• Question: How old were you when it just clicked that you wanted to be a scientist or did you never want to be a scientist and are just in it for a job

    Asked by anon-40046 on 9 Nov 2022.
    • Photo: Vincent Monchal

      Vincent Monchal answered on 9 Nov 2022:

      I think it was when I made my first experiments in schools, just to make it myself and see that I can achieve the same result as great scientist it was really nice.

    • Photo: Anna Desmond

      Anna Desmond answered on 9 Nov 2022:

      I think it was when I first started doing lab experiments in secondary school that got me interesting in being a scientist when I was older.

    • Photo: Ciara Buckley

      Ciara Buckley answered on 9 Nov 2022:

      I always enjoyed science and chose to study biology and chemistry in secondary school but I originally wanted to be a vet. When I didnt get the points for veterinary, I chose science as I knew it could lead to veterinary if I wanted it to. However, I fell in love with science once I began my college course. So probably 18?

    • Photo: Vanessa Rodrigues

      Vanessa Rodrigues answered on 9 Nov 2022:

      I never dreamt I’d be a scientist. I just kept on learning what I loved. I liked electronics and so did engineering. I liked the concept of optical fibers and so moved toward Physics. I did a nice project with lasers during my Masters degree and I felt I wanted to work more on them. That was when I picked the path of research, only to graduate as a scientist 5 years later.

    • Photo: Jill O'Sullivan

      Jill O'Sullivan answered on 9 Nov 2022:

      When I was younger I don’t think science was the career I would’ve chosen. I always loved maths and science in school but when I started college I thought maths or finance was the path I was going to go down. After I finished my degree I realised finance was definitely not for me but I loved statistics and analysing data. I found the MSc in bioinformatics which looked at applying data analytics to biological data which allowed me to use the parts of my degree I liked but apply it to biology. After finishing that I realised I loved research and that’s what lead me to do a PhD. So I was about 22/23 when I finally figured out that I wanted to be a scientist!

    • Photo: Ingmar Schoen

      Ingmar Schoen answered on 14 Nov 2022:

      I have been fascinated working on a scientific project from the very start, meaning since my master’s studies, and I am still a scientist for the very same reason.
      It is totally okay to do a PhD even if you later want to work outside of science. You also will learn a lot of soft skills while doing your PhD that will help you to become successful in many other jobs. When I started my PhD, I was not sure that I will stay in science afterwards. But please do not start a PhD if you are not interested in the project!

    • Photo: Robert Forster

      Robert Forster answered on 17 Nov 2022:

      When I was very young, I drove my parents nuts, taking apart radios, clocks, toys, whatever I could get my hands on to try and understand how they worked. I always got them apart, but not always back together!! I learned a lot from that hands on learning and still use some of those skills today, like soldering, using a multimeter, programming and trying to follow indecipherable manuals (until you know how to do it and then they make PERFECT sense!)

    • Photo: Cristina Cuesta Marti

      Cristina Cuesta Marti answered on 30 Nov 2022:

      I would say, when I was between 14 and 16 years old.

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