• Question: What is so important about your work and how will it help the economy?

    Asked by EllieMae77 to Angela, Claire, Ian, Robert, Sarah on 10 Nov 2014.
    • Photo: Ian Cade

      Ian Cade answered on 10 Nov 2014:

      I’m not sure I like the close association of the words ‘important’ with ‘helping the economy’ in your question!

      Not everything important can be measured in terms of improved economic output, whatever that might be. Science is one of those things that shouldn’t be significantly directed by economic concerns, any more than other creative activities.

      Scientific research into the properties and nature of the world around us should be seen as a goal in itself (If you are a little more mercenary than me, this position can be justified in terms of “a better understanding of the world means your are more able to predict and counter future problems.” These future problems could be the next plague, a comet striking the Earth, or the Sun heating up to an extent that the Earth will no longer be able to support life in somewhere between 1 and 5 billion years).

      As it is, my research provides new, and likely cheaper, ways of making chemical compounds be they drugs, polymers, opto-electronic materials.

    • Photo: Angela Stokes

      Angela Stokes answered on 10 Nov 2014:

      Hi EllieMae77
      Thanks for this question. I guess my work is important because it is about finding new medicines to help people live more fulfilling lives. Of course this has two effects on the economy. Firstly, new medicines cost a lot of money to develop and test and so they do cost the NHS money, but because they help people get better, those people can then go on to lead rewarding lives and contribute to the economy again.

    • Photo: Robert Bowles

      Robert Bowles answered on 10 Nov 2014:

      I help people think about what job they might want to do and so keep chemists employed which helps the economy. What’s important about it? Work is such a large part of many people’s lives that it’s really imporant to help them to find a job they can enjoy and find rewarding (especially if it pays well too).

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