• Question: Hi. What is it like to be a research scientist?

    Asked by Joe to Natalie on 17 Nov 2015.
    • Photo: Natalie Garrett

      Natalie Garrett answered on 17 Nov 2015:

      Hi Joe!

      Well it’s a weird job, I’ll have to admit to that. However there are many similarities between what I do and what other people do. Like many people, I check my emails a few times a day. I also read news headlines (to check for what’s new in science). Also, I have meetings and have to write reports for the people I work with. Some weeks I have to teach people stuff, like undergraduates who are learning things in the laboratory.

      But in addition to all that, I also get to plan my own experiments, I get to use expensive equipment in laboratories (my lab cost over a million pounds to set up!) I also get to work out solutions to problems, and visit other countries on conferences, and present my work to the best and brightest scientists around today.

      It’s a very varied and fulfilling job.

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