• Question: How did you become a scientist?

    Asked by anon-213302 to Robert, Imad, Hannah, Fern, Christian, carolwallace on 9 Jun 2019.
    • Photo: Fern Johnson

      Fern Johnson answered on 9 Jun 2019:

      I really liked science at school, particularly biology because I’ve always been interested in animals and the world around me. I did a degree in biology at university, and got really interested in bioinformatics, which is a part of biology focused on using computers to solve problems. After finishing my degree I worked for a healthcare charity, and then did a masters in bioinformatics. Eventually I got a place on the NHS healthcare scientist training program in bioinformatics and genetics, so now I’m officially a trainee healthcare scientist

    • Photo: Robert Ives

      Robert Ives answered on 9 Jun 2019:

      I left full time education when I was 18 and decided to work instead. I have always loved animals and wanted to work with them. I never considered becoming an animal technician until I had the opportunity to visit a science laboratory and realised that the people caring for the animals were actually all animal lovers which really surprised me. Then I realised how important it was to have people who really cared for the animals doing these jobs because it meant the animals got the best possible care. I took a job as a technician looking after the animals whilst studying part time for my Biology degree. Over the years, I became more and more interested in medicine research, until I eventually reached the level where I am now, advising project teams on how best to develop their medicines.

    • Photo: Carol Wallace

      Carol Wallace answered on 10 Jun 2019:

      That’s a difficult question – until fairly late on in my school life I didn’t know whether I wanted to study languages or science – and I was lucky in that I did both at school.
      I suppose I just did what interested me most at the time and then graduating with a science degree I started looking for science related jobs.
      And as I’ve gotten older I’ve become more and more interested in what I’m doing and wouldn’t want to change.
      There are some great advances taking place at present with some really interesting technology being developed to help us, so science just sucks you in.

    • Photo: Christian Gude

      Christian Gude answered on 10 Jun 2019:

      When I finished school, I wanted to be a doctor or a scientist or a lawyer. I decided that my strengths lie more in science, so I applied to study biochemistry at various universities. I was accepted to a number of places, including the UK. But I decided to study in Munich and liked it so much that I stuck with it!

    • Photo: Imad Ouachan

      Imad Ouachan answered on 10 Jun 2019:

      There are a lot of routes to getting into science be it through university or apprenticeships.

      My journey started with me enjoying science during my GCSE’s and taking it further doing both Biology and Chemistry at A-Level. I found that I enjoyed chemistry the most and applied to university to my Chemistry degree. After finishing I could have gone to work at a company but I decided that I still wanted to learn more and started my PhD at the University of Bristol.

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