• Question: what challenges do you face as a scientist

    Asked by anon-225559 to Simon, Selen, Paul, Nawapat, Natalie, Katy on 14 Nov 2019.
    • Photo: Paul Laurance-Young

      Paul Laurance-Young answered on 14 Nov 2019: last edited 14 Nov 2019 10:05 pm

      My single biggest challenge in medical sciences is fake news, like “vaccines don’t work” or curing cancer “naturally”. I think the biggest obstacle to anyone setting out to be a scientist is doubting themselves. Thinking: “I can’t do this” or “I’m not clever enough enough” does nothing but hold you back. You have to believe in yourself and work to get what you want. Others will see how good you are.

    • Photo: Nawapat Kaweeyanun

      Nawapat Kaweeyanun answered on 16 Nov 2019: last edited 16 Nov 2019 7:50 pm

      As a scientist, I try to answers questions no one ever knew the answer before. There was no one who I could ask, and no way to check if my answers are correct. When a problem is difficult, I need to come up with new ideas on my own. I often feel that I don’t know enough about my subject, that I may not be able to learn enough to solve my problem. In the end I have to trust my own abilities and find the answer!

    • Photo: Natalie Fowler

      Natalie Fowler answered on 18 Nov 2019:

      A big challenge is money. Conducting big experiments and building new machines takes a lot of finance and sometimes that just isn’t available. Applying for funding is a really hard process which includes lots of knock backs and this isn’t necessarily because your idea isn’t worthy it’s just that there are too many good ideas!

    • Photo: Katy Bruce

      Katy Bruce answered on 25 Nov 2019:

      My biggest challenge as a scientist, (apart from the usual lack of time, lack of funds stuff!) is working in research! By its very nature, researchers try to discover new things and answer previously unanswered questions. This often means we have nothing to go by and have to find the answers from scratch…a bit like trying to navigate your way through an unfamiliar room with the lights off! This is what makes research fascinating and equally terrifying!!

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