Beyond science: The multifaceted role of scientists

It is hard for a person outside our field to really know what it is like to be a full-time scientist. I imagine they think we spend our days reading papers, doing experiments in the lab, running simulations, and coming up with new theories. While we certainly do these things, our day-to-day work requires a broader set of skills that are not typically taught in our graduate programs and that have nothing to do with our chosen careers. Here are some of the activities we do, some that involve science, and others that have nothing to do with science:

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Analytical thinking

OK, this is directly related to a scientific career, but I have to start with the basics. We cannot get very far without analytical thinking. Aside from literally analyzing data, we have to analyze every variable we consider when we have to set up a simulation, start a new experiment, or calculate something. We are trained to ask what can and cannot happen, whether something makes sense or not, and we must always look at things with humility. This means that we have to avoid being biased, and we always try to look at everything with a critical eye.

Programming

It depends on the field, but we do a lot of programming to analyze our data, and those who specialize in simulating physical (or other) phenomena are usually very good at coding. In my personal experience, I have run simulations for months, I have worked with 5 different programming languages, and I work with code every day.

Data science

This could be in the second point, but nowadays data science is a very hot topic. Some of us work with very large amounts of data, and we use statistics and different methods to analyze our data, including AI and ML before ChatGPT became vogue!

Project Management

Our PhD is a perfect example. We have to deliver our project within a certain deadline, we have to make it work, and we have to manage several tasks at the same time. When we form our research groups, we have to manage them and the different projects of the group. We do a lot of

• Organizing

• Prioritizing (we have lots of deadlines!)

• Planning and executing

• Write proposals

Stress Management

In my opinion, we live in a constant state of stress. This is because, contrary to popular belief, we tend to be wrong most of the time. We are used to getting new results that we don't understand, and we rack our brains to find an explanation. This is one source of stress. Another is the amount of deadlines we have. We have deadlines for several congresses a year (first deadline, abstract. Second deadline, the date of our talk!), to review a paper, to prepare a talk, to meet with people, to finish our PhD or contract, and so on. We are constantly working under time pressure, and this can be very stressful.

Resilience

Scientists get rejected a lot. It is rare for a paper to be published on submission, and that means we have to convince our reviewers that our paper is worth publishing. We may also not get certain positions or grants, and for some of us our salary depends on it. Things usually don't work out, and we still have to be highly functional and keep working despite being stressed or unmotivated.

Supervision

At some point, we begin to supervise and mentor students, graduate students, and postdocs. This involves keeping up to date with them, dealing with their personal and professional problems, helping them, and of course teaching them and passing on our knowledge.

Communication

We rarely work alone. We usually have to communicate with our bosses, other research groups, and people from other disciplines. This is easier said than done, as there may be terms that are said differently depending on the discipline.

Good communication is also crucial to publish good papers and to communicate your scientific results.

Talking with suppliers

For experimentalists, it is often necessary to purchase new materials for our experiments. To do that, we have to contact different suppliers and manufacturers who are experts in instrumentation or whatever it is that you need. In this process, we need to communicate very clearly what we want to measure, how we want to do it, and what we want. We may also have to ask for discounts or negotiate prices; that has been a learning curve for me!

Sometimes we are responsible for placing the order and tracking the delivery, which can also be a bit of a burden.

Public speaking

One of the spirits of good open science practice is to present our results to the community. This involves going to conferences, giving talks at seminars, and sometimes communicating to a general audience. We usually have to do this within a certain time frame, so we need to make our talks as efficient as possible and get our points across. We may also be communicating to young students or the general public, so we have to think about how to present our findings and research so that the target audience understands it.

Networking

This is a crucial part of scientific practice. Since science has no borders, there are probably researchers in different parts of the world who are doing the same thing as you. That means we may need to start a collaboration, but to do that we need to know who's who, and that can't be done without networking. Congresses and word of mouth are great for networking, and because some communities are so small, everyone knows everyone!

Writing proposals for funding

Every scientist will sooner or later have to apply for a research grant or some kind of funding for a project. This means that we become skilled at writing proposals and trying to "sell" them to the institution or person we are asking for money. We learn how to emphasize the importance of our project and how to convince people to give us money.

Bureaucratic paperwork

Unfortunately, most of us don't have private secretaries. This means that we have to do a lot of paperwork. This may seem trivial, but it is not. Imagine that you want to import something from another country for your experiment: this means that we need to know the import/export rules of our country. Or if we want to hire someone from another country, we need to know their visa requirements, and so on. Even though we usually get help from lawyers, we still need to know the basics and may even need to attend workshops on these topics.

Peer Review

Normally, when a paper is published in a peer-reviewed journal, this means that the article is sent to a few (usually anonymous) reviewers. These reviewers have to read your paper and give you feedback. Many of us do this job, which can be quite time-consuming, and we become editors and critics.

Organize events

Many of us have to organize conferences (both large and small), and this includes setting up the program, talking to caterers, coordinating the talks, making sure everything runs smoothly, and dealing with unforeseen situations.

Language skills

Most of us don't come from English-speaking countries, yet we need to work and communicate in English. If we are doing research in a country where neither our native language nor English is spoken, we will probably need to learn a third language. This means that we usually speak at least two languages, and we need to be proficient in English.

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I hope this gives everyone a more general idea of how scientists work!

I would like to emphasize that this is my own experience, which is ever-evolving, and please keep in mind that this is a subjective view of what being a scientist is. If you are a fellow scientist, feel free to add more skills, and if you are not, I am interested in knowing if you have a clearer picture of what our day-to-day work is like.

Florence