• Question: do you like working alone or in a group or both

    Asked by Kaitlin is epic to Gemma, Aimee, Ross, Robert on 9 Nov 2015. This question was also asked by Ella Fashionista, Cheeky Monkey :), laserenderman23, 768tund25.
    • Photo: Gemma Cripps

      Gemma Cripps answered on 9 Nov 2015:

      I like both! This job gives you the opportunity to so. When working as part of a team, you have a common goal to work towards, you can motivate each other (which really helps when you are tired!), and you have lots fun as you often work crazy hours side by side.

      Working by yourself, gives you time to reflect on your own research and you are your own boss (which has lots of benefits, and also some drawbacks!)

    • Photo: Aimee Goodall

      Aimee Goodall answered on 14 Nov 2015:

      I like working alone and with a group!
      With working alone you can take pride in what you have done, although there is not always the support of others, but you can rely you will get the work done.
      In a group it is lovely to share ideas, people can do what they are strongest in and the work can be brilliant if everybody does the work.
      The way I work now is alone, but I have the support of my boss, who I can ask questions to and also the group who does similar research as me 😀

    • Photo: Ross King

      Ross King answered on 17 Nov 2015:

      I also like both! I used to much prefer working by myself but for a modern day scientist, you have to work with other people to achieve your goals. It’s also great to work with other people because you can all help each other along the way and maybe do some things for someone else that they don’t know how to do.

      I like to spend time on my own mainly reading and planning experiments – I then work in my main team as much as I can!

Comments

  • Photo: Ross

    Ross commented on :

    Like Gemma, I also like both! I think to be a good scientist you have to be able to work both by yourself and as part of a group. In the past, scientists often worked by themselves but this isn’t really good enough any more – you have to work with a wide range of different types of scientist in order to make the most of your work.

    Working with other people is great, though, because as Gemma said – there are always people around you to help you or to cheer you up if you’re feeling a bit down!