• Question: What is the hardest part about having a career in science?

    Asked by ErinB on 17 Dec 2024. This question was also asked by cast520kops, dust520news, thus520hung, axes520jury, have520ages, fear520open, bakugo.
    • Photo: Artemis Eales

      Artemis Eales answered on 17 Dec 2024:

      Your hours aren’t always 9-5, so being a scientist can be tiring! Not to mention that if you are a researcher, you are regularly trying to convince people your work is worth financing and paying for – that can be really exhausting too!

    • Photo: Claire Sycamore-Howe

      Claire Sycamore-Howe answered on 17 Dec 2024:

      For me it’s keeping up to date with all the new discoveries and innovations. I work across a lot of areas in the chemical sciences, I work with a lot of different people and would class myself as a chemistry generalist rather than a specialist. This means it’s quite tricky to keep up with all the different innovations and developments because I am working with people across all of chemistry (biological, inorganic, organic, physical, computational, analytical). I also have my own interests, I like biological chemistry which means I am more likely to look into discoveries in that area!

    • Photo: Catherine Perry

      Catherine Perry answered on 19 Dec 2024:

      When things don’t go right or to plan, it can be difficult to stay motivated, so it’s important to build up your resilience.

    • Photo: Caroline Roche

      Caroline Roche answered on 20 Dec 2024:

      Keeping up with the changing technologies and regulations. There is always a paper or report that needs to be looked at.

    • Photo: Rachael Eggleston

      Rachael Eggleston answered on 12 Mar 2025:

      I find it can be hard to stay motivated, especially when it feels like I’m doing sooo much work and I’m not seeing many results.

    • Photo: Dave Cornwell

      Dave Cornwell answered on 22 Mar 2025:

      Working for months on a proposal to do something interesting, but then it does not get approval or funding because there’s not enough money to go around.

    • Photo: Laura Durrant

      Laura Durrant answered on 3 Jun 2025:

      For me, I find it quite hard when things aren’t working in the lab the way I expect them to. Especially if there isn’t an obvious reason why! I don’t mind so much if I’m only working on one project because I can dedicate time to investigate and troubleshoot. But if I’ve got multiple projects on the go, it can be hard to keep on top of. Having said that, it is a really rewarding feeling when I do get to the bottom of it and figure out a solution!

Comments

  • Photo: Katie K

    Katie K commented on :

    Great question! For me, the hardest part is that your career feels like a rollercoaster. Sometimes your climbing up and everything feels really fun and exciting, and sometimes it comes crashing down and you can be stuck for a while. Lots of highs, but also a few lows. If you love what you do, you’ll always get through it.