This week we asked our researchers what they enjoy most about their work.

From Silvia:

“What I like more about my job is that it is challenging. As scientists, we are constantly challenged to push the boundaries of our knowledge and discover creative ways to solve problems. I find it stimulating. I also enjoy the fact that I am always doing something different. The experiments and projects evolve with the results we obtain, so we need to be flexible to learn new techniques and refine the existing ones. So, we are always doing new things in the lab. Finally, I think each research finding, even the smallest, represents a block in the construction of universal knowledge and I love being part of the people that build it.”

From Emanuela:

“The first thing is that it is never finished, it is not something that you run out of space with, and you discover something new every time. If an experiment is not working that is still something. I love to collaborate with other researchers and my work is very dynamic. I think within our project there is always room for new ideas, for new experiments and in this way, there is a feeling of being free, free to explore new ideas.”

From Dan:

“There are lots of things I love about my work. Compared to my previous job in a soulless corporate organisation, the freedom that I have here is just incredible and I feel lucky to have a job that allows me to be like that. So, I love the freedom to explore science, mess around with experiments, learn something and make mistakes. It is fun, I think it goes back to that stage when a child is playing and loses track of time and this is the closest that I get to being like that again, I really enjoy what I do.”

From Ben:

“I like the feeling that I have understood something complicated, and this, in turn, increases your confidence to tackle more complicated problems in future. Science requires perseverance, but overcoming hard challenges is rewarding. It is nice to know that you can add to the scientific record with your research and other people can then build on that for years to come. Science has a long-term aspect to it, which I really like.”

From Neil:

“We’re working on the bleeding edge of technology, much of what we work on gets covered in science fiction novels/or films for example DNA data storage was covered on Netflix’s biohacker thriller.”

Image by Andre Santana AndreMS from Pixabay