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Question: What has your biggest achievement as a scientist so far
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Asked by anon-252550 to William, Melissa, Melanie, Ella, Annabel on 5 May 2020. This question was also asked by anon-252820.Question: What has your biggest achievement as a scientist so far
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Shaline commented on :
Great question ๐ To date, I would have to say that my biggest scientific achievement was during my PhD, where I characterised a new transgenic model where you could over-express the transcription factor c-Jun in Schwann cells and look at how this affects peripheral nerve regeneration after injury. It provided a new novel tool for studying other aspects of peripheral nerve injury which are currently being looked at.
Kelly commented on :
In a weird way, I think my biggest achievement as a scientist so far has been learning how to fail! In elementary and high school, I put a lot of pressure on myself to get perfect grades, but science is about thinking outside of the box and trying new things. Failure is a natural part of this and is totally okay! Pro tip: make sure to catch the mistakes before sharing your results with others ๐
Another big achievement for me has been learning how to ask questions. The first step in scientific research is to understand what is known about a topic by reading studies that have been reviewed by other experts (peer-reviewed). What is not yet known about a topic is called the โresearch gap.โ Then, we design and carry out studies to fill this gap and contribute new knowledge to the field. For most of my education (elementary school through Masters), my teachers told me what the questions were. It was only during my PhD that I was able to bridge the gap between the literature and what is not known to ask my own research questions.