• Question: What skills or traits do you think are most important for aspiring scientists?

    Asked by roci ୨୧ on 17 Dec 2024.
    • Photo: Caroline Roche

      Caroline Roche answered on 16 Dec 2024:

      The main thing is a love for learning – there is always something new to learn about. The science principles may not change but the technology used is always changing.
      Having a technical or analytical mind can really help, as well as good communication skills and patience/empathy with other people.

    • Photo: Claire Sycamore-Howe

      Claire Sycamore-Howe answered on 17 Dec 2024:

      Communication is really important – you need to be able to present your science, you need to be able to explain your science to others. It’s also really important that you can explain your science to people who might not be specialists (because these could be your funders), and you need to be able to do it in a way that you are easily understood whether that’s verbal or written down. Communication skills mean you can share your science with others, which is really what science is all about.

    • Photo: Artemis Eales

      Artemis Eales answered on 17 Dec 2024:

      The main things a scientist needs are an intense sense of curiosity, unwavering determination, and a creative approach to problem solving! These things will get you far in a science career. You also benefit from confidence in science, but that’s only required to make people listen to you when you tell them about your research.

Comments

  • Photo: Laura

    Laura commented on :

    I agree with Artemis! Science can be very unpredictable, so curiosity, determination and creative problem solving are useful attributes to have. Let’s say an experiment doesn’t go quite right and the results aren’t what you were expecting. It doesn’t always mean that your experiment hasn’t worked, but it is more likely that the question you are trying to answer needs to be approached from a different angle. All three of these attributes will certainly help in doing that.

  • Photo: giorgiaperri

    giorgiaperri commented on :

    All of these comments that have been provided are true! A passion for learning, critical thinking, and wanting to know more, or curiosity about the way something works is always helpful! Also to accept research takes time and there is a lot of trial and error and things do not always go as planned, but that’s okay! It’s all part of the process!