• Question: what do you hope to achive with your research and hard-work?

    Asked by gabbyway to Dalya, Derek, Sarah, Tim, Tom on 19 Jun 2011. This question was also asked by adw10.
    • Photo: Sarah Thomas

      Sarah Thomas answered on 10 Jun 2011:

      With my science communication and public outreach work I hope to teach people about the causes of cancer and about the research that scientists are doing to fight it, and to encourage students to study science because I think it has a bit impact on people’s lives.

      With my research, my first goals are to create and publish chemicals that can be used as tools to probe and study cancer and hopefully unveil the chemistry behind the growth of cancer and new ways that we can target it, so that scientists can develop more effective treatments. This is why I want to publish it, because I want to share the knowledge with all scientists so that all my hard work is not wasted!

      The main application of my research is very early work towards a diagnostic blood test for cancer. The reason for this is that a blood test would be a quick and easy way to help doctors diagnose patients and get them treated as soon as possible, as survival rates are higher the earlier it is diagnosed. I hope that this research could one day save people’s lives and keep families together.

    • Photo: Tim Millar

      Tim Millar answered on 10 Jun 2011:

      A change to disease and patients quality of life, but also that thirst for knowledge and finding out even just a small part of this vast Universe would be pretty cool.

    • Photo: Dalya Soond

      Dalya Soond answered on 11 Jun 2011:

      I want to better myself: Research involves lots of demanding new skills intellectually, technologically, learning how to best deal with different personalities, how to manage money. There’s lots about politics and government that can also be learned if you pay close attention, etc. etc.etc.
      I also would like to contribute to making the life of people with ill health a bit better and easier.
      These 2 things are probably of equal importance to me.

    • Photo: Derek McKay-Bukowski

      Derek McKay-Bukowski answered on 13 Jun 2011:

      From a scientific point of view, I want to help us learn something new about the universe; perhaps something that will assist us or that will give us a better perspective. To give us the best chance to do this, it means having the best instruments to study the physics of our universal environment, not just for me, but for all the scientists who study these things.

      So I also want to ensure that our scientific community has the best equipment possible for this work. That means making the most precise telescopes, as efficiently as possible and as cheaply as possible. That is the engineering point of view.

      From a personal point of view, I am driven by both of these things. For me it is also a challenge, a living and a lot of fun. Thus, I also hope to achieve personal satisfaction.

      Research is an adventure… at so many different levels. It is a journey of discovery for humanity, and I want to be part of that and to make my contribution to it.

    • Photo: Tom Crick

      Tom Crick answered on 19 Jun 2011:

      I hope that my research will eventually have an impact on every device that has a microprocessor…this is pretty much every electronic device in the world! While this may be a grand aim, if some of the outcomes from my work enables these devices to be more efficient and use less power, then this would be a significant result for humans who use electronic devices (and would also help the environment).

      Through my science policy/science communication/public engagement work, I hope to highlight the relevance and importance of computer science, especially by trying to change the way that computing is taught in UK schools (through my work with Computing at School and BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT). We do not need to teach children how to use software such as PowerPoint or to see a computer as a black-box, we need to develop computational thinking, deeper problem-solving and analytical skills. Maybe Wales will be ahead of the rest of the UK in a few years time! 🙂

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