Question: Was it hard to become a scientist?

Alexis Barr answered on 18 Jun 2013:

Hi there,
This is a difficult one to answer! It takes quite a long time to become a scientist. After A-levels, I did a 3 year undergraduate degree, then a one year Masters degree (that one year wasn’t essential though – many don’t do that), and I did a 4 year PhD – although you get paid to do a PhD so that’s a bit more like a regular job. In between all that I also worked in labs in my summer holidays to get more experience. It might sound like a lot of work but all of it was very good fun! Especially because I love working in labs. I had to work hard around exams to make sure I got the grades to pass the year and doing a PhD can be hard at times – just because there are a lot of new things to learn. It’s also worth bearing in mind that you don’t have to do a PhD to become a scientist – there are plenty of jobs for people who only have undergraduate degrees as well. I think if you like science you won’t mind a bit of hard work now and then!