would you ever give science up? why/why not?

Question: would you ever give science up? why/why not?
- Keywords:
  science
Asked by anon-196439 to Sebastian, Paddy, Lee, Jennifer, Fiona, Eleanor on 4 Mar 2019.
- Fiona Scott answered on 4 Mar 2019:
  
  Great question. It depends on what your definition of a career in science is!
  
  If you define science as working in a lab, I’m actually planning to give up that sort of work next year when I finish my PhD. For me personally it’s not something I want to continue after 8 years of study because the sort of jobs that involve lab work that I would be qualified for involve moving jobs quite a lot which I don’t want to do anymore and I don’t think I enjoy being in the lab as other people do.
  
  I’m hoping to get a job as a science writer after my PhD because I really enjoy reading about different kinds of research and trying to rewrite it for different audiences to understand – e.g. the general public, doctors, people in the pharmaceutical industry, other chemists etc.
  
  There are lots of different careers in science that don’t just involve doing research in a lab!
- Lee Steinberg answered on 4 Mar 2019:
  
  I am approaching the end of my PhD, and I will have to choose how closely I would like to stay related to science. However, even if I was to leave research, I don’t think you ever really ‘give up’ on science. You can always read more, and run experiments by yourself!
  
  If I do choose to work in something which is not directly science, it will likely use skills I have picked up in my scientific career, and my years spent ‘in science’ will definitely come in useful.
- Sebastian Cosgrove answered on 4 Mar 2019:
  
  As Fiona and Lee have already said, it is really what you mean by give up on science. I have carried on doing science work after my phd because I really enjoy it, and feel I can get a lot of satisfaction from doing experiments in the lab. There may come a day however when I would like to leave the lab behind and do something else. I would want it to be related to science somehow though, it is just too interesting not to want to be involved!
- Eleanor Senior answered on 4 Mar 2019:
  
  Like the others have said it isn’t really possible to give up science completely, though it is possible to give up lab work or academic science research. I am not sure what I am going to do after my PhD so I’m looking at all my options.
- Paddy Sudhakar answered on 4 Mar 2019:
  
  Well, firstly Science by definition is not just about test tubes, reactions, and computers and labs. There are a variety of sciences such as social science, humanities, arts, psychology, behavioural science etc.
  
  Coming to the part of giving up science, on a personal level, I dont think I can give up science purely because it gives me the opportunity to show the world how nature works in beautiful ways inside us and outside us.
- Jennifer Harris answered on 5 Mar 2019:
  
  I would never and could never give up science because I think it’s far more all encompassing then people think. Science can be defined as Political Science, Environmental Science, Biological Science, Veterinary Science, Medical Science, Technology, Informatics, Computer Science etc. Science is all around us and most new developments in society stem from a scientific finding or novel technology. I think it’s impossible to avoid science in this day and age.

Question: would you ever give science up? why/why not?

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