• Question: What is the best thing about your job?

    Asked by Layton A on 3 Oct 2021.
    • Photo: Catriona Cunningham

      Catriona Cunningham answered on 13 Sep 2021:

      Getting to support students to do the best work they can and help them develop useful skills for their future careers.

    • Photo: Giles Strong

      Giles Strong answered on 13 Sep 2021:

      Being able to collaborate with many talented colleagues to solve difficult, but meaningful problems. Specifically, for me, I particularly enjoy the problem solving aspect, since the same task can be approached in a great many ways, depending on one’s skills and experience. As researchers, though, the one thing we all share in common, is that when presented with a new challenge, we will always begin to start trying to think of solutions, rather than deciding straight away if we know whether we can actually solve it.

    • Photo: Andrew Hone

      Andrew Hone answered on 13 Sep 2021:

      I get to think about maths which I love, solve new problems and create new techniques and ideas. When you have been working on a difficult problem for weeks or months (or years…) it is a great feeling when you suddenly get a deep understanding and everything falls into place.

      I also love sharing ideas and explaining them to other people – both other scientists, and in schools and to the general public. I’ve been on local radio and TV a couple of times to talk about codebreaking and the work of Alan Turing. Also I’ve made friends all over the world from travelling to give seminars, as well as working abroad for extended periods of time (in Italy and Australia). The human relationships are some of the biggest benefits of doing science.

    • Photo: Katie Emery

      Katie Emery answered on 13 Sep 2021:

      I love using data to draw/design a new compound that no one has previously thought about, and then thinking about all the possible ways that i could go into the lab and make this molecule. With the plans made, I will then put on my lab coat and do chemical synthesis using a range of different techniques and equipment to make enough of the material as we need to apply it to a plant. Then I can go into the greenhouse and see how well my molecule protected the crop and supported its growth.

    • Photo: Jade Eyles

      Jade Eyles answered on 13 Sep 2021:

      I Love that I get to travel and be outdoors with my job! I am lucky that I sometimes have fieldwork which means I am able to be outside instead of indoors behind a screen. Being able to visit new places is so much fun, and a great way to learn about local cultures!

    • Photo: Malcolm Macartney

      Malcolm Macartney answered on 14 Sep 2021:

      Being in a position to make a difference to the health of so many people in the world, to educate and to combat the stigma so many people encounter because of their health.

    • Photo: Judy Bettridge

      Judy Bettridge answered on 14 Sep 2021:

      My favourite bit of my job is fieldwork. I like getting out onto farms, chatting to farmers and handling the animals. It’s always fascinating to hear their views and problems, and helps me to keep the science relevant to the real world, once I’m back at the computer.

    • Photo: Pam Harrison

      Pam Harrison answered on 14 Sep 2021:

      The flexibility of working hours that can accommodate family life. Professionally the ‘fuzzy’ feeling of knowing that I am part of a chain that means patients can get the new medicines they need to help them feel better.

    • Photo: Jacqueline Siu

      Jacqueline Siu answered on 15 Sep 2021:

      Getting to decide what problems I want to solve and how I want to solve them. I also love working with other scientists from all around the world and getting to share ideas. Another fun thing I get to do is hearing about really interesting science all the time.

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