Are you a budding young scientist eager to change the world or a professional scientist eager to improve your position? Either way, there are some key steps to being a good scientist and cultivating your skills to make a positive contribution to the scientific community and potentially the world as a whole.
Steps
Part 1 of 2: Understanding the Qualities of a Good Scientist
Step 1. Love science and scientific research
This is perhaps the most important step, since the love of science will be the motivation to study, learn and develop ideas with passion and curiosity.
- Regardless of your profession, you can only claim to be competent in your work if you return home at the end of the day with a sense of satisfaction for the work done and the feeling of having contributed to something great.
- If you love science and research, you are already one step closer to becoming a good scientist, because it is always better to be yourself and work in a context that we find enjoyable and fascinating.
Step 2. Experiment with new ideas
An important scientific breakthrough is the result of hard work and a stroke of luck or, to put it simply, of pure chance. From Fleming's discovery of penicillin to new ionization techniques such as MALDI, luck has always played an important role in scientific discovery. Therefore, don't be afraid to get busy and engineer yourself with new ideas or new approaches to existing theories. You never know when experimentation and luck will meet to make an important discovery.
- Often the great discoveries arise from the observation of a singular or contradictory behavior in a phenomenon and therefore from the in-depth study of the causes of this event. Avoid developing ingenuity by conducting experiments the way you think they should be done; rather, go in search of the exception or a new approach to the problem.
- Make the most of random events or happenings you are exposed to and don't ignore small inconsistencies in your work. Rather, consider and analyze them thoroughly to find out where the unexpected can lead.
Step 3. Have patience and attention to detail
Hardly any scientific breakthroughs happen by chance. In fact, as a scientist, you have to be patient and go through years of hard work, ready to run one experiment after another to prove your theory and verify your results.
It is also important to consider small observations and record them on time. Categorizing and analyzing data is an important part of a scientist's job, so make sure you do these things correctly and efficiently
Step 4. Be open-minded by considering all facts and assumptions
A good scientist accepts any result given by his work and does not attempt to force the outcome of an experiment just to confirm predetermined opinions or theories. It is also vital to keep in mind facts and assumptions derived from the work of other scientists as a resource for the results of your own experiments.
A good scientist has an ethical responsibility and does not give false results or hide an experiment to achieve the expected result. A good scientist should be open to the solutions given by others in their scientific field, even when they conflict with their own theories
Step 5. Be prepared to fail
The common image of the scientist is that of a brilliant person, skilled in mathematics and incredibly rigorous, yet one of the fundamental qualities of the scientist is precisely the ability to accept defeat.
- In today's scientific world, with scarce financial resources and few competitions for stable, income-earning jobs, young scientists are more likely to be rejected than accepted early in their careers. It is important to be prepared for your own experiments to fail and to devote time to research without obtaining funding or arriving at precise results.
- Apparently wasted time on a theory may turn out to be time well spent in the future. Through failure, you can build a solid work ethic, develop a creative approach to scientific study, and prepare for the moment when you will finally succeed.
Part 2 of 2: Developing your Scientific Skills
Step 1. Take responsibility for your ideas
Challenge yourself to develop an idea per day related to your project. Some ideas may not be as good or useful as others, but many will be and will lead you to a new experiment or new theory.
Don't be passive or shy when it comes to your ideas. As a scientist working in a competitive environment, you need to build your opportunities by recognizing the value of your ideas and putting a lot of effort into developing them
Step 2. Set goals
Grab a pen and paper or open a Word file on your computer and draw up a list of objectives related to the project you are conducting research and experiments on.
- Organize your goals in order of importance. Despite the temptation to go off on a tangent or deviate from your list of goals (which is also part of the exploratory nature of scientific discovery), try to focus on the experiments that will get you closer to achieving your goals.
- As with any profession, a day is made up of only 24 hours, so plan your time well to achieve the goals you have set for yourself. This will help you develop your time management skills by using it efficiently and effectively.
Step 3. Engage in solid collaborations and partnerships
You have to dispel the myth of the lone genius who works hard on secret experiments and look around in the laboratory, department or in your specific sector to identify the person you would like to work with and learn from. You are more likely to work better if you collaborate with someone else or seek the advice of a more experienced person.
- In the scientific world, you will be expected to be able to work well both alone and within a team, so good attitudes to participation and communication will certainly help you progress in your career and succeed.
- Examine your projects by identifying the aspects that you cannot dedicate yourself to due to lack of time or because you are not yet sufficiently experienced and be willing to collaborate with someone to get the job going.
- Building strong partnerships with other colleagues, your peers and industry professionals will not only bring mutual benefits, it will also help you maintain humility and keep your project or ideas in perspective by sharing them with other people.
Step 4. Practice your writing and reading skills
Determine the conditions in which you can work well, such as a quiet and peaceful place or while listening to classical music that favors your concentration and always research them. Try to write a little every day and write down ideas and thoughts so that you get used to recording them. In the future, they may turn into a publication or lecture on your latest scientific theory.
It is also important to read up on the work done in your scientific field, both in specialized and more general scientific journals. Stay up to date on current science topics and think about how to deepen the work of others in your field
Step 5. Develop exposure skills
Avoid dry and boring speeches full of complex data and try to tell a story that is personal and at the same time useful and full of information.
- A good technique is to start by discussing why you are doing the research, then go into detail by talking about initial uncertainties and failures to finish with a powerful conclusion that will allow the audience to reflect on the theory or topic being treated by looking at them from a perspective. different perspective.
- Try using the "assertion / evidence" paradigm, where on the slide you assign a title that expresses your main concept and then use a visual medium (graphic, image or figure) to support it.
- A good scientist should be able to explain scientific ideas to a person who is not a scientist. Therefore, always evaluate your audience and try to demonstrate the enthusiasm you place in your field of study without being too complicated or difficult to understand.
Step 6. Maintain the right balance between hard work and rest
While hard work is essential to being a good scientist, it is important to strike a balance between work and leisure.
- It might be tempting to spend 20 hours a day in a lab developing your ideas, but sometimes the best ideas come when the mind is at rest or engaged in other activities that challenge the brain in a different way.
- Spending time on a hobby or activity outside of scientific work will allow you to eliminate stress and perhaps help you see a theory or thought you are working on and trying to solve from a different perspective.
