• Question: What qualifications do you need to become a scientist?

    Asked by 837cars46 on 21 Sep 2016. This question was also asked by Eren, Scarce.
    • Photo: Hayley Moulding

      Hayley Moulding answered on 21 Sep 2016:

      I have GCSE’s, A Levels which include Biology and Chemistry, and then I went on to University to do a degree for 4 years in Biochemistry. If you wanted to do a PhD like what I am doing, you would have to do a degree beforehand. So you would go to University twice!

    • Photo: Rebecca Lacey

      Rebecca Lacey answered on 21 Sep 2016:

      I have GCSEs, A-levels, an undergraduate degree, a Masters degree and a PhD. My Alevels were in Biology, Chemistry, Maths and Music. It sounds like a lot of time at university but it’s great fun!

    • Photo: Katie Mahon

      Katie Mahon answered on 21 Sep 2016:

      My friend did a general Science Bachelors degree in university (after finishing school) and now works in a lab for Guinness! It depends what level you want to work at, for a science research position you would probably need to spend more time in college.

    • Photo: Marianne Baker

      Marianne Baker answered on 21 Sep 2016:

      In the UK you’ll need GCSEs A-C to get you onto an undergraduate programme at university that interests you, then get at least a 2:i in that. A lot of people go and do a Master’s degree next… I didn’t because my PhD included a “rotation year” at the start where I worked in 3 different labs. Some funding bodies still run these, I think – but it depends on your field!

      Then you could do a PhD, or possibly work in a lab as a research assistant. I think most people who plan to be in science long-term will do a PhD. It can be hard to find your next job without it. But only go for that if it’s what you want to do; it’s hard work!

    • Photo: Melanie Zimmer

      Melanie Zimmer answered on 21 Sep 2016:

      Hi 837cars46,

      I went to school in Germany, so I can’t really say anything about GCSEs and A-levels. However, my examined subjects were German, English, Maths and Arts, my other major was French and my minors were Biology, Physics, History/Geography and Religion (luckily for me, Sports didn’t count).

      I then studied Maths for 3.5 years (actually 4 years as I changed university after my 1st semester) to get my Bachelor of Science. This was then followed by a Master of Science in Software Technology for another 2 years (normally 1.5 years, but I did an additional semester abroad in Switzerland).

      After my studies (more precisely in March 2015), I started working for HSSMI after doing my Master thesis here for 6 months. Since September last year I’m also doing a PhD in cooperation with HSSMI and Loughborough University, which will be another 4 years.

      Long story short: I think it depends where you want to work in the end – some of my friends work in research with a Bachelor’s degree, others needed a Master’s degree and another friend of mine was advised by her company to do a PhD in order to have more opportunities for promotion. I’m doing a PhD because it gives you a chance to become an expert in a particular field and I like learning new things. 🙂

      Melanie

    • Photo: Joanna Bagniewska

      Joanna Bagniewska answered on 21 Sep 2016:

      I think it varies on the field. I did an International Baccalaureate, which is the equivalent of A-levels, with Polish, English, Maths, Biology, Modern History and Visual Arts – so that was pretty diverse! I then went on to get an undergraduate degree, then a Master’s, and finally a doctorate – and now I’m a fully qualified zoologist. Having said that, I know quite a few zoologists who never went to university – they decided to learn things by doing them; they did a lot of volunteering, they signed up for courses such as animal handling, using camera traps or insect identification, as well as gaining other skills such as using the scientific method, programming or mathematics – and they gained the necessary knowledge themselves. Their career paths are slightly different than mine, but they still get to work in science.

    • Photo: Rebecca Dewey

      Rebecca Dewey answered on 21 Sep 2016:

      I did GCSEs – just the standard ones that my school offered – nothing special. You might need to get a certain minimum level (like 5 A*-Cs or something) in order to carry on at AS level. Also, it makes sense to get a good grade in English language – I’m occasionally still asked for my highest qualification in English language, and as I haven’t done any since GCSE, then I have to give that!

      Then I did AS levels in Chemistry, Physics, Maths and Further Maths. My school only allowed you to do three A-levels and so I dropped Chemistry (I was quite pleased to!!) after year 12. This has never been a problem.

      Then you will need to go to university and do an undergraduate degree. I did a 4-year undergraduate masters (which I recommend as I did more lab/research skills and did not need to submit a dissertation), but you can do a 3-year undergraduate bachelors instead.

      Then, depending on how specialist your subject area is, or how you did at undergraduate level, you might consider doing a 1-year postgraduate masters. However, many people go straight from their masters to a PhD.

      Then, if you want to, you can do a PhD. This is just like doing a research job for 3 years with some extra training aspects built in. You get paid and you don’t have any exams. Then you get to put the letters “PhD” after your name, call yourself “Dr” and can apply for a whole range of other jobs.

    • Photo: Evan Keane

      Evan Keane answered on 22 Sep 2016:

      I don’t have any GCSEs or A Levels as I didn’t go to school in the UK, but I have the equivalent qualifications from Ireland. I also have a degree, a masters and a PhD. To be a scientist you will definitely need GCSEs and A Levels in the scientific subjects you want to work in – if you want to be work in pharmaceuticals you should probably do chemistry and biology, if you want to work in supercomputing you should do physics and maths, etc.

      You probably have to do a degree to get a science job. You don’t need to do the masters and PhD that I did unless you want a very particular career path. A science degree will allow you to do most STEM jobs.

    • Photo: Ian Hands-Portman

      Ian Hands-Portman answered on 23 Sep 2016:

      You can be a scientist without it being your actual job – take a look at some of the brilliant Citizen Science stuff people are doing these days – but if you want to do it for a living you really need to do a degree.

      What subject your degree is actually in is becoming less important these days – I work with a group of engineers that spend most of their time looking at human brain under the microscope, chemists that grow cells in petri dishes and mathematicians that study cancer in hospital laboratories. Pick a subject you really enjoy – you’ll be studying it for three or four years at least.

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