what qualifications do you need? – Stem Cell Research Zone

Question: what qualifications do you need?
- Keywords:
  qualification
Asked by deco to Emma, James, Jayne, Kara, Sharon on 15 Mar 2011 in Categories: Scientist.
- Sharon Sneddon answered on 14 Mar 2011:
  
  Hi Deco,
  
  I have 8 standard grades, which are the scottish version of GCSE’s in Maths, english, chemistry, biology, physics, french, german and history.
  I then went on to study for highers (a-levels) in maths english chemistry biology and physics. Then I went to university, the first time for 4 years to do a degree in Developmental Biology, and then the second time for 3 years to do a PhD in reproductive medicine. Was quite a lot of studying but I enjoyed it!
  
  For some scientific careers you need lots of qualifications, like a-levels, degrees and a PhD, but for others, you dont need as many, as you may be able to do on the job training. However, for most jobs you will need good GCSE’s in a wide range of subjects, including science, maths and english.
  
  Your school careers service should have lots of information about specific qualifications for specific jobs, but if you have any other questions about jobs or qualifications then just let us know!
- Jayne Charnock answered on 15 Mar 2011:
  
  Hi deco
  
  Great question, it can seem really confusing. Basically it depends what job you want to do- like all jobs there are different ‘levels’, from the people that make up solutions for the lab, look after animals or sterilise our equiptment, to the people that run experiments day-to-day, to people who run certain facilities (e.g. the microscopes or gene sequencing departments), to research managers who run the show, to Prinicple Investigators or Lab Heads who are the most senior scientists.
  
  A good place to start is good GCSES in science, followed by A-levels or equivalent in a science. In other countries they have alot of apprenticeships for people straight out of school but im not sure of the process here. Certainly there are lab technician jobs for people with college qualifications. After that, getting a degree and some experience working in a lab will help and those people useually become technicians or research assistants. To progress more quickly and further up the scale it is usual for someone with a good degree result to do a PhD (a 3 year research project) and they are thenon the path to becoming a more senior researcher.
  
  Where are you up to in school- are you thinking of a career in science? Feel free to ask any further questions about this as its a complicated topic!
- James Chan answered on 15 Mar 2011:
  
  If you’re interested in science and are thinking about studying it in college/university, you’ll need to show that you are enthusiastic about science subjects.
  So obviously, if you want to go into medical sciences like I did, biology and chemistry GCSEs and A-levels would be useful.
  At university, an undergraduate science degree (a Batchelor of Science or BSc) is typically 3 years long, and if you really enjoy science and want to start doing research seriously after that, you might do a Masters (MSc, typically 1-2 years) or a Doctorate (PhD, typically 3 years) – I know it seems like a long time as a student, but being a student is great fun and you also get paid as a PhD student!
  
  If you do not want to continue with science, that’s also fine, because the great thing with having a science background is that it really trains you how to think logically and this is a skill that most employers will be salivating over! Many of my friends who did science ended up being bankers, engineers, business people, accountants, doctors, teachers, company directors, so the world is your oyster.
  
  If you decide to do some real research, the great thing is that you’ll be at the absolute cutting edge of science where you’ll be doing stuff that nobody else in the world would know about and then it’s a race to see who solves the puzzle first!
  
  I studied Medicine first myself, and for that, you need to have A-level chemistry. It’s a 5-6 year degree – a lot of it include sciences like anatomy and physiology, and then you learn to apply that science to people. I enjoyed it loads because it seems relevant and direct. I have now taken 3 years out from working in the hospital to do research on stem cells as it is relevant to the kind of surgery I do and I hope to be able to apply my research to my patients. It’s hard work, but fun, to try and do a bit of both! When you are enjoying what you do, though, work becomes fun.
- Emma King answered on 15 Mar 2011:
  
  Hi Deco. I think the others answered this really well so I will just tell you my background. I have a degree in Genetics and two masters degrees – in Social Research and in Science and Technology Studies. And now I’m working on my PhD.
  But that’s only because I do something a bit different to the others – the most important thing you will need to be a scientist is your undergraduate degree.
  I also have 10.5 GCSE’s, 4AS level and 3A2 Levels – in Biology, Chemistry and Maths

Question: what qualifications do you need?

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