• Question: What advice would you give to a student who wants a career in science?

    Asked by anon-360743 on 22 Mar 2023.
    • Photo: Lucien Heurtier

      Lucien Heurtier answered on 22 Mar 2023:

      Here would be my main advice: never give up, and always convince yourself that you can do it.

      Becoming a scientist can be tough sometimes. People can be arrogant and always pretend they are smarter than you, sometimes you will question yourself and wonder if you’re good enough, and it is not always easy to realise that this is all wrong. Be strong enough to know about your own skills, and to work hard to use them in the best way possible, it will work well.

      On the career level:

      1) Work on your maths. Maths are everywhere in science, even in programming.
      2) Choose the science that suits your personality. It has to be interesting AND fun.
      3) Never get shy: if you are interested in some science, go talk to as many people as you know (professors, relatives) that could tell you about what they do. It is also a good way to find opportunities for work experience and get more advice about where to look, which University to study, etc.
      4) If you fail, try again!

    • Photo: Joshua Bibby

      Joshua Bibby answered on 24 Mar 2023: last edited 24 Mar 2023 12:17 pm

      My advice would be do what you enjoy. Science can be hard and there will be times where you have to work very hard. If you don’t enjoy learning about what you are studying or doing what you are doing (maths, simulations, lab work, etc.), then it can get very difficult to carry on. Second is challenge yourself, push yourself to learn one more thing, take one more measurement, try one more time.

      Third is talk to people and learn from other’s, they can be your teachers, professors, classmates, anyone in science could have an interesting idea for you to think about. Learning from other’s will make you better than you can be on your own.

      Finally (this is more for when you are at university), make sure that science is not the only thing in your life. Science can be hard work and that can tire you out so make sure you can escape sometimes! Exercise, carry on with your hobbies, hang out with non-scientists. Doing this means you can be happier and keep going when your research/studies are getting difficult. I know for sure that I am happier and have the energy to work harder if I’ve gone for a run or spent time with friends, even when I’m super busy with work and think I don’t have time for it.

Comments

  • Photo: anon-360743

    anon-360743 commented on :

    Thank you! I never knew Maths would be related to science so i’ll look out for that

  • Photo: Lucien

    Lucien commented on :

    Yeah, it is not easy to see it when you are at school because for certain science like chemistry you are only asked to remember by heart what chemical does what, what are well know chemical reactions, etc. But you never get explained ‘why’. When you will learn more, you will realize that all these chemicals are molecules that have a certain structure, and that this structure can do different things in different ways. And to calculate what is a molecule most likely to do, you will need… some maths 🙂 Then you can teach your students what you learnt from maths, but if your students are too young (like you are now) you may just ask them to remember things by heart instead and to trust you about what does what…