• Question: Whats the hardest part about being a scientist?

    Asked by anon-256866 on 12 Jun 2020. This question was also asked by anon-256666.
    • Photo: James Beswick

      James Beswick answered on 12 Jun 2020:

      Probably the fact that we are doing things that sometimes no-one has ever tried to do before. Which is really cool and exciting – but it also means that if things don’t go to plan, there is no set of instructions that we can follow to make it work every single time. On the bright side – this means that when things *do* go to plan, it is a great moment!

    • Photo: Alex Holmes

      Alex Holmes answered on 12 Jun 2020:

      Hi Catalina,

      I think the hardest part for me is when you start a new project. By the end of a project you’re usually an expert in the area, so it’s a shock to go back to basics and read all new papers and think about something new! It also means learning how to do new things for the first time, which can be a bit daunting if you’re worried about doing something wrong!

      Luckily it doesn’t take too long until you’re an expert on the new project and it’s nice getting to change research areas so you don’t get bored!

    • Photo: Eleanor Williams

      Eleanor Williams answered on 19 Jun 2020:

      When something doesn’t work the first time or the second or the third or the fourth or the fifth or the sixth but you have to keep on going until it works. And then you have to do repeats. It requires a lot of patience but at times can be very tiring and demoralising. Once you crack it though and it starts working it gets a lot more enjoyable.

Comments