Question: How long have you been a scientist for

Sam Rogerson answered on 16 Jul 2024:

I always find this question a little difficult to answer in the main chats, so I’m glad you asked this separately!

I think the answer is “it depends”. There isn’t really a job called “scientist”, and there really isn’t a qualification or class you take to become one either. Anyone can be a scientist, even if you haven’t been trained in any way to be one. A scientist is someone who follows the scientific method and has integrity. If you pose questions (or “hypotheses”), conduct experiments (whether that’s pouring liquids into beakers in a lab or conducting questionnaire surveys), and analyse your results to answer your question, you are a scientist (in my opinion). I would say you are also expected to conduct research without bias, or influence from an outside source.

That said, I would say I’ve been a scientist since I conducted my first experiments at University about 8 years ago. I have “professionally” worked as a scientist (getting paid to do it) for about 3-4 years.