Reasons to Become a Scientist- A Truly Global Citizen

Dr Kshetrimayum Birla Singh
M.Sc., Ph.D., Post-Doctoral Research at Kings College, London
Associate Professor, Department of Zoology, Manipur University

When preparing from intermediates to graduate or graduate to postgraduates at schools, college or university, many students are confronted with the question ‘what now’?  This is also a common nightmare for most of the parents who want their children to do well in everything that they wish. This is often a hard question to answer when we plan on leaving schools, academia, but don’t quite know what we do want to do or even what careers are available to us. It is all too easy to get tunnel vision when working towards a specific goal, and when we realise that our goal might not lead to a career we actually want, then we can feel lost.

Every year, we have seen from the leading Newspapers and local TV channels about those students who topped in the High school leaving certificate Examination (HSLC) /or Higher Secondary Examination conducted by Board of School Educations Manipur (BOSEM) and Council of Higher Secondary Education Manipur (COSEM) opted their future career choice either Indian administrative services (IAS) or Doctors and Engineers etc. Hardly you will find anyone among them opts for a career as a scientist. It seems like that most of the scientists either academic scientist or full-fledged scientists become a scientist by default while he/or she was left with fewer options in the course of time. We also can’t blame anybody at such situation as we all know that society perceptions, job opportunities, value addition of that career, parents decisions etc. may have compelled those young students to choose those careers options. Moreover, it is someone individual space and independent decision and one should respect whatever the career decision they have taken. However, with the world developing and changing in a very first pace with the new trend of globalization, now the time has come for all of us to understand and learn all those other choices and options of career after intermediates or graduation. Though this concept seems new to most of us, however people of all the developed countries and some of the developing countries have already trail along with the changing speed of the world and have availed all those advantages long back. Now, available career options have become a cafeteria like situation where we can choose from various available exciting options other than our already known traditional choices which were mentioned before. Here comes a very important role for parents of children. We cannot leave everything in the young minds of these children as if we look at the Indian system of education parents play a crucial role in the future career decision-making process of their children. So, every parent must also learn to expand and broaden their horizon of thinking, knowledge keeping in the pace of this fast-changing world what we commonly called “New Age Generation” besides what they already knew traditional career prospects like IAS, Doctors and Engineers. In this regards, out of the many career options we have, a career as “Scientist” which I would like to endorse in my own terminology a real “Global Citizen” is one of the good choices for youngsters. Again coming back to those career choices opted by our bright and talented HSLC/HSE toppers of Manipur, I felt very grateful and delighted to learn that among the many of them, one of 2016 batch class 10 topper Miss Naorem Suzanna, who secured the second rank in the HSLC Exam 2016 conducted by BOSEM is setting her eyes on becoming a “Space Scientist”. I really felt amazed myself while I read about this in one of the excerpts of her interview in a leading Newspaper based in Imphal. I am at the same time very surprised to learn that what/or who prompted her to opt this peculiar career, unlike her other fellow toppers. Is it her genuine interest? Isn’t she too young to know about space scientists? Is she was really inspired by someone close to her? Is her parent highly educated and broad minded person? With many puzzles and questions about her in my mind, I also feel so happy inside thinking that maybe people of Manipur have started realizing about other career options other than the traditional concept we have. Anyway, whatever the choices by them, in the subsequent paragraphs I am jotting down some few points and reasons to choose a career as a “Scientist” or endorsing scientist as one of the best career options to the readers.  First, I do not want to suggest that being a scientist is the “pinnacle of happiness”; as it involves lots of hard work and may not be the right choice for everyone. There are many other career paths that are enriching and rewarding. Every profession has its own virtues and each person should gravitate to a job that fits their own motivations and lifestyle. The important point is finding passion in one’s job, whatever it might be. Provided with all these conditions, I would like to highlight some of the important essence and components of choosing or becoming a scientist as a future career option for which I am endorsing for those youngsters who are the best minds and full of curiosities.

First of all becoming a scientist or aspiring to be one usually derives from a natural curiosity about the world around us. I assume that if you are reading this essay you have that curiosity, that desire to learn more (often learn more than what is known). Herein, I would like to add one small point that while we were small kids, we have lots of curiosities of many things around us which are new to us and at the same time use to ask lots of questions about those things to our elders like our parents, elder brothers and sisters, uncles, aunties etc. We have curiosities about the stars in the sky, about the bicycle, about the bus, about the cows, about the birds, about the television. As we grew up older, we lost those curiosities and we remain self-sufficient with the knowledge we have over the course of time and have totally stopped asking questions like we usually did before. Here, what I would like to convey is that a person intends to become a real scientist still have that carving for new knowledge and curiosities and did not stop asking questions to himself and others.  Perhaps he would like to know if are any other living species what we usually address as “alien” in planets other than earth Or want to know  how animals come to this world, where from they came, how plants survive, what they do, why people get sick and die and how to avoid it? Or how we can build faster cars?  How does it run? How does the aeroplane fly so high above the sky? We have many questions but fewer reasons or answers. Whatever the reason, we should have that motivation to learn more about science and technology. This motivation is vital because becoming a scientist and doing science requires a lot of hard work, patience and a genuine interest in the field. Assuming that we have the motivation and desire, how do we become a scientist? Good grades in school are important, no matter what stage we are in our education. Grades help us get to good schools, help us to get to good graduate college. While nobody will judge us solely by our grades, for students fresh out of university, grades and quality of education are often the most important information recruiters have to decide. On the other hand, related to academic performance, we should also practice doing science in our day to day life. This can be on our own or within a research lab. Often there are summer projects in research labs even for high school students and once in university, this is something we should actively pursue. It will give us first-hand experience on what scientists do on a daily basis and if we do well, it will help us establish a rapport with researchers who can provide letters of recommendation and help your career. Thus establishing connections with teachers and preferably researchers in the field we wish to pursue is essential from an early age. So we should not be afraid to be involved in science and contact researchers in our area of interest. Even outside our formal education, we need to gain experience and study our field of interest. If we are at an early stage of our career, we may not know exactly what we want to do or how. We may be interested in science in general or in a particular problem but are unsure how to tackle it. For example, we may want to help cure cancer, but how can we do it? Essentially, we need to learn more so that we can specialize and so we can learn the techniques of our field of interest. Often there’s more than one technique and more than one approach to tackling a scientific problem. Strategic thinking is important and we should choose a field with potential and approaches that will allow us to explore that potential, yet there is often more than one road to success. The reality is that even experts are often unable to reach a consensus regarding which approach and which technique is more appropriate. At the same time, developing a career is about finding something we enjoy doing that. So we need to explore our area and the different approaches until we find one (or often more than one) that fits us. Scientists often become very specialized (sometimes too specialized) since as we learn more we gain more focus. Following are some of the important and genuine reasons why we should love a career as a scientist and have also incorporated some of my own experiences in the write-up.

1.  Freedom to Choose our Directions: A big attraction and important component of a job as a scientist/ academic scientist is to launch a research program. Unlike the case of jobs in hierarchal companies or organizations, research projects are not dictated or handed down by a senior authority. Thus, it is up to us to decide what research to perform and how to pursue it. Freedom to pursue your research also is protected by tenure, a rather unique type of intellectual and job protection offered in most institutions. In my opinion, scientists have greater freedom in picking projects that interest them that is true of most artistic professions. Thus, scientist/ academic scientists are remarkably fortunate to be able to choose projects to satisfy their intellectual and creative cravings, while still having the security of a stable monthly paycheck.
2. Reinventing Oneself throughout One’s Career: The job of a scientist is challenging and never dull and one is forced to think about new fields and there are many opportunities to head off into new intellectual adventures. It also allows one to reinvent oneself in more dramatic ways by shifting to new lines of work. Some individuals may decide to leave the research track at some later stage of their career and pursue an administrative position as there is no shortage of such job opportunities for individuals with good organizational and people handling skills. Others may shift their focus from research to educational activities or decide to leave academics to take positions in industry or government. Thus, a scientist can take many different career paths, as interests, priorities, and goals change over time. However, their genuine love for science and discovery doesn’t change with time.
3. Participating in the Great Era of Discovery: Nowadays, all fields of sciences are moving ahead at breakneck speed. Our newly gained knowledge of living and non-living things around the world and beyond it is fascinating in its own right but also has enormous practical implications for quality human life and global sustainability. Making scientific discovery (even if modest) is an exhilarating experience, knowing that one uncovered a piece of the puzzle. An important aspect of a scientist is to read papers and attend seminars or conferences. It is a pleasure to read an insightful paper or hear a beautiful talk. A wonderful aspect of the scientific profession is that one can enjoy and be inspired by work being done by others.
4. Being Part of an International Community Joined by Common Interests:  This is one of the important and interesting reasons for coining my own terminology of a scientist as truly a “Global Citizen”. Although different scientists all over the world have been brought up in different cultures, all of them have much in common as the result of their shared experiences in the practice of science, their unifying passion for discovery, and the common language of how they seek truth and establish proof. Scientists working in different countries are connected through long-lasting intellectual bonds and not by corporate structures that hold individuals together one day and they might dissolve the next. Members of various National Academies of Sciences or international scientific societies can transcend political, religious, and language barriers and talk easily to each other and set goals. One of the most pleasant aspects of being a scientist is the opportunity to belong to a large fraternity. One gets to know people from everywhere through science, giving a sense of belonging to the world at large and thus help to become truly a global citizen himself/or herself.
5. Pleasant Travels:  Travel is associated with many professions, but often is viewed negatively rather than as a perk. Being a global citizen, for a scientist, delivering seminars/ conference in other parts of the country or any parts of the world is an important means of exchanging information and making contacts for collaborations. A seminar trip also is very rewarding and fun as most of the seminars or scientific meetings are often held in delightful cities around the globe. During a seminar visit, scientists meet with various faculties and learn about their science, have lunch with students, and have a relaxing dinner with colleagues. These venues also provide opportunities to see old friends and make new ones. Sharing meals or a beer provides a venue for discussions of scientific nuances, new projects, collaborations, wild ideas, philosophy, and perhaps some gossip. Scientists come back energized from a good seminar trip or scientific meeting and usually bring back at least one new experimental idea or view of a problem that can significantly advance their research. Study Leave and/or Sabbaticals are another “perk” of a scientist /or an academic professorship, one that is found in very few other jobs (my friends in the other professions are envious of such an opportunity). I, myself have taken a year-long study leave in the year 2015 to spent valuable one year at the University of London. During that year, I worked in the eminent scientist Wolfgang Maret’s laboratory on an Internationally recognized and highly competitive exciting project, visited as many as places as possible around Europe. This endeavour was fantastic scientific opportunities and great “life” experiences. This type of trip fulfilled the intended purpose of generating new ideas and taking on new initiatives and also seeded life-long friendships with many people from the different walk of the life and led to new and deeper appreciations of different parts of the world.
6. A Social and “Youthful” Job: Many people imagine the “stereotypic scientist” as someone who performs experiments alone in the lab, deep in thought and surrounded by racks of test tubes. These are untrue! Academic science is a very social endeavour. A good research laboratory not only produces results but also functions as social glue, a second family. It is a nucleus for coffee breaks, birthday celebrations, parties, ski trips, picnics, bike trips, and a whole host of other social interactions. A lab is a setting of close friendships and collegiality; this work environment has little or no hierarchy. It is a place where students, postdocs, and technicians cheer for each other’s success and help one another to accomplish their experimental goals.

There are many more other reasons for to love a scientist job. Whatever the reasons if we are young and feel passion for science and technology and enjoy what we are doing, we can filter out some of the pessimism that we heard about scientist job and try not to stress out about the future, then a career as a scientist is a wonderful job which represent continual challenges for learning and opportunities for self-improvement. As George Bailey discovers in It’s a Wonderful Life, there are happy endings and there will be one for us. And also being a student at heart, it is irresistibly appealing to have this job that involves being part of a life-long “school”. We too can play a role in shaping our world to become a better place.

The above is some of the general aspect and nature of the “Life as a Scientist” about whom most of us especially common people have very few ideas and information. Being in the profession of academic scientist, it has been my long desire to disseminate this information to those young and emerging students and also to those parents of our region/or Manipur State at large who generally does not consider “Scientist” as a prospective future career avenue. As we all know that young students should also be given freedom to choose a career of their choice as per their capabilities and genuine interests and one should not force them to choose a field which they don’t have keen interest just for the sake of social recognition and influences or parents desire to do so. With this article, I am not trying to undermine other professions and career options. My intention is only to disseminate this message using “Scientist Job” as an example that in this globalised world we have many more career options/opportunities besides what we commonly known before and time has come for all of us including the parents of those young students to expand and broaden their horizon and the way of thinking so that our next generation could avail such wonderful opportunities as per their interest and capabilities. Moreover, it is also a must duty for elders to place in front of young children ample of options provided we are ready and update ourselves for any queries from them. Only then, they can lead a peaceful and satisfying life by venturing into a job what they really enjoy doing. And above them all, it is also always desirable to groom them from the early stages of their life for the things they want to pursue in the later part of their life.

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