A Scientist — One Year Into Making
Once upon a time, approximately 13.6 billion years ago… No, that would be a terrible beginning. Nevermind, forget it. About a year ago I finished my school and enrolled into a bachelorship in Moscow State University. Fast-forward to now, I’ve finished my freshman year and started writing stuff on medium. I knew beforehand that I would pursue a career of a scientist and had a good notion of the field and what exactly I am getting into. Sadly, there are a few articles telling about this career path (contrary to data science and programming, for example). So here are some tips and notes on what to expect if you are considering getting into science.
Disclaimer. I am a native Russian and not bilingual, hence, my English might be awkward sometimes. Please criticise — I am willing to improve. Also keep in mind that, although science is quite versatile, some things mentioned here might be very local and relate to my country or university only. End of disclaimer.
I’m a material science major. In our faculty science work is obligatory, and by the end of November of the first year all students should be assigned to laboratories. I chose laboratory of chemical thermodynamics and have been working there mostly in my spare time for past 8 months or so. I have been observing life of my colleagues and supervisors carefully and now compiled a list of things that one should consider when choosing career in science. I mostly talk about experimental work, although most of these are relevant to theoretical work as well.
It’s not hard. Or, to be exact, it’s not harder to be a good scientist than to be a good programmer. You’ll be able to learn everything gradually, from the simplest tasks (like how to prepare a solution of known concentration) to more advanced skills (like using some complex analytical equipment, if your laboratory owns some). You really don’t need to be an expert right off the start, just pay attention to what people tell and do around you.
Precision is a skill. If you know how some experiments are conducted, you might think that inhuman precision is required to “prepare 0.0023% solution of X”. It is never the case. Yes, being careful is important, but no matter how clumsy you are — it can be learned. Just make sure you are very methodical about everything you do, label things, learn which substances require additional attention (some fumes can be toxic, for example) and you are good to go. Also nobody actually prepares 0.0023% solutions. Such precision usually means that concentration was determined post factum with some fancy analysis method.
You are never alone. Sounds creepy, but bare with me. You, as a student, will have a scientific advisor that will teach you some root skills and guide your work. You’ll also be given a theme of research and — if you are lucky — a project statement, which says exactly what is this you need to do.
The work is often mundane. Yes, it is exciting to contribute to humanity’s knowledge and to create some new compounds or to decode RNA/DNA, but it is still work. Mostly it consists of following known methodic and collecting tons of data that will make sense only after you have enough of it to process. Sometimes you don’t even know if the result makes sense or you screwed up and need to redo the whole thing until test’s results arrive. And this will eventually happen to you, probably more than once. It adds to anxiety, of course, but you’ll need to accept it if you wish to work in the field for long time.
It is about purpose. I saw many people during past year who stay in laboratory because they are used to it. I’m not quite sure why would somebody want to do this, as it is usually not the most paid work with this skillset, but this happens. So I would claim this: if you want to become a scientist — figure out why do you want to do this. If you have a very clear understanding of what makes you do this, if you have some ideal that drives you towards this, then you are good to go.
Consider people. Of course, you will have a scientific advisor. He will explain you the majority of things you need to work. But sometimes you will work alone (vacations, illnesses and conferences happen), and you might need help or advice. To make things easier in such situations, introduce yourself to your co-workers. Even if you are socially awkward — take some time, it is worth the effort. Even have a small talk every now and then, you might get some valuable information. Also if you are new in the lab, chances are your co-workers are older than you and have the most valuable thing in any field — experience. And they (mostly) are willing to share it. I say — use it when possible, it might save you plenty of troubles later.
In conclusion: learn. Learn, learn, learn. Download a pile of books related to your topics, read articles, learn excel and, if you need, matlab or wolfram mathematica, maybe python. Even if you are not a programmer, these tools are versatile and empower you to process data way more efficiently.
