• Question: what other things do you have to use in your jobs other than science (e.g. English, mathematics etc)

    Asked by anon-175964 to Stephen, Simran, Paul, Mark, Jenny, Ali on 12 Jun 2018.
    • Photo: Simran Chopra

      Simran Chopra answered on 12 Jun 2018:

      Hey Ciara

      Great question but a very long answer!
      We need a little bit of everything we have learned till now, to do our work. Like if I have to design a prototype of a device I need maths, electronics, some code and a bit of art. Similarly, if I am presenting my work at a conference I would need some graphs and good presentation skills. If I am writing a research paper I would need good English and creative writing skills to tell about what my research was about.
      So, now you know every bit in your education counts!

      😀
      Simran

    • Photo: Paul Newell Price

      Paul Newell Price answered on 12 Jun 2018:

      Yes, you have to be able to write good simple English, use maths on a daily basis (and particularly for statistics to see if a particular ‘treatment’ has had a significant effect), have an awareness of geography and also of history (to some extent) to make sure we are not ‘re-inventing the wheel’, but actually discovering new stuff! For reports and presentations some artistic skills can help, but we also have graphic designers for that!

    • Photo: Ali Hill

      Ali Hill answered on 12 Jun 2018:

      Maths (e.g. if I’m working out how to change the portion size of food for an athlete to get a certain amount of carbohydrates), and creativity (how to explain complex scientific terms in a simple way that makes sense to people) and big things in my job. I do a lot of blogs so have to think about the words I’m using and who I’m taking to (so English). Bit of psychology – thinking about why people make the food choices they do and how to get them to do what you want (which is also a fantastic skill in a relationship!)! Art for making posters and such. I do a lot of project management type stuff, if I’m trying to plan someone’s diet for the week, or make sure an athlete has certain foods etc when they’re travelling.

      And probably more that I haven’t even thought of!

      Brilliant question 🙂

    • Photo: Mark Kirkwood

      Mark Kirkwood answered on 12 Jun 2018:

      Great question Ciara, and answers other scientists!
      I would agree, you need good English skills to communicate your work to others.
      Other useful skills in my work are maths (particularly statistics), programming, creativity, as mentioned by others.
      What I would say, is that communication and other people skills are really useful too, if you want to be able to get along with other scientists who you work with, or find new people to work with all over the world. Making new friends gets you a long way in science, because there is always someone who knows more than you about something!

Comments