• Question: What advice would you give young people intending to enter a scientific occupation?

    Asked by Cleary to Thomas, Arthur on 18 Jun 2015. This question was also asked by John.
    • Photo: Thomas Farrugia

      Thomas Farrugia answered on 18 Jun 2015:

      Hi John and Cleary,

      There’s quite a bit to it, but I would definitely say that the most important thing is that you do something you enjoy doing – it’ll make the highs much more rewarding and can help you get through the tougher bits, which do tend to happen.

      Apart from that I think it’s great to have a solid background in Maths -you can use mathematical models to describe a lot of things, from chemical processes to the populations of ants – so even if you’re not doing it, it’ll help you understand and communicate with other people who can.

      Also, be ready to try out very different things – sometimes the answer you seek will not be fully in your field, but may be in a different area, so you’ll have to work with different scientists and techniques. Science is now more multidisciplinary, so you can work at the interfaces between different fields if you fancy it, and it’s often encouraged!

    • Photo: Arthur Wilkinson

      Arthur Wilkinson answered on 18 Jun 2015:

      As Thomas said, a lot of the exciting science is now where different sciences meet, so a broad science eduction (not just studying one or two subjects) plus maths will give you much more options in what you study. I also agree that you should enjoy the area that you study or work in. IMy interest in polymers makes my work so much more interesting and rewarding

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