how hard do you have to train to become a scientist?

Question: how hard do you have to train to become a scientist?
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Asked by cohare12 to Dilwar, Lou, Rachel, Simon, Susan on 12 Nov 2013. This question was also asked by epicduckofepicness, alice13, truehackz, lshepherd12, varsha, 12geshao.
- Simon Langley-Evans answered on 12 Nov 2013:
  
  That depends what you want to do in science. I have chosen a path that means I had to get lots of qualifications and degrees but not everybody needs to do that. Your first target has to be to get really good GCSE results in science, maths and English (yes! scientists have to communicate and so need good writing and speaking skills). You could then get into science and engineering by doing apprenticeships that lead to qualifications that are very practical. Or you could stay on and do A levels that will get you into university to study science and then get a job.
  
  You do have to work hard to train to be a scientist, but that is true of any job. Whether you are a scientist, engineer, teacher, artist, actor, musician, historian or builder, you will have to work hard to learn the skills to do the job. Nobody will pay you for doing nothing! Whatever you choose to do with life my advice is to pick something you love and to commit to it 100%, taking on any challenge, hard work or test that you need to get there. Don’t be afraid to take on the hard work and never, ever let anyone tell you that you aren’t good enough.
- Susan Skelton answered on 13 Nov 2013:
  
  You have to train pretty hard to be a scientist, but you also have to for lots of interesting jobs! I always enjoyed science, even during my training – if I didn’t, I wouldn’t have done it! I think it’s really important to do what you love: if you enjoy it, you will want to work hard and be good at it!
  
  There are a few routes to a science career, but the most common ones involves going to university and studying a science subject.
  
  The first step is to get good GCSE results in science subjects, and a few others. Useful subjects to choose are as many sciences (biology, chemistry, physics) as possible, maths, english, and computing. Then you will need good A level results in some of these subjects.
  
  If you want to become a researcher, you will need a university degree in science (about 3 or 4 years), and then if you want to work in a university, you might want to study for a PhD (another 3 or 4 years, but you often get paid to do this as you are already doing research). This is a degree that teaches you how to do research. If you don’t want to work for a university, there are lots of interesting jobs doing research for different types of companies.
- Louise Brown answered on 13 Nov 2013:
  
  If you love something, it never feels like hard work (apparently). I love science, but sometimes it is still hard work. I struggled a bit at A level, and went to extra lessons. I found my degree easier than A levels, I think it’s just the style of teaching and tests. I am still training now doing my PhD and that is very hard work with very long hours. It has its ups and downs but as long as there are ups, it is worth the moments of down!
  
  I have a friend who is an engineer and fixes aeroplanes for Virgin. He joined them as an apprentice when he was 16 and has been doing exams ever since and learning on the job. I sometimes wish I had done something like that as it sounds so cool!!! But I do love the lab and my cells.
- Rachel Dakin answered on 13 Nov 2013:
  
  I agree with everyone else; you train hard but it’s the same for many jobs. What I think is good (and sometimes bad!) about science is that you can still be training years in to the job. We discover new things as researchers which might change the kind of experiments you need to do. Also as technology advances there are new ways of doing things. So even if you’ve been a scientist for 20years you will be learning new things from other people.
  Many people get bored if they don’t have a challenge every now and again so science definitely offers it.

Question: how hard do you have to train to become a scientist?

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