• Question: What advice would you give to someone who wants to do the same job as you?

    Asked by ninamaggiori99 to Duncan, Grant, Julie, Nik, Rachel on 12 Mar 2013.
    • Photo: Grant Campbell

      Grant Campbell answered on 12 Mar 2013:

      Get your head examined!

      No, just kidding. My job, as I say in my profile, is higher education – education at the highest level – the life of the mind and of ideas. I have a PhD which stands for Doctor of Philosophy, and philosophy literally means “love of wisdom”. I don’t claim to be wise(!), but to do my job, you have to love the world of ideas. And to engage well with the world of ideas, you have to have humility. So my advice would be, cultivate humility, read and learn and think, not with the expectation that you’ll become a master, but with the epxectation that you’ll glimpse only a small amount of the whole body of knowledge and wisdom. To put it another way, if you want to be a teacher (which is what I am), you have to never stop being a learner. Part of that, for me, is also being a scientist, a researcher, so that I am continually learning new things as well as contributing my own unique things to the world of knowledge and ideas.

      On a more practical level, my advice would be, do the most rigorous university degree you are capable of. Your university degree is your best opportunity to really stretch your brain and become educated – don’t squander it.

      Thanks for your question – I hope this response makes sense to you.

    • Photo: Duncan Gaskin

      Duncan Gaskin answered on 17 Mar 2013:

      ‘This is my stuff! You go and find your own research area!’

      Seriously, I would say go for it! Most people who do the same sort of thing as I do have gone to university, done a PhD, and then started research careers. But that isn’t the only way. I know people who have worked as chefs or teachers, before doing a PhD and going into research.

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