• Question: Is the work you’ve done beneficial?

    Asked by anon-40695 on 11 Nov 2022.
    • Photo: Vincent Monchal

      Vincent Monchal answered on 11 Nov 2022:


      Yes in a certain extent, I have discovered a new event in Ireland that have affected faults all over the country using a new method. It will have a big impact on geology field of research and and small impact on the general public.
      As a scientist you don’t really look for personal glory or ask yourself if it have a massive impact on the general population. Doing science is like building a wall and every scientist bring a little brick to the wall, the work you are doing might not be visible in the middle of others, but all the little bricks need they neighbors to stay in place and not fall.
      Maybe my personal work doesn’t impact massively the general public for now but maybe in 50 years someone else will base his/her work on mine and find something that will benefit everybody.

    • Photo: Siobhán O'Flaherty

      Siobhán O'Flaherty answered on 12 Nov 2022:


      Well anything I do is beneficial to me as I am learning constantly, even the mistakes I make.
      But I’ve had no breakthroughs beneficial to society directly and not all researchers will ever be lucky enough for this.

    • Photo: Vanessa Rodrigues

      Vanessa Rodrigues answered on 12 Nov 2022:


      Yes, of course. Any research project has to prove its worth before it is started. It could be about how unique it is or its impact within the institute it is studied and whether it is useful to society. I had to prove these too. In addition to these, at the end of the PhD project, it opened up opportunities for more projects to be continued. I contributed to one pixel of a very big picture.

      We publish these findings in journals and other scientists around the world then also get to use this work’s idea to forward their own.

    • Photo: Ingmar Schoen

      Ingmar Schoen answered on 14 Nov 2022:


      Beneficial to whom?
      To other scientists: yes, I have developed some methods which are now being used by other labs.
      To my team members and to my students: some of them have continued a career in science, and I hope that my enthusiasm and support has contributed to their decision, and that this life makes them happy.
      To mankind and society: probably only marginally.

    • Photo: Ciara Buckley

      Ciara Buckley answered on 1 Dec 2022:


      Yes and no. My work is beneficial to other scientists in my area, as it furthers the knowledge in the area. However- will we see my research be used in everyday life anytime soon? Probably not.

    • Photo: Anna Desmond

      Anna Desmond answered on 1 Dec 2022:


      Yes, I benefit from my work by learning everyday. My work is beneficial to other scientists as it furthers more research in the area.

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