• Question: Why do you think your work is better than others?

    Asked by VladimirT to Ceri, Marikka, Matt, Rob, Sally on 7 Nov 2014.
    • Photo: Sally Cutler

      Sally Cutler answered on 7 Nov 2014:

      Hi, determining what better actually means is not clear. Sometimes really simple science can have huge benefit to people whilst very complex experiments may have no applied value, so which is best? The great thing about science is that you don’t know the answer (nor do others), so by asking the right questions, you can gain deeper understanding of the topic (and you might also get another set of questions you need to answer)! Work of others may support your work or disagree with it, in which case you need to think why? It does not really mean that their work is better, but more likely they looked at things in a slightly different way.

    • Photo: Ceri Dare

      Ceri Dare answered on 7 Nov 2014:

      I don’t! I work as part of a team. Some people in my team are medical doctors, some are biomedical scientists who work in labs growing bacteria, some help collect and organise patient records so we can get information out of them. We are all good at different things, and help each other out so as a team we do the best we can.

      There are a lot of things I still need to learn about – a few months ago I went to Spain for a week to learn about a new way of using maths to track superbugs. I want to get better at what I do, and I learn new things all the time.

      I don’t need to be the best scientist in the world, or even the best person at using maths to track superbugs, to make a difference. Resistance to antibiotics is a HUGE big problem, and there are lots of scientists who work on different parts of it. So hopefully my bit of thinking can join up with some other people’s thinking, and we will solve part of the problem together.

    • Photo: Robert Hampson

      Robert Hampson answered on 7 Nov 2014:

      In terms of science, you don’t really know whether your work will be amazing or slightly naff until you’ve actually finished the experiments and discovered something. If my work comes out the way I hope in my best dreams then it would cure MRSA and potentially help thousands of very ill people with few treatment options. If it doesn’t work, then at least we’ve discovered some more stuff and someone after me may make a better discovery.

      I prefer doing science to other forms of work because it lasts. When I discover knew knowledge, it can last for a very very long time. If I make a table, it may only last for 20 years even if it is a really good table. If make a house, it may only last for 100 years even if it is a really good house. If I discover something new that no one knew before, I can tell everyone and people will probably still have this knowledge in 1000 years time.

      Also, when I discover something new it can be multiplied. If I make a table I sell it to someone, then I no longer have the table. If I discover something new and I tell you, I still know what I discovered but know you also know. So now two of us know about it! Knowledge is not limited or lost but multiplied. That’s so cool!

    • Photo: Marikka Beecroft

      Marikka Beecroft answered on 10 Nov 2014:

      No to be honest it’s really hard to compare your work against others, even in a group that work in the same subject you. It’s all relevant and what you are trying to find out are things that are useful in your field of work.

    • Photo: Matt Bilton

      Matt Bilton answered on 10 Nov 2014:

      Sometimes we ask a research question which is the same as another scientist but we get different results. Then it is really important to decide if you think your work is better, or in fact, worse. There are many reasons why you might decide your work is better, or not – often due to the techniques you’ve used to answer the research question (and whether you’ve used them 100% correctly) as well as whether you have designed the experiment as well as you should have!

      In my line of research, the types of cells you use often count as to why you think your work is better – if you are looking at white blood cells in a test tube, it is easier to use cancerous cell lines because they survive in the lab better – but maybe it is more real to use fresh cells directly from the blood of a donor, even if they are harder to do experiments with. Sometimes we have to make compromises in terms of what is possible, but all scientists will be thinking about how to make their work better than others in this sort of way.

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