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Any scientists here?

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TheKing
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25 Jan 2011, 12:58 pm

im NOT a scientist but i AM an Aspiring scientist


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LadyDi
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25 Jan 2011, 11:23 pm

I'm a computational chemist. I make mathematical models of protein-ligand interactions to predict which other compounds would also fit. So if the protein-ligand is like a lock and key, I'm like a lock-smith finding a better key... preferably one that's easier to make, cheaper, safer, easier to formulate, doesn't smell bad or make your skin fall off. It makes great use of my strengths - it's highly analytical, heavy attention to detail, lots of trouble shooting / hypothesis testing, and it's very visual. AND, I get to sit in front of a computer all day and hardly talk to anyone. I love it. I started as a programmer, but got bored and tired of hearing that I wouldn't get promoted without a degree. So I went back to school and discovered I loved biology - and then I found out I could combine the two. Heaven ! !

I love all the "small stuff" like DNA, proteins, biological molecules, cells, all the myriad interactions - it's just super cool. I've always loved small stuff - doll house furniture that has real doors and drawers and the tiny plates, cups, knives, forks and spoons, model train set (HO scale),match box cars, I collect small animals - preferably wild animals - in all sorts of materials. wood, stone, bone, metal, .... The more tiny detail the better. The hard part for me as a scientist is making verbal reports about what I do. I can give presentations - it's just acting - but the on the spot questions turn me into a "deer in the headlights". I have no idea what they want or why they're asking a question that makes no sense giving the context (usually a political agenda of some sort)

In grad school I had to teach as part of the stipend - for 7 years. I hated it. I could never remember their names or even remember their faces outside of the classroom. But the part that frustrated me the most was the ones who didn't really want to learn, they just needed to pass the course. It seemed like a waste of everyone's time. and I wasn't allowed to fail them, no matter how much they deserved it. Should the star football player get a D (with an average of 23 / 100) - the same as the kid who tried really hard but just didn't get it and barely missed the cut-off for a C (75)? Bah. Give me a computer over a class full of18 year olds any day.

I make pretty good money, but I am very specialized and there are very few job openings in my field. If I lose this job I'll have to move.



Rawr
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29 Jan 2011, 2:05 pm

LadyDi wrote:
I'm a computational chemist. I make mathematical models of protein-ligand interactions to predict which other compounds would also fit. So if the protein-ligand is like a lock and key, I'm like a lock-smith finding a better key... preferably one that's easier to make, cheaper, safer, easier to formulate, doesn't smell bad or make your skin fall off. It makes great use of my strengths - it's highly analytical, heavy attention to detail, lots of trouble shooting / hypothesis testing, and it's very visual. AND, I get to sit in front of a computer all day and hardly talk to anyone. I love it. I started as a programmer, but got bored and tired of hearing that I wouldn't get promoted without a degree. So I went back to school and discovered I loved biology - and then I found out I could combine the two. Heaven ! !


Wow that sounds like heaven to me too! Do you have any good advises for me how to get into that? I'm doing atm 2 masters in molecular biology and technical chemistry. My masters are part of big research projects and therefore there is alot of communication involved (because I'm not just working for myself). I have a REALLY hard time to get along with people in the lab and the meetings, because i don't understand what they sometimes try to tell me between the lines and I feel like I'm in the wrong movie (you know what I mean... like this non-verbal stuff thing).

And the next problem is: as far as I heard till now, if you really want to be a good scientist, then you have to socialize with others so you can get into cooperations and papers... and I am not just bad but also afraid of that...

Worst thing ever: international conferences -.- omg


Am I the only person that feels like that (hope not :) ) ?



Villette
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11 Feb 2011, 11:43 am

I am an aspiring biochemist. :D First year isn't particularly exiciting, it's more theory and procedural lab work. And waaaaaaaaaaay too much memorisation.



AnotherOne
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11 Feb 2011, 1:22 pm

rawr: yes, collaborations are one way to go but not the only one. good ideas are the other one. and if you are following your own ideas it is much easier to present at the conferences.



nostromo
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12 Feb 2011, 5:45 am

LadyDi wrote:
I'm a computational chemist. I make mathematical models of protein-ligand interactions to predict which other compounds would also fit. So if the protein-ligand is like a lock and key, I'm like a lock-smith finding a better key... preferably one that's easier to make, cheaper, safer, easier to formulate, doesn't smell bad or make your skin fall off. It makes great use of my strengths - it's highly analytical, heavy attention to detail, lots of trouble shooting / hypothesis testing, and it's very visual. AND, I get to sit in front of a computer all day and hardly talk to anyone. I love it. I started as a programmer, but got bored and tired of hearing that I wouldn't get promoted without a degree. So I went back to school and discovered I loved biology - and then I found out I could combine the two. Heaven ! !

I love all the "small stuff" like DNA, proteins, biological molecules, cells, all the myriad interactions - it's just super cool. I've always loved small stuff - doll house furniture that has real doors and drawers and the tiny plates, cups, knives, forks and spoons, model train set (HO scale),match box cars, I collect small animals - preferably wild animals - in all sorts of materials. wood, stone, bone, metal, .... The more tiny detail the better. The hard part for me as a scientist is making verbal reports about what I do. I can give presentations - it's just acting - but the on the spot questions turn me into a "deer in the headlights". I have no idea what they want or why they're asking a question that makes no sense giving the context (usually a political agenda of some sort)

In grad school I had to teach as part of the stipend - for 7 years. I hated it. I could never remember their names or even remember their faces outside of the classroom. But the part that frustrated me the most was the ones who didn't really want to learn, they just needed to pass the course. It seemed like a waste of everyone's time. and I wasn't allowed to fail them, no matter how much they deserved it. Should the star football player get a D (with an average of 23 / 100) - the same as the kid who tried really hard but just didn't get it and barely missed the cut-off for a C (75)? Bah. Give me a computer over a class full of18 year olds any day.

I make pretty good money, but I am very specialized and there are very few job openings in my field. If I lose this job I'll have to move.

That sounds awesome. Thats the sort of job I'd be best at instead of trying to fit myself into other molds. On the spot questions get me too. If I am going to a meeting with some people that are going to be firing that sort of stuff at me I spend a decent amount of time thinking about the subject beforehand from all angles. Then I've effectively answered all possible questions beforehand and can speak with confidence.



DeusMechanicus
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16 Feb 2011, 1:21 pm

Physicist, geophysicist and aspiring biochemist with an interest in genomics and human-cybernetic interfaces for the purpose of increasing human life and work efficiency.



kostopsykologi
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12 Mar 2011, 9:31 am

Here, a psychologist who went through many camps to find this one he's in now: archaeology, engineering, mathematics, physics, teaching and then the psychology of teaching, learning & development. I've had jobs in teaching, medical physics & clinical engineering, and in client work with the local social psychiatry unit; and am currently on a free-ish retainer to my ex-wife's business (she and I are both working as psycho-educational consultants - her full time, and me when I get the chance).