hi how are uu i was wondering if you could ask a

Question: hi how are uu i was wondering if you could ask a lot of Q. 1. is it good fun being a scinetist 2. did it took a long time becoming a a trained scintiset 3. did you like scienc 4. when you were a kid what did you want to b 5. if im going to vote 1 of you can you say one thing thats a good scientist to you thank you joy xxx :)

Asked by lilmissjoy to Anne, Carolyn, Joe, Mariana, Nick on 15 Mar 2010 in Categories: About.
- Joseph Devlin answered on 15 Mar 2010:
  
  Hi Joy,
  
  It is good fun being a scientist, definitely. Solving problems and figuring out pieces of a complicated puzzle is incredibly satisfying although there are lots of fairly boring things we do in our day-to-day work, too. But I suspect all jobs have those…
  
  I did my training in the US where the PhD takes longer (6 years rather than 3) so yes, it takes a while. From when I finished university to when I got my first independent job as a scientist took 13 years. It must be said, though, that lots of those years were pretty fun.
  
  I love science because I love learning how things work. I always have too many questions and not enough answers and that’s probably why I became a scientist in the first place.
  
  When I was a kid I wanted to be a lawyer. My folks told me they made lots of money and I thought that sounded good. I never really got into it, though, and by the time I finished college I wanted to understand how brains work…
  
  One of my favorite scientists is Alan Turing — a mathematician who basically invented computers. He was awesome because he worked out some massively important theories for computing but then went on to actually build the first working machine. Not content with that, he basically ran the British code-breakers at Bletchley Park in WWII because his computers were what made it possible to break the German Enigma code. The man was a genius who sadly doesn’t get a lot of recognition for incredible contributions.
  
  Cheers
  Joe
- Nick Bradshaw answered on 15 Mar 2010:
  
  Wow lots of questions!
  
  1) Being a scientist can be boring at times, but when things work it gets really exciting. I like the job personally because you can end up doing different things each day
  
  2) I spent three years at university being taught and then another 3 and a half as a “PhD student”. Being a PhD student is a bit like being an apprentice in that you are taught by actually doing your own experiments in a lab, but with people around you who know what they are doing and can help you if you have problems. After that you are a “proper” scientist and can call yourself “Doctor”.
  
  3) Actually I hated it until I was about 15, then I started to find it intersting.
  
  4) I wanted to be an author or maybe a hisotrian.
  
  5) A good scientist is someone who believes that what they are doing will make a difference and who is more interested in discovering the real answer to a question then getting an wrong one that will make them rich.
- Carolyn McGettigan answered on 15 Mar 2010:
  
  hello! i’m very well thank you. it’s been busy on here today – so many great questions!
  
  my answers
  1. yes it is great fun being a scientist. i do experiments to find out about the things that interest me, every day is different and i don’t have to dress smart for work!
  2. yes, i suppose it has taken a while. i suppose finishing my PhD was when i became a ‘trained’ scientist, and that happened 8 years after I left school.
  3. i love science. everything changes so fast and there’s so much cool stuff to find out every day just from reading all the new papers that have been published. it sounds like a cliche, but no two days are the same. i love that variety.
  4. when i was a kid i wanted to be loads of things. i think the first was an architect, then a doctor. actually i wanted to do forensic pathology (like the main characters in ‘silent witness’ on tv) for a while but then i realised i might not be so keen on spending my day with dead bodies! i wanted to be a musician for a while too (i play violin) but i never did enough practice!
  5. i hope you vote for me! i’m really enthusiastic about my work and telling other people about it. if i win then i would organise a schools event with human beatboxers where we could get people thinking about how we speak and make sounds with our voices, and how our brains respond to sound. i think it would be great fun and your vote will get me a bit closer to making it a reality!
- Mariana Vargas answered on 15 Mar 2010:
  
  Hello there:
  Answer 1. Yes it’s fun! I love it because
  – I am always meeting new people who have a lot of enthusiasm.
  – I have a lot of freedom to choose the topics that I want to research.
  – When I discover something new I can publish it in a journal and also I can travel to scientific meetings to present the work to other scientists (I often bump into old friends at these meetings and this is great!)
  – There is always something new to learn
  – The reasons are endless
  
  Answer 2. My degree in biology lasted 5 years, then I did a Masters and a PhD (4 years total) and I have been a postdoctoral scientist for 6 years. So yes it took a relatively long time to become a scientist.
  
  Answer 3. I love Nature and the study of Nature, so yes! I love Science
  
  Answer 4. I went through many phases, as I said in my profile at some point I wanted to be a radio presenter! but from about 12 years of age I knew I wanted to be a scientist!
  
  Answer 5. A good scientist to me is someone who:
  – Knows how to communicate their subject to anyone (preferrably in a fun way so that they don’t fall asleep on the first 5 minutes.. :).
  – Someone who is commited to do good quality science which is reproducible.
  – And is aware of what society needs from science.
- Anne Seawright answered on 15 Mar 2010:
  
  Hi Joy,
  
  I live being a scientist as I am very interested in finding out how things work and why thinks happen, and using science allows me to answer questions everyday. It isn’t always good fun, but no job ever is, and it can be very hard work but generally I enjoy what I do and I work with fantastic people so I always try to make it fun.
  I spent 5 years at university training to become a vet and then a further 3 years becoming a specialist in animal behaviour before I started by research so it has taken me quite a long time but I have really enjoyed the journey so I wouldn’t say that was a bad thing, infact I wish I could have spent longer at uni…. but that might be for the social life!
  I have always loved science and choose to do seperate sciences for gcse and all the sciences for a levels.
  I wanted to be a vet from I was about 5 years old!
  A good scientist to me is someone who is passionate about what they do!
  
  Hope that’s answered all your questions,
  Anne 🙂