• Question: Whats the best part of being a scientist in 2021? :)

    Asked by Oscar Quinn Is Valid on 3 Oct 2021.
    • Photo: Malcolm Macartney

      Malcolm Macartney answered on 14 Sep 2021:

      Science has such a high profile in the media, suddenly lots of people are interested in what was previously geek stuff. When people are interested, that’s when they learn best, so there are so many great opportunities to help people understand topics that were previously closed or not interesting to them. When people hear what you do and suddenly take an interest in finding out more, it does bring a lot of satisfaction that you can help educate and inform without feeling like you are teaching.

    • Photo: Richard Collins

      Richard Collins answered on 14 Sep 2021:

      People an governments started to care more about science, which is great!

    • Photo: Giles Strong

      Giles Strong answered on 14 Sep 2021:

      In my field, many of the conferences and workshops used to require in-person attendance and charge a lot to join, let alone the costs involved in flying to whichever country the event was held in. Whilst covid has been terrible, the lack of travel has meant that these events have had to accommodate people attending online. This has lead to greater attendance, lower costs, lower C02 emissions, and more opportunities for people to present their work. For me, at least, remotely attending events has lead to a drop in stress and an improvement in productivity; at one stage in my PhD I was flying off somewhere at least once a month, which was very disruptive to my life.

    • Photo: Chris Henstridge

      Chris Henstridge answered on 14 Sep 2021:

      I love the global nature of science these days. I collaborate with teams around the world and often meet to discuss ideas and projects online. This is a very recent change. Previously I would meet colleagues physically at conferences in exotic places, but i feel this will change, due to the success of online networking. Being a scientist gives you the freedom to explore questions and topics that interest you. Not many jobs allow you that opportunity.

    • Photo: Jacqueline Siu

      Jacqueline Siu answered on 15 Sep 2021:

      I never thought my particular research topic had any direct impact on medicine right away (I study how antibodies are made in the gut). Normally, you figure out something. Couple years later, someone develops a drug if you are lucky and then couple years after that, they start testing to see if it works in humans.

      But during the course of the pandemic, I realized how fast paced my research field could be and it was both stressful and exhiliarating. It’s also incredibly motivating to know what you’re doing can have an impact right away.

    • Photo: Judy Bettridge

      Judy Bettridge answered on 15 Sep 2021:

      I love how many researchers are now breaking out from their normal subjects to work with people who specialise in something totally different (interdisciplinary or trans-disciplinary research).

      In the past, so many agricultural or medical innovations intended for use in low-income countries failed because they weren’t appropriate for the people or environment. At that point, a sociologist would be brought in to find out why local people didn’t use the innovation in the way it had been intended by the scientist who developed it.

      When I started doing research ten years ago, there were projects led by natural scientists, that invited a sociologist to work with them throughout, to make sure the innovation would eventually be acceptable and useful, but the project would always be mostly about the science.

      This year I have been approached by three sociologists who want to lead projects that need a bit of animal science know-how. Sociologists approach their research in a totally different way, so I am learning lots of new language and methods so that I can work with them better, but it’s great that we are now researching real-world problems much more holistically

    • Photo: Andrew Hone

      Andrew Hone answered on 17 Sep 2021:

      I do love travelling, and I’ve been very lucky in my career that I’ve been able to go all over the world for science conferences, and for long periods as a visiting professor: I worked as a researcher in Rome (Italy) for a year after my PhD, and then spent another year as a research fellow in Adelaide (Australia). I’ve also been a visiting professor in America, Japan and China, and I recently spent nearly two years on sabbatical in Sydney (Australia). However, flying all over the place just to spend a few days at a conference, before flying off to the next one, is probably not the best way to make connections with people, and is terrible for carbon emissions. So, as Giles says in his answer, one of the best thing about the recent travel restrictions is that academics have been able to hold lots of virtual conferences, and online meetings and seminars. These have been extremely effective at bringing people in different research communities together, involving participants from all over the world but without the cost and stress of international travel. It has also made it much easier for people to participate who would otherwise be prevented from doing so by childcare or other commitments. I think that in the future we will continue to have more online events, which are much better for the environment and at least as effective. Then we can save money and reduce emissions by travelling only rarely, when it is necessary to make an extended stay to collaborate with researchers abroad.

    • Photo: Ciarán McInerney

      Ciarán McInerney answered on 20 Sep 2021:

      It’s the same answer for every year: because my job is to learn and figure things out

Comments