• Question: how did you realize what type of scientist you wanted to be

    Asked by anon-186414 to Verity, Trystan, Raquel, Danny, Catherine, Andy on 7 Nov 2018.
    • Photo: Trystan Leng

      Trystan Leng answered on 7 Nov 2018: last edited 7 Nov 2018 4:30 pm

      While working as a research assistant in a neuroscience lab, I learnt about how maths can be used to ‘model’ different aspects in the real-world – everything from the neurons in someones brains, to how an epidemic spreads through a population. After this I went to study a masters, on a course called ‘mathematics for real-world systems’. It was here I met the mathematical modellers working on infectious diseases that I work with now. It was after seeing the fascinating research they do, and the potential impact it could have, that I realised I wanted to be a researcher who models the spread of infectious diseases.

    • Photo: Danny Ward

      Danny Ward answered on 7 Nov 2018:

      During university degrees, often you get to do a research project in a laboratory as part of your course. This means working with a professor working on a specific project. I did this as part of my degrees and I learnt that I enjoyed research science performing experiments. I also didn’t blow anything up which is a positive too! It was again, during my time at university I became particularly interested in the field I am working in now. Molecular microbiology and infectious diseases were some of my strongest topics, I found them really fascinating, there is lots of research to do as there is still so much we don’t know and lastly there are good job prospects for this area.

    • Photo: Raquel Medialdea Carrera

      Raquel Medialdea Carrera answered on 7 Nov 2018:

      That is a very interesting question. I think that I realised I wanted to investigate epidemics during the 2014 and 2015 Ebola Virus Epidemic in West Africa. I deployed to Sierra Leone to help fighting this virus in a Hospital for patients with Ebola. It was then when I realised that working with Epidemics was so fascinating. Most important of all, I realised that working with epidemics had the capacity to help so many people!

    • Photo: Verity Hill

      Verity Hill answered on 8 Nov 2018:

      During my undergraduate degree, I was taught about how we use maths and genetic data to study diseases. At the same time, the Ebola outbreak in West Africa was happening, and I wanted to help! This outbreak is the first big one where we have lots of this genetic data, so it was a great opportunity to develop some new ways of doing science!

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