• Question: Why did you want to be a scientist

    Asked by anon-250816 on 24 Mar 2020.
    • Photo: Kate Dobson

      Kate Dobson answered on 24 Mar 2020: last edited 25 Mar 2020 11:44 am


      I wanted to find answers to things – when I went to University I thought it was realy amazing that we were being taught things that had only just been discovered, maybe only a few months before the class – I thought that ws really cool, and decided I wanted to find out new things and see things no one else ever had.

    • Photo: Robert Ives

      Robert Ives answered on 24 Mar 2020:


      I’ve always loved science, from pond dipping and Lego building as a young child, to making experiments go wrong in the school lab, to developing medicines that help improve peoples lives. I love asking the questions and sometimes even finding the answers. For me, science can be so exciting and from an early age, it was what I wanted to do as a career (that or become a pilot). Having said all that, I didn’t really enjoy school, so once I had passed my A’ Levels, I went out and found myself a job in science with a company who also paid for and gave me time to complete my degree part time, kind of like the apprenticeships that are a real option for you once you leave school. The most valuable advice I give people is to aim for a career in a subject you enjoy and don’t go for whatever offers the highest pay. If you enjoy your work, you will be better at it and stand a much better chance of being really successful (and paid well)! Best of luck with whatever you decide to do.

    • Photo: Philip Denniff

      Philip Denniff answered on 25 Mar 2020:


      I think it started with geometry (do you still do geometry at school), I loved being able to draw a right angled triangle, a six pointed star, the fact that if you did something you always got the same result. Then in year 8 in secondary school a combustion experiment that hit the ceiling with a colossal bang, I was hooked. Then at university being the first to make a chemical and hold it in my hand. No one else had ever made this. That was so exiting. Now I try to a break things. I try and get blood testing kits to stop working the way they are meant to. As an example its no good having a mobile phone that stops working as soon as you put it to your ear because it gets too hot. Plus my spelling is beyond bad, it is atrocious and I did not need to write pages and pages doing science.

    • Photo: Kaitlin Wade

      Kaitlin Wade answered on 25 Mar 2020:


      Well, I loved maths and biology so wanted to combine those two things. I suppose I knew I wanted to be a scientist because I like figuring problems out – almost like a puzzle – and when I started doing that type of work, I loved it! Figuring out things like: Does obesity cause cancer? Are microbes in our gut changed by our own genetic make up? How much and how early does having higher weight change our blood pressure and other cardiovascular measures? Can we intervene on these things to prevent disease before it occurs? I find all of these thing (and more!) fascinating so that might be why I wanted to be (and like) being a scientist 🙂

    • Photo: Hayley Pincott

      Hayley Pincott answered on 25 Mar 2020:


      I didn’t want to when I was at school. I wasn’t very good at science and didn’t like it as a subject. I wanted to be a physiotherapist but was discouraged.

      My grandad arranged for me to have a look around the pathology labs at my local hospital, I only went along to keep him quiet (I didn’t tell him that :):):)). When I saw how real life working science was completely different to doing it in a classroom I loved it. You still need to know the theory and understand it but when you can apply that knowledge in a practical way especially in a job you enjoy it really doesn’t seem like hard work and you learn things all the time without even knowing it.

    • Photo: Martin Ward

      Martin Ward answered on 25 Mar 2020:


      I was always curious about things, like how things worked and why certain things would happen. When I was at school, this was the reason I liked most the maths and science subjects and from there I ended up studying a science degree at university. So to be honest, I just kept doing, and learning the things that I liked and enjoyed the most and I guess now I am a scientist 😀

    • Photo: Iain Staniland

      Iain Staniland answered on 25 Mar 2020:


      I loved finding things out and always enjoyed doing Biology at school. It helped that I found I was pretty good at it and had an amazing Teacher who inspired me to carry on learning. I also loved watching nature documentaries on TV with people like David Attenborough.
      I passed my school exams and decided to do Marine Biology at University as I loved learning about the sea.

    • Photo: Alex Lloyd

      Alex Lloyd answered on 25 Mar 2020:


      I wanted to become a scientist because I love learning new things. For me, psychology tells us about the most complex thing in the world – human beings! I find it interesting seeing how psychology plays out in the real world, like when people panic buy things from the supermarkets. Science is always developing as well, so there’s always something new to be learnt!

    • Photo: Katie Sparks

      Katie Sparks answered on 30 Mar 2020:


      I just really enjoyed science!
      Over time, the bit of science that I’m interested in has changed, which I think has been down to being introduced to new ideas and meeting different people.
      You do need some specific knowledge, but the skills are useful in all sorts of ways.
      Find something you’re interested in and you’ll get taken along!
      For me, I was really interested in animals, but somewhere along the way I got into space.

    • Photo: Eóghan Forde

      Eóghan Forde answered on 30 Mar 2020:


      I was never really sure what I wanted to do after school. It was only after I met a very interesting blood doctor (haematologist) at university that I decided I wanted to work in blood research.

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