• Question: How long does it take to become a scientist

    Asked by anon-208919 to Tori, Titus, Alessandro, Stuart, Hannah, Gill on 5 Mar 2019. This question was also asked by anon-208897, anon-208901, anon-208899, anon-208871, anon-208299, anon-210303.
    • Photo: Titus Mutwiri

      Titus Mutwiri answered on 5 Mar 2019:

      I consider becoming a scientist as a process as opposed to a destination or achievement. I would feel as a scientist when responding to you but in the presence of my seniors and professors/ supervisors I am still in the making even though I have done research and published manuscripts. Therefore it can take as long as one wants but also as short as it would take to understand few scientific principles. We do not have an organization with defined reference on when one should be referred to as a scientist and when they should not.

    • Photo: Stuart Higgins

      Stuart Higgins answered on 8 Mar 2019:

      I think for me, about 4-8 years. It depends a bit of when you think you become a scientist (I’ve asked lots of scientists, and for different people it happens at different times). Some think they became a scientist when they were at school, some when they studied at university, some when they first presented results from their experiments. There are also different kinds of scientist, so if you go to work for a company as a scientist, then it might be quicker.

    • Photo: Gill Harrison

      Gill Harrison answered on 8 Mar 2019:

      I did 3 years to become a radiographer. Then spent some time working as a radiographer, before doing 18months to qualify as a sonographer and another year doing my MSc….but I’m still learning. Machines keep developing, techniques evolve and I am always learning something new.

    • Photo: Hannah Dalgleish

      Hannah Dalgleish answered on 11 Mar 2019:

      There’s a range, and it depends on what type of scientist you want to be! For astronomers it probably takes around 7-10 years.

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