Stan’s top tips for a career in science

  1. Being curious and always asking ‘why’ is very important
  2. Believe that you are as good as everyone else
  3. Work hard both at school and in the work place
  4. Always learn from mistakes and when things go wrong
  5. Have a long term plan and goals

Summarise the impact your job has on everyday life

Research into cure for cancer by understanding the proteins involved in oncology.  Understanding how cells repair DNA damage following radiotherapy and developing new laser imaging methods for these investigations.

What’s the best thing about your job?

The ability and opportunity to think about real life health problems and to try and look for a solution. Also working with colleagues and collaborators nationally and internationally to develop new methods for imaging disease states.

What did you study at school?

Maths, English, Science (Biology, Chemistry, Physics) and Art (GCE O’Levels)

What inspired you into a career in science / engineering?

Originally I wanted to study medicine but did not get a university place. I very much enjoyed finding out how things worked and although found biology fairly easy and chemistry more challenging, I decided to study chemistry as the course gave the opportunity to take biology and biochemistry as a subsidiary subject over the course of the chemistry degree. By doing research in oncology meant I can still work in the medical field. Simply wanted to be useful to society and not just to myself.

Rutherford Appleton Laboratory

Rutherford Appleton Laboratory

Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) is operated by STFC and located on the Harwell research and Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire.

It provides a thriving and collaborative environment for research in a number of areas, including particle physics, space science, astronomy, biology and biomedicine, and chemistry. Approximately 1,200 staff at RAL support the work of more than 10,000 scientists and engineers, chiefly from the university research community. RAL’s pioneering research in areas such as energy, security, healthcare and the environment addresses important challenges facing society.

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