• Question: What inspired you to research that specific subject?

    Asked by macncheese to Sarah, Nicola, Jessica, James, Ivan on 13 Nov 2013.
    • Photo: Sarah Tesh

      Sarah Tesh answered on 13 Nov 2013:

      I really enjoy it when science can be used to research something that isn’t obviously linked and has a clear future application. So using science to create a material that can clean water and could possibly be used world wide within the next 10 years was really appealing. I also love the fact that this research could help people. It’s good motivation!

    • Photo: Ivan Campeotto

      Ivan Campeotto answered on 14 Nov 2013:

      I chose protein crystallography, because with this technique thanks to the usage of powerful X-rays I can observe in the atomic details extremely small molecules and understand their function and how a medicine for instance would bind to them. It is cool!

    • Photo: Jessica Liley

      Jessica Liley answered on 14 Nov 2013:

      I chose to my research because I wanted a project with a real-world application, and I have always really cared about nature and the environment. It’s inspiring to think our research might help make products like laundry powder that we all use every day more environmentally-friendly and less toxic. I was really keen to start working on it. Being able to help make a difference to our environment definitely helps me get out of bed on time for work!

    • Photo: James King

      James King answered on 14 Nov 2013:

      The biggest inspiration for my particular subject was a combination of my teachers/mentors and my eagerness to solve problems. I have always liked to solve problems of any type and what I liked about Science as a subject was that there were many problems yet to be solved! My teachers in school and at University inspired me to look at problems that were global and although remote they had implications for other people. This is what got me into the Geosciences – the rest has been just from following ideas and interests along the way!

    • Photo: Nicola Potts

      Nicola Potts answered on 14 Nov 2013:

      I really wanted to combine geology with chemistry – and have always been interested in volcanoes.

      When I finished my masters looking at the very small scale chemistry in magma chambers (the plumbing beneath volcanoes) I knew I wanted to do something similar.

      Not satisfied with studying volcanoes on the Earth, and always having been slightly obsessed with the Moon I moved onto looking at volcanoes on the Moon.

      Now I don’t think I’d ever look back!

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