At what stage of your learning did you decide what you wanted to specialise in and what decided it? – Chemistry Zone

Question: At what stage of your learning did you decide what you wanted to specialise in and what decided it?
- Keywords:
  career
Asked by anon-257796 on 24 Jun 2020.
- Fred Mosselmans answered on 24 Jun 2020:
  
  i guess at two points, i went to a university where I did a first year with courses in physics and chemistry and had to choose one for the second year. I chose Chemistry as II found Physics at University really tough. Then during my second degree (PhD) i used the technique of X-ray spectroscopy to investigate the catalysts i was trying to make. The X-ray spectroscopy technique was pretty new back then, and I became interested in trying to understand what it could and could not tell you about samples. Testing some of the theoretical models that were state of the art at the time. Though i didn’t know it at the time this became my speciality.
  
  A few years later i managed to get a job where X-ray spectroscopy was the major research technique to be used and on the back of that obtained a job at a facility doing/supporting experiments using the technique.
- Ruth Patchett answered on 24 Jun 2020:
  
  I seem to be making this decision and changing it all of the time. After my A-levels I was torn between studying English and Chemistry at University. It was actually a really tough choice but eventually I decided to study chemistry and did a year in industry because I simply couldn’t imagine not knowing more. I then decided I wanted to work in industry after I finished so did a PhD so I could do this. Part way through my PhD I changed my mind and now I work in Chemical Education.
- Paul Girvan answered on 24 Jun 2020:
  
  Super interesting question! For me it was at A-level, when I chose to study chemistry at university. I chose chemistry because I was most interested in that subject. Part way through my university degree I realised that my interests were shifting more towards biology. So I did my PhD in a more biochemical area. And after my PhD I shifted interests again. So my interests and specialisation are constantly changing!
- Katherine Haxton answered on 24 Jun 2020:
  
  I decided at the end of my first year of university. I couldn’t decide between Chemistry and Physics and studied both in first year. Then realised I was much better at Chemistry so switched to that. There are bits of Physics I still love and really regret not learning more about, but there is more in Chemistry that I find fascinating. When I started my PhD and then other jobs I was able to pick the bits of Chemistry that fascinated me the most.
- Tanya Batchellier answered on 24 Jun 2020:
  
  Great question! I knew I wanted to study science at university but wasn’t completely decided on what when choosing A levels. I chose A level subjects that I enjoyed and looked at a lot of options until deciding on what to study at university (where I had to make a choice of what subject to study, choosing Chemistry).
  I was torn between biochemistry and chemistry at the start of A levels but as I went through A levels I realised that I enjoyed Chemistry more than Biology so that made my decision for me.
  
  During university, we had option modules to choose from and instead of choosing themed modules e.g. medicinal or environmental chemistry, I still took a range of modules covering multiple aspects of chemistry (as you can tell I like to keep my options open and not make a final decision until I have to!)
  
  In my career at the moment, I am on a graduate scheme doing different roles across 3 years and so I still wouldn’t say I’ve specialised.
  
  The main thing I wish that I knew earlier was that decisions don’t have to be final – you can change your mind or explore different areas and no one will think any worse of you. Don’t worry about limiting yourself with your decisions, go with what you think is best and then continue to be curious 🙂
- Sebastian Cosgrove answered on 24 Jun 2020:
  
  A great question! The thing about science is the more you learn about it, the more and more specialised you realise you can become! So at school I realised I wanted to do chemistry at University for my degree, then during my degree realised I enjoyed organic chemistry. After working at a company for a year I realised I liked quite specific bits of organic chemistry (using light for chemical reactions) that I then specialised further to do a PhD. But since finishing my PhD I have changed ‘speciality’ twice already (in just over three years!) to work more with the biological side of chemistry now!
  The good thing about science is that because we are always discovering new things there is always new things to learn about. The area of biological chemistry I work in was only invented in the 1990s, and I bet lots of the other scientists work in areas that are even younger than that! This means that not only do you get a really broad variety of things to do in your career, you never stop learning things either!
- Tiffany Chan answered on 24 Jun 2020:
  
  Hi Dani! Excellent question – and I’m not sure I know the answer, even now! I studied Maths, Physics, Chemistry and Spanish at A-Level, and I definitely considered doing Spanish at university! I eventually ended up studying Chemistry, just because I decided I liked that subject the most. When I was at university, I realised that I was more interested in the medicinal applications of Chemistry and tailored my degree more towards the biological side, even though I hadn’t done Biology for A-Level. It required a bit of catch up, but I definitely don’t regret it. At postgrad level, I knew that I was interested in the medical side, but I actually ended up working across Chemistry + Bioengineering, meaning that I learnt a bunch of Physics too! Modern day science is extremely interdisciplinary 🙂
- Mark Kent answered on 24 Jun 2020:
  
  Interesting question! I think by the time I was doing my A-levels, I know I wanted to study Chemistry at University, and within the first year or so of the course I knew I preferred inorganic chemistry. I ended up specialising in catalysis by chance – I did a year in industry and it was an opportunity that came up to work in the field of catalysis for a year. Part way through my career, I would now say that it is important to keep some breadth of experience, i.e. don’t specialise too much too early. By experiencing different things (within the same general area of work), I think it actually makes you better at what you do as a lot of the skills you learn are transferrable.
- Kat Hunter answered on 24 Jun 2020:
  
  Good question – At school I loved doing so many different things that specialising seemed really daunting. It happened bit by bit for me. GCSE’s are the first stage. Then A levels – I picked a subjects I enjoyed and was interested in. Then I chose to study a chemistry degree (to keep it as broad as possible). During your degree you learn which bits of chemistry suit your brain and which you enjoy more than others. For me I preferred physical chemistry with more maths to help me understand concepts. In final year, you do research projects with one of the different research groups within the uni and to some degree you get to pick which project you’d like to do. This is based on what you’ve found enjoyable and what projects sounds most interesting to you (and the professor). From here then I was offered a PhD in the same research group – I was enjoying the topic so I said yes (fundamental electrochemistry). My job now is a bit different again (sodium batteries and material synthesis) but still kind of related. Basically I wouldn’t worry about thinking how to specialise because you fall into things and it’s fairly easy to re-specialise as you go along.
- Emma Schofield answered on 24 Jun 2020:
  
  Yeah, decisions like this are super-difficult. I wanted to be a writer, speak different languages and do experiments. How do you fit that into three A levels and one uni course? My thinking was I can read books and write at home, I can learn languages off the internet, but I can’t do chemistry experiments in my shed. So I picked science at that point.
  [That said, I do know someone who did chemistry experiments in his garage – he’s still having treatment for the bits that got embedded in his face. They’re green.]
  The plus about science is that you can do it in lots of different countries. I’ve done chemistry research in France and Germany and learned French and German while I was at it. And I still write stories at home.
- Jane Patrick answered on 24 Jun 2020:
  
  I read a careers booklet early on in secondary school which described the work of an analytical chemist. It showed a photograph of someone surrounded by test tubes and it looked fun. I had a chemistry set at home and liked doing experiments so that’s what I decided I wanted to be.
  
  At university I changed my mind about the analytical chemistry because I found other branches of chemistry more interesting, but I’m still glad I studied chemistry.
- Katharine Stokes answered on 24 Jun 2020:
  
  Great question!
  I am coming up to my first year in my grad scheme and haven’t fully decided, I decided to do chemistry at uni because I enjoyed the subject the most (this is also how I chose my A-levels too). I did a nuclear based project and that interest pushed me to apply for nuclear based graduate schemes but I’m still in my early career and am enjoying getting a breadth of knowledge. I have a mentor who said I will likely begin to specialise in a couple of years (after getting more experience and seeing what sparks interests) however you are still able to make lateral moves in your career to alter or expand this speciality.
  
  Fortunately chemistry can have a wide range of applications and is highly sort after in many industries so look for something at interests you and specialise in that when you’re ready. Try and get different experiences if you want to come to that answer quicker, this could be internships, networking or projects!
- Aisling Ryan answered on 24 Jun 2020:
  
  Oh, very good question, and something I often wondered about career paths when I was younger and still do! When I was in school I had no idea what I wanted to do as a job. I innately love art and languages but didn’t like any of the careers associated with these subjects. When I was 16 we did science subjects as separate subjects (biology, chemistry and physics) and I found that I was really interested in chemistry. So, I looked at careers that involve chemistry and found that chemistry is the science behind medicines which really interested me. I am intrigued by illnesses and how we can treat them, but I am very squeamish so becoming a medical doctor was never something I was interested in. Being involved in the medicine part of the process rather than the patient part seemed perfect for me! So, at first I wanted to be a pharmacist but I ended up narrowly missing out on a place in the course and my second choice was to study medicinal chemistry, which is literally using chemistry to design medicines. I am actually so happy I ended up studying medicinal chemistry instead of pharmacy because I didn’t realise at the time that pharmacists are healthcare professionals and deal with patients just like doctors do! (So although I was heartbroken at the time it was actually a blessing in disguise). Towards the end of my degree in medicinal chemistry I decided I wanted to do a PhD degree after as this would allow me to develop my skills and run my own independent research which I was really interested in doing. I am now in the final year of my PhD and would love to get a job in a pharmaceutical company once I have finished. At the moment I work on medicines for cancer so ideally I’d like to stay in that speciality, but I could easily change to work on a different disease. I honestly have no idea what will happen once I start applying for jobs, my speciality could easily change! With my degree I could work in other industries beside medical ones, for example I could work in a perfume/make up/beauty products company, which I wouldn’t be closed to! I could also work on the clinical trial sector rather than the development of medicines. I will have to wait and see what happens 🙂
- Daniel Jones answered on 24 Jun 2020:
  
  I thought this one would attract a lot of answers – it’s a good question! I, like most people here, decided when I got to my A-levels that I was going into chemistry. It was always one of my favourite subjects, I was good at it, and it just felt natural to keep going with it. When I got to the final year of my undergrad studies, I veered towards catalysis and surface science because it just seemed so different from (I guess) the “traditional idea” of chemistry (glass beakers and bright coloured solutions and the like). When I finished, I got a job manufacturing HPLC columns. I had used HPLC during my PhD and tbh I hadn’t understood it that well, but I learned a tonnne doing that job and I moved to an analytical department at a chemicals company specifically so I could start specialising in analytical chemistry – it really does underpin literally the entire discipline.
  
  Most important thing to remember is this (it came from my PhD supervisor and he was
  right): chemistry is chemistry. What you do today doesn’t have to be what you do tomorrow. Chemistry doesn’t change. He did his PhD in biological chemistry and is now one of the world’s foremost authorities in catalysis. He proved his point!
- Hamish Cavaye answered on 24 Jun 2020:
  
  I don’t think I ever had a single “decision” in this respect, so I wouldn’t stress out about doing so!
  
  I have tended to keep moving around, following what looks interesting or enjoyable at the time, and you will find that by doing so you end up trying so many things you will discover something you really enjoy and want to keep working on. When you’ve done that you’ve kind of made your decision without having to make it!
  
  I did a degree in chemistry. For the first 3 years I didn’t ever think I’d stay doing research but after my 4th year project I loved research so much I decided to go on for a PhD. During my PhD I felt like I didn’t really want to go into academic research afterwards, so I got a job doing product development/R&D for a fireworks manufacturer. Three years later I missed some aspects of academic study and went back into a university role doing research on polymers and explosives. Then 2 years after that it dawned on me that I liked the interface between academia and industry (rather than one or the other), and I was lucky enough to find a role doing that at a national facility. I never made any single decision to get me here, but lots of smaller ones following what was interesting and trying things out got me there!
- Andy Kowalski answered on 25 Jun 2020:
  
  Having not got into my first choice of career (Medicine) and moved in to Chemistry I realised that Inorganic Chemistry was something that really motivated me and liked the concept of Transition Metal Chemistry in particular.
  
  This was from my second year onwards when I was studying the subject. Liked the idea of coloured compounds of metals and why they are like that due to oxidation states and also reactivity.
  
  When I worked at Loughborough University a lot of transition metal chemistry was being done and got involved in syntheses of new compounds.
  
  Also worked with Ferrocene and its conversion to Acetyl Ferrocene and separation of final product by Column chromatography using Alumina as a stationary phase and Petroleum Ether 40/60 as eluent.
  
  Also worked with Vanadium compounds and on cements and organic solvents as binding agents as pat of a project for the Building Research Establishment Organization based in Sandy Bedfordshire.
- Heather Walton answered on 25 Jun 2020:
  
  I feel like I’ve just always made the choices that allow me to do more of what I enjoy and that has led me to where I am! I chose the standard grades, highers and advanced highers I enjoyed and decided to do Chemistry at uni because it’s what I most wanted to do, and I was lucky to have great encouraging teachers who reassured me it was something I could get a job in after. I’ve just finished 5 years of uni and I wouldn’t say I have a particular specialism, but again I’ve just chosen the courses, project etc that I thought would be most interesting and so fun. That combined with wanting to try a bit of everything I can. And that has been a really good approach, I have lots of experience to know what I would like to do going into the future!
- Alex Ttofi answered on 26 Jun 2020:
  
  I never really decided – I just followed what I like doing and followed opportunities (jobs etc) that I liked the sound of. I never planned the career I more stumbled along with my career. Do what you enjoy – You area at work for a third of the day so be happy.
- Zoe Ingold answered on 26 Jun 2020:
  
  So, for me, there were several points at which I decided to narrow down my specialisation. Thanks to a fantastic teacher at A-level I decided to do an undergrad in chemistry but it was only after finishing the first year of my degree that I really decided I wanted to go into chemical biology because I wanted to understand more about how life worked. We have an excellent structural biology lab at my uni so in my final year of undergrad I got the opportunity to work with one of the scientists there and that’s when I made the decision to look at biocatalysis as a PhD topic.
- Chris Holdsworth answered on 29 Jun 2020:
  
  I feel like it happened in stages for me. First I realised I liked studying the Earth and working out how natural processes and systems work through doing geography and triple science at high school. That led me to do Earth Science at university, where I learnt that I enjoyed using isotopes to investigate changes in past environments and climates. From that I then applied that subject to the problem of climate change and the PhD I’m now working on which is about capturing atmospheric carbon and storing it as a mineral/rock.
  
  I would say it’s probably quite rare that people immediately know what they want to specialise in. You find this out through trying different subjects and modules, and it’s important to remember for every one you enjoy there will be others that you really don’t!
- Rachael Hallam answered on 30 Jun 2020:
  
  I knew by the time that I was doing my GCSEs that I wanted to keep science and drop the arts, but it wasn’t until I had to do my UCAS form to apply to university that I chose exactly which science specialism to go into – it was a hard choice!

Comments

anon-257796 commented on 24 Jun 2020:

Thank you everyone, I love chemistry, but I also enjoy biology so looking at doing them as ‘separate’ subjects but with an aim of working in a laboratory environment. With being a mature student and having always struggled with a career path in general I have been quite nervous, but knowing that so many others are still swapping and changing helps ease some of the pressure I’m putting on myself!

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- Daniel commented on 24 Jun 2020:
  
  I think looking them at separate subjects is a huge mistake – and the scientific community doesn’t help to dissuade the view that they should be separate even with all the talk of interdisciplinary work. I personally look at the different sciences as the same subject bit in varying scale. Physics is the real time stuff. Chemistry is what happens when all the small physics stuff comes together. Biology is what happens when chemistry happens on a massive scale. Maybe others will disagree with this view, but I think if you think this way, it eliminate a barrier towards moving between the disciplines.
  
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  - Daniel commented on 24 Jun 2020:
    
    *Physics is the real small stuff even!
    
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- Tiffany commented on 24 Jun 2020:
  
  I agree with Daniel – why look at them as separate subjects? I originally studied Chemistry, but now I work in at the chemistry-biology interface – there’s plenty of research that happens at the boundary between the two!
  
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anon-257796 commented on 24 Jun 2020:

I mean as in studying life or natural sciences rather than biochemistry. I completely understand they are all linked.

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