2018:

I love science… so what’s best than work with what you love?
Also, it is a very creative and dynamic job, you spend rarely two days in the same way.
Finally, a scientist is someone that never stops studying and learning… We don’t know much, but we are eager to know more!

Ashley Akbari answered on 1 Jun 2018:

Always loved solving problems and finding new ways to tackle problems – becoming a scientist was not my first choice but was a natural fit for me. The great thing about science is that skills are very transferable so people can work in one field and move to other fields and learn and start new roles.

Damian Mole answered on 2 Jun 2018:

For two reasons – I was better at science at school than any other subjects, so it meant I had to work less hard 🙂

Then, when I actually did some science, and I did my first experiment finding out something about the world that no one had ever discovered before – however small – that was the best buzz! And Ive never looked back.

Jason Chu answered on 2 Jun 2018:

I followed down the science pathway literally because I watched a lot of Zombie films when I was a teenager and became fascinated with the idea of an infection outbreak. I then discovered the immune system – I like to think of it as the body’s military against infections. I was then convinced that I was going to be an immunologist.

Alex Haragan answered on 3 Jun 2018:

When I was much younger I had many books on science that showed mad scientists as wild-haired people in white-jackets holding glass tubes of brightly coloured fluids and making explosions.

Why wouldn’t you want to do that?!

As you get into science you realise that you’re not always going to be making explosions, and wild hair is optional – but it is just as exciting as you thought it might be.

Sometimes the research you do doesn’t look very exciting from other people’s point of view – but when you get some answers and help to explain or find something new – it makes it all worthwhile.

If you like always having something new to think and do, science is for you.

Hannah Farley answered on 3 Jun 2018:

By accident really – I didn’t think I would be smart enough to do a PhD. When I was doing my undergraduate degree, I really enjoyed the research part of my course and one of my tutors suggested applying to a PhD. I went for it, got a place and here I am! I liked the research stuff because I think it’s really interesting – the tiniest change in your DNA can have a huge effect on you and your family. And in the same way, tiny molecules, like penicillin, can kill bacteria and literally save your life. I think that is just really cool. I find developmental biology interesting because I’m really stubborn – I used to find it hard to understand, and to be honest, I still do. There’s just a lot that has to happen between you being a sperm and an egg cell fusing, and then you being born as a baby, and we actually don’t know a lot about everything that has to happen – I think that’s really weird and also really interesting.

Laura Hemming answered on 4 Jun 2018:

I became a scientist because I want to make a difference in this world. I would like that difference to be made through researching mental health problems, and finding out what might cause them or make them better. I hope that through becoming a scientist, one day, somebody in the future will be helped by my research 🙂

Joanne Sharpe answered on 4 Jun 2018:

I heard scientists talk about how when they were confused about something and wanted to know more, they went in the lab and did an experiment to find out the answer. I thought that was so cool – I wanted to make my own discoveries!

Question: why did you become a scientist?

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