• Question: What do you think the most important qualities in a Scientist are, morally as well as academically?

    Asked by setbuddiesx to Gioia, Iain, Jo, Leo, Mariam on 20 Jun 2010 in Categories: . This question was also asked by marema.
    • Photo: Iain Moal

      Iain Moal answered on 14 Jun 2010:

      Passion, dedicaiton, honesty and a clear head.

    • Photo: Gioia Cherubini

      Gioia Cherubini answered on 14 Jun 2010:

      Hey setbuddiesx,
      this question makes me think that you have already been thinking a lot about being a scientist!
      For me there is one word that represents my attitude with work: honesty.
      It could be tempting to modify some data so that you can get published more easily, but once you do that, I think morally as a scientist you are destroyed!

    • Photo: Joanna Watson

      Joanna Watson answered on 14 Jun 2010:

      I think the most important quality in a scientist is curiosity. I don’t think it’s possible to be a good scientist without being fascinated by why the world is how it is!

      Morally, I think the most important thing is to be honest – as lying about your research can do a lot of harm! Other than that, I think scientists should try to live by the same morals as everyone else – don’t kill people, don’t steal (especially other people’s work) and try to think of how your behaviour and your science will affect other people.

    • Photo: Leo Garcia

      Leo Garcia answered on 14 Jun 2010:

      I think a scientist should be:

      – Sceptical
      – Open minded
      – Inquisitive
      – Curious
      – Hard working
      – Willing to perservere
      – Creative
      – Honest
      – Self confident

      and have a strong set of ethics. Science ethics (which, I suppose, brings morality to science) is extremely important, and a scientist should never ever be dishonest, or corrupt, or conduct experiments in such a way which causes unecessary suffering, and should always go through all the right procedures to ensure that their work is ethically sound.

    • Photo: Mariam Orme

      Mariam Orme answered on 20 Jun 2010:

      Scientists need a lot of different qualities. Some of the most important ones, I would say, are open-mindedness, patience and inquisitiveness.

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