• Question: Is being a scientist very competitive? Are you always against the others to find the best solution?

    Asked by anon-129382 to Megan, Mzamo, Ola, Olivia on 16 Nov 2016.
    • Photo: Olivia Ashton

      Olivia Ashton answered on 16 Nov 2016:

      Yes and no.

      Science is competitive as there is a limited amount of funding and journals to publish in so sometimes it can feel like youre against others.

      However there is the idea that youre all working to a common goal, so if someone does something before you science has still advanced. Also collaborations – so team work – across different groups and countries are really encouraged, which makes it feel less like a competition.

    • Photo: Megan Seymour

      Megan Seymour answered on 16 Nov 2016:

      Research groups try to find their own specific research area to make sure they are not directly competing against other groups. Some fields are more crowded than others though, and it’s no bad thing to rush to publish your results as soon as possible.

      Most of the time it is more about working together. We all use ideas and methods from each others published papers and that’s kind of the whole point! We are really pleased if somebody else is using our idea, because it probably means it was quite good!

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