• Question: How do you become a scientist?

    Asked by goldendragon20 to Claire, Greg, Jane, Jo, Nuruz, Vicki on 21 Jun 2010 in Categories: . This question was also asked by xfinestx.
    • Photo: Jane Cleal

      Jane Cleal answered on 17 Jun 2010:

      First of all you do some science A levels, they don’t all have to be science.
      You can then do a science degree at university and go and work in a lab as a scientist.
      To be a higher up scientist, some people also go on and do a hands-on further degree called a PhD which gives you more training as a scientist.
      You can then work in a lab (at a university, hospital or a company) researching a particular topic such as cancer.
      After either degree it is a good idea to look around at the types of science job available and see which one you like and also what sort of skills you need. Also work experience will help you work out what science job to do.

    • Photo: Vicki Onions

      Vicki Onions answered on 18 Jun 2010:

      Cor, what a tough question!
      Firstly, study science – try and work hard at sceince GCSE’s (and A Levels if you choose that route). If you want to go to university or college, there are tons of different science based courses you can choose. Then, that will give you more of an idea of what sort of job you would want in science, and then you look for jobs and apply. Experience is really important too so try and get work experience in a range of science jobs, this will make getting a job much easier and it shows committment.
      Secondly, study scienc

    • Photo: Claire O'Donnell

      Claire O'Donnell answered on 21 Jun 2010:

      Well as I expect you’ve already worked out you need science at GCSE as a starting point. I think you can work in a lab with this and then do more qualifications as you go along as part of work. If you want to head up research or you want to do the joob that the other scientists here do you’ll need science at A level and a science degree, have a look at our profiles and see.
      You can go in at any level though and get qualifications as and when you’re able to

    • Photo: Greg FitzHarris

      Greg FitzHarris answered on 21 Jun 2010:

      Well, there are lots of different sorts of scientists in our zone. My type (which i think also covers vicki and Jane) is university lab science. The Normal way to get into that is to do a PhD (like a second university degree you do after the first normal one). Whereas the first university degree is learning about science, the PhD is more like a trining of how to be a scientist…

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