• Question: What makes you want to do this job? and why did you pick this topic to research ?

    Asked by erinndonaghy to Hywel, Joseph, Patience, Poonam, Rachael on 13 Jun 2010 in Categories: . This question was also asked by 17qqyorl, munchkin, imalthatx, 4xzovbdb, clairex, imeeeldaaaa, shannon123, stesandringham, annie8393, asherzz, hollyem85, timmy, 08towersc, samantha123, faseeha, emmaax.
    • Photo: Patience Dorgu

      Patience Dorgu answered on 13 Jun 2010:

      I wanted to challenge myself mentally and know more about principles in science and engineering.

      I chose this topic because the global reserves of conventional oil is depleting and production focus is gearing towards heavy oils, tar sands and bitumen. Yes, there’s a lot of important and groundbreaking research into renewable energy sources but lets face it, crude oil is still going to be our cheapest source of energy for a while to come.

    • Photo: Dr Hywel Jones

      Dr Hywel Jones answered on 13 Jun 2010:

      Great question, I really enjoy my job. I love the freedom it can give you to chase your own ideas or to help others realise theirs. I love the challenges that science can present and the satisfaction you get when you can solve or overcome the problems presented to you.
      I work in a university with some really interesting and intelligent people (much brighter than me). You get the opportunity to travel sometimes and meet great people from around the world.

      I did science at school (Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Maths and then Physics and Double Maths at A level) and really enjoyed it more than the other subjects (even though they are regarded as harder subjects but I don’t think thats really true).
      I went on to do Physics at The University of Warwick and that department has a strong group working on Materials Science. When I graduated I was given the opportunity to study for a MSc in the Methods of Materials Characterisation and this led naturally on to a PhD in Ceramics (engineering or technical ceramics, not plates and mugs). Ever since I’ve been hooked on the study of materials and all sorts.

    • Photo: Poonam Kaushik

      Poonam Kaushik answered on 13 Jun 2010:

      I am a kind of person who likes challenges and flexibility. I love doing and trying something new! And research is the area where you get enough opportunity to do exciting, new, novel things which gives you mental challenges. This job gives me what I really like to do. I am a workoholic kind of person and research gives enough food for my thought process. At times I need to meet the deadlines and at times I am flexible. So all these reasons I love research.

      Identifying plant based insecticides is an important arena in research as about ~25-30 % crops are lost due to various pests. And If we happen to save this 25-30 % of total food crops for increasing human population than definitely it is going to make huge difference especially in third world countries.

    • Photo: Joseph Cook

      Joseph Cook answered on 13 Jun 2010:

      I enjoy science because it can be applied to real life and has the potential to solve problems. My current research is interesting for me because it combines aspects of physics, chemistry and materials science and so has plenty of variety. I guess you could say I get bored easily, but it’s fun to have lots of different things to do and learn about.

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