• Question: how long did it take you to get where you are now

    Asked by anon-241413 to Chukwuka, Ross, Natalia, Martin, Gabriela, Ellie on 10 Mar 2020. This question was also asked by anon-241416, anon-241411.
    • Photo: Ross Alexander

      Ross Alexander answered on 10 Mar 2020: last edited 10 Mar 2020 6:30 pm

      I have been working in science for nearly 20 years now. I did a 4 yr undergraduate degree and then 3 years on my phd. I then did lots different lab jobs before i got this lecture position around 4 years ago. So about 10 years after i finished my phD to my current job.

      Met lots of great people / travelled all over the world and have gotten to talk science to a wide variety of different people, so its been quite good so far.

    • Photo: Martin Johnsson

      Martin Johnsson answered on 10 Mar 2020: last edited 10 Mar 2020 7:23 pm

      And in my case, I did 6 years of undergraduate studies: that is 5 years of an MSc programme plus an extra year of biology because I liked biology. Then another 5 years on my PhD. (My numbers are different than Ross’ numbers, partially because I did my PhD in Sweden, where PhD degrees are generally 4 years of research and courses plus 1 year of teaching. I have taught many undergraduate biologists in Linköping how to use a pipette.)

      Adding that up, we get 11 years of education after primary and secondary school. And now I’ve been working as a postdoctoral researcher for about 4 years.

      Wow, that looks like a lot of time when I write it down. It didn’t feel that long!

    • Photo: Eleanor Spence

      Eleanor Spence answered on 11 Mar 2020:

      After school I went to university for 3 years. I had a great time in Newcastle during my studies and it was here that I found particular topics that I enjoyed the most. Then I moved home to my parents in Leeds for 1 year whilst working in a clinical trials clinic. I saw the advert for my PhD whilst scrolling online on one of my lunch breaks. I started the PhD in 2017 and will be finished with it in 2021.

    • Photo: Gabriela da Silva Xavier

      Gabriela da Silva Xavier answered on 11 Mar 2020:

      Its roughly 20 years since I started my PhD, and I have been working in research since. I did a 3 year BSc at the University of Bristol, and then 3 years PhD there. I got my first job on a 3 year contract, then got a couple of fellowships that were split between Bristol and London. I got my first faculty position at Imperial College in London about 7 years after my PhD. I started my current position 1.5 years ago.

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