• Question: Is there a maxuimum age to become a professional scientist

    Asked by 585xygg26 to Gavin, Karen, Mark, Michel, Roisin on 10 Nov 2016.
    • Photo: Mark Kennedy

      Mark Kennedy answered on 10 Nov 2016:

      Not at all. You can become a scientist whenever you want! You could spend your whole life not doing science, and then decide when you’re 90 years old that you want to do research, and science will welcome you with open arms!

    • Photo: Roisin Jones

      Roisin Jones answered on 10 Nov 2016:

      Definitely not! There’s no age limit on science, you can become a scientist at any age. One of the great things about the internet is that it’s made it easy for everyone to get access to a wide range of scientific knowledge, so if something catches your eye, and you think ‘Hell yeah, I could study that’, then go for it, age doesn’t matter!

    • Photo: Karen

      Karen answered on 10 Nov 2016:

      There probably is for my job as I work in the public sector although they keep raising the retirement age so who knows (I think it’s 68 at the moment).

    • Photo: Michel Destrade

      Michel Destrade answered on 10 Nov 2016:

      In Ireland you would have to be below retirement age but in the UK or USA there’s no retirement age for scientists. And then even after retiring you can still be active in science, you become what’s called “Emeritus”.

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