• Question: Who or what got you into being a scientist?

    Asked by anon-197692 to Sonal, Rosanna, Matthew, Marleen, Dan, Atreya on 4 Mar 2019. This question was also asked by anon-197601, anon-197935, anon-197923, anon-197938.
    • Photo: Matthew Selwood

      Matthew Selwood answered on 4 Mar 2019:

      Mine isn’t particularly glamorous, but my grandfather and my A level physics teacher. My granddad would have a fire pit, and pretend he was magic by throwing metal into it to change the colour of the flames. He would always refuse to tell me how it worked, and I was a stubborn kid, so I was determined to find out!

      Then my physics teacher: he used to be an engineer in the RAF, and had so many interesting stories about the practical applications of physics, as well as showing me that there was a world of insanely interesting physics outside of the curriculum… At that point I only saw physics as as dropping tennis balls and making waves in a water tub, and he opened my eyes to what it really is.
      So, if you are reading this Mr. [REDACTED], thank you so so much! You will definitely be getting an acknowledgement in my thesis.

    • Photo: Marleen Wilde

      Marleen Wilde answered on 11 Mar 2019:

      I’m naturally curious and interested in all sorts of things, which is a good starting point for research and science. Becoming a scientist was more of a chain reaction in my case. I always liked sciences at school, but wanted to work in a hospital, which I did. From there I decided to do night school for my A-levels, where I took Biology as a major, and also got interested in a new degree my university was offering (the hospital was part of the university). So I ended up studying that new degree (Medical Biotechnology), as it combined multiple interests of mine and of course after that I ended up working in Science. First in a pharmaceutical company in Clinical Trials, later I went back to uni to start my PhD degree which I hope to finish end of this year.

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