• Question: how long dose it take to be a scientist?

    Asked by 10jazminbradford to Ryan, Ailsa, Evan, James, Kath on 14 Jun 2011. This question was also asked by mallfunbunny, ryanmansell, lukedavies.
    • Photo: James Hargreaves

      James Hargreaves answered on 13 Jun 2011:

      I guess again this is going to be different for each of the Scientists here as we are all at different stages of our careers. For me to be where i am now has took me 5 years.

    • Photo: Ailsa Powell

      Ailsa Powell answered on 13 Jun 2011:

      That depends on what kind of science you want to do.
      Like other professions you need different levels of qualifications and training to do certain jobs. For the job I do (research scientist in a university lab), the qualifications and training required would be a degree and then a further degree (my Ph.D). So in total that took me 6 and a half years at university. A lot of my other friends only needed the first degree for what they wanted to do so that would be 3 years.

    • Photo: Kath O'Reilly

      Kath O'Reilly answered on 13 Jun 2011:

      Yeah I agree with the other scientists – it will always depend on what you want to do… At the VLA (veterinary laboratories agency, I used to work there) lab scientists were sometimes school leavers with A-levels. But for what I do at a University you would need A-levels, a degree and a PhD, which takes at least seven years after your A-levels.

    • Photo: Evan Keane

      Evan Keane answered on 14 Jun 2011:

      I also agree with the others. It really depends on what you want to do. But probably all science jobs require a degree – so 3 or 4 years in University after you finish school. But don’t worry University is great. 🙂 You could then get a job, or do a training course to specialise in something. If you want to be an astrophysicist like me this training course is called a PhD and takes 3 years to do (but you get paid while doing it!). At the end you get to be called “doctor” and some senior professors will have said you are officially an expert in your area. So I would say a minimum of 3 years after school, but maybe up to 8 until you are fully trained. By the way it takes about the same time (or longer) for loads of jobs – medicine, accountant, lawyer, psychologist, … You can’t be an expert in something over night! 🙂

    • Photo: Ryan Ladd

      Ryan Ladd answered on 14 Jun 2011:

      You can be a scientist no matter where you are or what you’re doing… but if you mean get a job as a scientist or a researcher then it can take quite a while! After GCSEs and science A-levels you’d probably have to do a 3 year science degree as a minimum but, more likely, 4 years to get a masters degree and then another 3 years to get a PhD! It totally depends what area and level of science you want to be involved in.

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