• Question: is it fun to be a scientist?

    Asked by bryony123456789 to David, Helen, Ian, rhysphillips, Sarah on 12 Jun 2011. This question was also asked by rachellee.
    • Photo: Rhys Phillips

      Rhys Phillips answered on 11 Jun 2011:

      Definitely YES! It’s one of the most exciting and enjoyable fields to work in I think. Everyday brings something new and unexpected so it never gets boring.

    • Photo: Ian van der Linde

      Ian van der Linde answered on 11 Jun 2011:

      It is very fun to be a scientist, and very rewarding when you finally solve a problem you’ve been working on! Also, as a scientist working at a University, I have a lot of freedom to choose how I spend my time and to choose which scientific questions I want to try to answer. I definitely don’t dread going to work on a Monday morning like many of my non-scientist friends!

    • Photo: Sarah Cook

      Sarah Cook answered on 11 Jun 2011:

      It is fun to be a scientist – although often scientists get bad press in the way science and research is potrayed in the media e.g. Frankinstein foods/GM crops etc.
      Therefore events such as ‘I’m a Scientist’ are great to help everyone understand scientists are normal people and more importantly that we don’t know everything!!!!

    • Photo: David Corne

      David Corne answered on 11 Jun 2011:

      Hah! I just cameback from a trip to two conferences, one in New Orleans, and one in Turku (in Finland). At both places I met some great, very clever people I know, as well as ones I didn’t know. We presented our latest ideas and findings to each other, and enjoyed the surroundings. OK, lots of very tiring travel, expense, sitting through a few boring talks, and suffering some awful airline food, but on the whole I’d certainly call that fun. The day-to-day work is a similar mix of great things and irksome things. The best thing is, most of the time I can (and do) do what I want to do – think up new ideas and try them out. Science is the most creative activity there is.

    • Photo: Helen Fletcher

      Helen Fletcher answered on 12 Jun 2011:

      Yes, really fun. You spend your days working on something that’s really interesting to you and that feels very satisfying. Your work is constantly changing as you plan your next experiment based on the results of your previous experiment, the results of other peoples experiments and the availability of new technology. You always work in a team of scientists so there is someone to get excited with when things go right and to pick you up when things are going wrong.

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