What were your motivations to become a scientist?

Craig Anderson answered on 11 Nov 2021:

I wasn’t really sure about what I wanted to do before I got to university, all I really knew was that I found biology the most interesting of all the subjects- even though I was better at languages and art.

At university I studied a bit of “ecotoxicology”, which is an area interested in the effects of pollutants on populations of animals, where the central aim is to realise when a population, be it fish, earthworms or butterflies, is in trouble before it becomes too serious. I wanted to understand how populations deal with pollution and wanted to use genetics to see the short term and long term effects.

I’m very lucky to be able to do that.

Isabelle Boothman answered on 11 Nov 2021:

Hi Davina, I always loved science but I also loved maths in school and after I finished school I didn’t really know what I wanted to do. So I had a mix of choices of university courses, I first got into an Accounting and finance course in Dublin and I really didn’t like it, luckily my parents were so understanding and were telling me not to keep going if I didn’t like it. Luckily, I had gotten my sixth year exams re checked and had gotten an offer to general science in Trinity College Dublin. I was so happy. I really enjoyed my undergraduate degree where I specialized in Genetics and after I wanted to continue so I decided to do a PhD, which I am doing now.

Stephenie Purvis answered on 11 Nov 2021:

I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do for a long time (at school I thought I would either become a doctor or a teacher). All I really knew was that I enjoyed biology and chemistry (and luckily I was good at it too) so I decided to go to university to study biomedical science. At university I got to take lots of different modules like immunology, oncology (cancer) and human physiology as well as lots of fun practical laboratory sessions which really opened my eyes to how many different scientist jobs there are and it pushed me towards becoming a professional scientist.

Joaquin de Navascues answered on 11 Nov 2021:

I wanted to understand how cells can sense their environment and react to it, what were the molecules and processes that allowed that to happen.

Magdalena Sutcliffe answered on 11 Nov 2021:

I was always very curious about the surrounding world and fascinated about how things worked. My dad reads loads of popular science books and he talked to me about them even when I was very young, I remember him telling me about black holes when I was 5 or so. I would also spend hours exploring gardens with my cousin, collecting “specimens” of plants and insects and then presenting them to our families (my cousin ended up being a scientist, too, there might also be something in the genes haha). At school I discovered biology and other natural sciences and decided I wanted to do a degree in a life science subject, why wouldn’t I like to study something that is so interesting to me? Then I decided to do a PhD and continue working in a lab.

Emma Hall answered on 11 Nov 2021:

HI Davina,

I wasn’t sure exactly what I wanted to do after school. I really enjoyed maths so I took Maths and Further Maths, and chemistry at A level, but was encouraged to add another subject so at the last minute added Biology. When it came to choosing what to do at University I naively believed that the only job you could get with maths was maths teacher or accountant, neither of which I fancied (there’s nothing wrong with these jobs by the way, and my belief was definitely NOT TRUE, maths is AMAZING, and can lead to an almost unlimited number of jobs). I enjoyed biology, and my dad was a scientist (biologist, studying viruses and vaccines) and he liked his job, so I took Biology to University. It just shows that you only want to be what you see around you – if you are not exposed to the career options you just don’t know they are there.

Anyway I loved biology at Uni, so decided to do a PhD (partly because I didn’t know what else to do but mainly because I thought I would love it). Luckily I DO love it! But you can totally find a job you like by chance/without having a well thought out plan.

Chris Pyatt answered on 11 Nov 2021:

It’s been more of a natural progression rather than something I was striving for. I’ve always been interested in the natural world and science was one of my better subjects at school, which is why I did a biology degree. I’ve moved more towards clinical science now because I felt it had a more immediate impact on the world (rather than me just find out interesting things for myself) but I’m not opposed to going back to more fundamental research.

Yannick Comoglio answered on 11 Nov 2021:

Hi Davina,
Since I am 11 years old, I’ve always wanted to work in a lab, as technician, engineer or researcher. This motivation has increase when I have done my firsts internships (try to do some as soon as possible ;-)). Discover what is the job of scientist was the thing that has motivated me the most. Make discovery, finish a project after a hard work is incredible.

Good luck for the future.

Rafael Galupa answered on 11 Nov 2021:

I have always enjoyed learning more about nature — animals, plants, genetics — so I just wanted to keep studying about it… and being a scientist allows me that, keep studying nature and even ask questions about it and trying to answer them!

Frankie Macrae answered on 11 Nov 2021:

I always knew I wanted to work in science or healthcare, but I wasn’t really sure what. I thought a lot about studying medicine, but I thought working in a lab would suit me better so I studied biology at university. I still wasn’t sure what I wanted to do after uni, so I took a year out to try and decide what to do next. I did some work experience in a genetics lab and decided that was what I wanted to do, so I then did a Masters in genetics. Being a geneticist in the NHS really appealed to me because it combines healthcare and science but isn’t patient-facing (I’m a bit socially awkward so didn’t think I’d be good at that).

Becky Cohen answered on 11 Nov 2021:

I think I’ve ended up where I am now from a mix of following both what I was interested in and what I found I was good at. I always found human biology really fascinating and was particularly interested in learning about how the brain works. There are so many things we still don’t know about its biology and how it essentially makes us who we are. The same could be said about genetics, which is the field I work in now, so I must just be motivated by areas where there is lots still left to discover!

Ana Letycia Basso Garcia answered on 11 Nov 2021:

When I was a kid, I was very curious about how nature works. However, I did not know in person any scientist at the time. I always had so many questions, like “Are things are like how we think they are?”, “Why”, “How does a phenomenon happen”, “Why is this important”, “What makes one organism different from another”, etc.
In my teenage, I was gifted a little microscopy, and I was so excited about that. So I started watching plant flowers and small insects in detail. That was amazing! Because my preferred class at school was science, and I started learning even more about what I was observing by talking with teachers after classes. Thus, I decided to be an Agronomist.
In the university, I had even more inspiration from professors that were passionate about their research work. Even in the first year of my undergraduate, I started working in the lab and growing my first experiment. Since then, I have been finding more questions to answer and more scientists passionate about their work.
On my path, I have learned that I could use my curiosity to solve important problems and to improve people’s lives. Early in my career, I thought I could use science to answer my questions. Even more, I could discover solutions to important problems, such as growing plants for food and energy in challenging environments. Finally, I learned that genetics would be my best fit because that was nice to study, and it would help me find the solutions I was trying.
Thus, my motivations to become a scientist were my curiosity, the opportunities I had, and the people who crossed my path.

Dapeng Wang answered on 11 Nov 2021: last edited 11 Nov 2021 9:22 pm

I just felt obtaining a PhD degree in science is very cool. Working with the smartest people all over the world is certainly another reason for me to pursue a career in science. Last but not lease, change the world and make a difference in a positive way.

Laura Knight answered on 12 Nov 2021:

I did not know what I wanted to do before university, I chose to study biochemistry as it sounded interesting and I enjoyed science. Then during my degree I had the opportunity to work in a lab, and I really enjoyed it which motivated me to become a scientist. I like learning and asking questions, so research motivates me as I can do this everyday.

Mukta Deobagkar answered on 12 Nov 2021:

At school I enjoyed languages, math and science and I couldn’t make up my mind about what career to choose for the longest time! But I decided to do an undergraduate degree in science (microbiology) since I thoughI I could always change my mind later. And I really really enjoyed studying microbes, especially how our bodies interact with good and bad microbes. This is when I first learned about the immune system and how our bodies are absolutely brilliant at fighting off so many pathogens while we go about our everyday lives.

Chancing upon a subject that fascinated me really motivated me to find out more about how I could study immunology and helped me to decide on a research career.

Yasmin Dickinson answered on 12 Nov 2021:

Hello Davina! Thanks for your question 🙂

Back when I was in secondary school I remember loving science so much – although I loved all three sciences (physics, chemistry and biology) it was probably biology that I loved most. It was so interesting to learn how the human body works, all the many different organs we have and how they function, how the brain can hold memories, how the heart is able to pump blood around the body continuously etc.

During school I knew I wanted to have a job that was science-related but I didn’t know what. I didn’t have anyone in my family that worked in healthcare or a science field so there wasn’t anyone I could ask questions to.

I went on to study Biomedical Science at university (this was my undergraduate degree) and I loved it so much! It was here that I found my love for lab work and realised that being a scientist was something I was really interested in. After my masters degree I worked as a research assistant to get an idea of what its really like being a scientist – just to make sure I was pursuing the right field. I loved it so much that I now decided to do a PhD 🙂

Clara Cieza-Borrella answered on 17 Nov 2021:

Unfortunately I cannot say that my teachers at the school were of any inspiration but what really motivated me and still does, is the fact of being able to find answer to difficult questions and to understand how our bodies and other organisms work inside. It is fascinating how well organised and coordinated organisms are, from cells to organs..

Question: What were your motivations to become a scientist?

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