• Question: do you ever find it frustrating to explain what your work is about to people who dont understand?

    Asked by pippaisginger to David, Rebecca, Simon, Verity, Wei on 15 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Wei Xun

      Wei Xun answered on 13 Jun 2011:

      Hello!

      Not really, because if they don’t understand it, then I’m not explaining it right!

      It’s different to explaining to people who have already made up their mind beforehand, and they won’t listen to you at all, that’s frustrating.

    • Photo: Rebecca Handley

      Rebecca Handley answered on 13 Jun 2011:

      Only to my family!! I’m sure I’ve explained what I do to them a million times and they still aren’t really sure what it is I do! They know I’m training to be a doctor, but my mum sometimes thinks it is a medical doctor (I’m training to be a doctor who researches science) and then she comes to me with medical problems…which is funny as I have no idea how to treat them!!
      But I often spend weekends working in the local museum teaching people about my research

    • Photo: David Armstrong

      David Armstrong answered on 13 Jun 2011:

      Not really – I love telling people about my work. As a scientist it is very important I can explain to non-scientists what I do and why it is important. If they don’t understand it first time then I will try to explain it in a different way. Materials science is important in everyone’s lives so its not too hard to get people interested – usually!

    • Photo: Verity Nye

      Verity Nye answered on 15 Jun 2011:

      Sometimes but normally it’s because I’m frustrated with myself for not explaining something very well or because it’s hard to explain. It’s great to be asked about my work because I love it and it makes me think about what I do in a different way.

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