• Question: What has been the biggest experience as a scientist

    Asked by aodm2008 on 6 May 2020.
    • Photo: Rosemary Josekutty Thomas

      Rosemary Josekutty Thomas answered on 6 May 2020:

      When others mock you and say that your research is rubbish, you can prove them wrong with hard work and commitment. You get a lot stronger as you grown as a scientist.

    • Photo: Achim Schmalenberger

      Achim Schmalenberger answered on 6 May 2020:

      My biggest experience was when I developed a method on paper that included multiple steps and when carried out in practice took many weeks to complete and it turned out at the end that it worked. I think that was the greatest experience so far for me as there were so many things that could have gone wrong or were not right in my concept.

    • Photo: Aruna Chandrasekar

      Aruna Chandrasekar answered on 6 May 2020:

      When you call yourself a scientist, people always assume you know everything. I personally like to keep it that way 😉
      My biggest ad best experience as a scientist has been in constantly exploring facts on various subjects and sparking a lively and healthy debate at any chance I get. This helps develop a critical thinking which is crucial for humankind to survive.

    • Photo: Sonia Lenehan

      Sonia Lenehan answered on 6 May 2020:

      Some of my best experience has been doing events like ‘I’m a scientist’! I was one of the winners of I’m a scientist in 2018 and with the winnings I have been able to start developing a science programme for children with sight loss. It has been so much fun!

    • Photo: Simon Spichak

      Simon Spichak answered on 6 May 2020:

      For me the biggest experience was actually moving to Ireland to do my postgrad degree and develop as a scientist! Before moving here two years ago, I had never lived on my own, never cooked every meal for myself before and I’ve never traveled alone. In addition to all the valuable science I learned, I got the opportunity to work with people in my lab – its a diverse group of men and women with different perspectives from all around the world! I get to learn and work with so many different people and personalities, which has helped me immensely as a scientist.

    • Photo: Lucy Blennerhassett

      Lucy Blennerhassett answered on 6 May 2020:

      My biggest experience I think has been starting my PhD after a year out travelling in New Zealand. I never did a masters qualification so I found it very hard to go into a PhD straight away. I think that itself has been my biggest learning experience because I have had to teach myself so much 🙂

    • Photo: Hannah Currivan

      Hannah Currivan answered on 6 May 2020:

      I got the opportunity to work in the area of solar physics at Trinity College Dublin where I worked on the construction of I-LOFAR (Irish Low Frequency Array) radio telescope on the grounds of Birr Castle in Birr Co.Offaly, which I then got to operate I-LOFAR for my thesis, where I observe a supernova remanent (Cas A) which is 11,000 light years away, Radio Galaxy (Cygnus A) which is 3200 light years away, and a Black Hole (Cygnus X-3) which is 3200 light years away.

    • Photo: Enda O'Connell

      Enda O'Connell answered on 6 May 2020:

      My biggest experience was helping set up the lab I am working in now, which enables scientists from different backgrounds with different interests to automate their research. It involved raising money to buy state-of-the-art robotic equipment, learning to work with the equipment and transfer the type of experiments the other scientists used in their labs onto our equipment. Since then, we have worked with lots of scientists who are working on cancer and other diseases, and those looking at using stem cells and biomaterials to treat patients. It has been very rewarding.

    • Photo: Gail Molloy

      Gail Molloy answered on 6 May 2020:

      I had loads of cool experiences doing experiments and learning new stuff when I was in college. I had to do a lot of different experiments and write them up for my final year in college. These experiments are to prove your theory or assumption is correct. You must develop a few experiments that follow along after each other- if the first thing works, you can do the next thing and so on. If the first one doesn’t work you have to figure out why it didn’t work and what you should do next. This also happens at work except at work its called studies and problem solving not experiments :). At work I love learning how to use different types of software programs in my job.

    • Photo: Tommy Hayden

      Tommy Hayden answered on 7 May 2020:

      The most stand out experience of my career was attending a hospital to witness some routine stenting. While I was there, an emergency case came in where the patient was having a heart attack. Within less than an hour they were wheeled back out of the cath lab with normal blood flow restored in their heart

      The main thing that stood out for me in that experience was how calm all the hospital staff were. It was incredible to witness how the team worked so well together in a real life/death scenario

      I’ve often thought of that experience to maintain a sense of perspective when in what could be perceived to be stressful situations.

      It’s not always possible to live up to the target but that day taught me how effective teamwork and a methodical approach can be in dealing with difficult situations

      Respect to front line medical staff – they do some incredible work!

    • Photo: Aisling Ryan

      Aisling Ryan answered on 7 May 2020:

      This is a difficult question! An experience that definitely stood out for me was getting to go to an international conference in the first year of my PhD! We get to go to conferences to present our work and hear all about the work of other scientists in the same field (for me that is chemistry). I got to go to Birmingham in England. I designed a really big poster with pictures of my research on it and brought it with me on the aeroplane. During the conference I got to show my poster to other scientists and talk all about my research, which was really exciting. I was only at the beginning so I didn’t have many results, but lots of scientists listened to me and gave me some great advice! I also got to look at posters of other scientists and made lots of new friends from different countries. There were scientists from all over the world at this conference and I got to meet so many new people and hear about so much interesting research! It really inspired and motivated me to get good results with my own work and keep trying my best! 🙂

    • Photo: Francesco Floris

      Francesco Floris answered on 7 May 2020:

      I think that the biggest experience is working with people coming from all over the world! Diversity is one of the biggest experience you can have in your life and can support you a lot to grow healthy and happy.

    • Photo: Anna Zakrzewska

      Anna Zakrzewska answered on 11 May 2020:

      Not in the breakthough category, but one of the best experiences overall was my adventure in Japan- I spent a year there and did an internship in a great communications science laboratory.

    • Photo: Ciara O'Donovan

      Ciara O'Donovan answered on 11 May 2020:

      I have really enjoyed getting to speak with experts in my area at conferences. It has been an experience I have really enjoyed.

    • Photo: Katherine Benson

      Katherine Benson answered on 12 May 2020:

      I think my biggest experience was when I completed my PhD. As a scientist, your PhD is like a passport to the world of research, and it felt like a huge achievement to complete it. With that in hand, I felt like I could really start my research career and start making a difference in the world.

    • Photo: Jun Lin

      Jun Lin answered on 13 May 2020:

      The best experience for me is travelling around the world to present my results and talk to other scientists in my field.

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