• Question: What's different about being a RESEARCH scientist and a normal one, love Joanna xxx

    Asked by alicejoanna97 to Gioia, Iain, Jo, Leo, Mariam on 21 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Joanna Watson

      Joanna Watson answered on 18 Jun 2010:

      Research scientists are always trying to find the answers to questions that no one knows the answer to yet. Other scientists might be more likely to use the things that we already know to do things like testing for diseases or designing new technologies. There are so many different types of scientist that I don’t even know what all of them are, and they can do very different things.

    • Photo: Mariam Orme

      Mariam Orme answered on 19 Jun 2010:

      The ‘research’ part means doing experiments, analysing data or making observations to find out new things. I’m struggling to think of any types of scientists who don’t fall into this category, but I’m sure there are some!

    • Photo: Iain Moal

      Iain Moal answered on 19 Jun 2010:

      Hi Joanna,
      A good question. In a toothpaste factory, for example, there will be a microbiology lab with scientists who check that the toothpaste hasn’t been contaminated with bacteria. There will also be a quality control lab, which analyse the toothpaste and ensure that it has the correct composition and is of high quality. The scientists who work in these labs don’t discover new things, they apply what is already known.

      Then there are service scientists, who provide a service. For example, where I work, we have an electron microscopy service. In order to use an electron microscope well, it requires years of training. Furthermore, some of the blades used to prepare samples cost thousands of pounds, so you don’t want someone who doesn’t really know what they are doing to damaging them. So there are specialists in the lab who help research scientists prepare and analyse their samples.

      Now, a research scientist is someone who sets out to discover new things. They do science that has never been done before and push forwards the boundaries of human knowledge. However, they wouldn’t be able to do that as well without service scientists to help them.

    • Photo: Leo Garcia

      Leo Garcia answered on 21 Jun 2010:

      I think that all scientists, by definition, do research. Perhaps the distinction could be made between ‘engineers’ and ‘research scientists’ – where engineers use scientific principles to construct new things. I think Iain’s answer is better than mine!

Comments