• Question: is your job very intense and pressurising?

    Asked by anon-209488 to Verity, Sergio, Nick, Maria, David, Annette on 8 Mar 2019.
    • Photo: David Whitworth

      David Whitworth answered on 8 Mar 2019:

      It is very stressful at times yes. I spend most of my day trying to work out why things don’t work, which can be very disheartening at times. When you fix the problem and things work and you find out something cool though it makes all the stress and hard work worth it.

    • Photo: Maria Walach

      Maria Walach answered on 8 Mar 2019:

      The only pressure is usually the stress I create for myself! The work itself isn’t intense or pressurising, but sometimes there are deadlines that I have to make. The deadlines are not difficult to meet as long as I am prepared for them…

    • Photo: Annette Raffan

      Annette Raffan answered on 8 Mar 2019: last edited 8 Mar 2019 7:44 pm

      It depends on the time of year for me. My office can get very busy with students coming in and out all the time to ask questions. During project times (summer and around Oct-Jan), especially when they are just starting, it’s all hands on deck as we have to get them all started in their research. Other times its quieter and you can get on with all the stuff that needs doing such as maintenance and cleaning. It helps when people plan ahead for us so we can get everything sorted in advance but most students don’t do this(!) We love it when they come to the office or lab with a list and some ideas of what and how they’d like to do their experiment. It can be pretty intense when we have a student who is struggling and we have to keep an extra eye on them and check they aren’t about to do something dangerous!

    • Photo: Nick Werren

      Nick Werren answered on 10 Mar 2019:

      Doing a degree in physics is very intense, at least it has been for me. Does that mean I don’t enjoy it? No way, I love having lots of things to do. Also, you have the freedom to control your work. If I was struggling too much then I would tell my supervisor (my boss) and try to remove some of the pressure.

      I guess what I’m trying to say is that the job of a scientist is what you make it – as long as you care for yourself first, then you’ll be fine.

    • Photo: Sergio Adan Bermudez

      Sergio Adan Bermudez answered on 11 Mar 2019:

      There is a lot of pressure in the life of a PhD student since you need to publish results and meet the expectations. But if you are a person that like challenges, you will enjoy the process of working under pressure. Said that, I feel privileged to be working in such an interdisciplinary field!

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