• Question: in your jobs do you ever come against any equations that you cannot solve and are left unsolved or do you resort to your fellow co-workers in different fields to help you?

    Asked by anon-199630 to Sylvia, Sumit, Martin, Kate, Bryony, Aryanne on 4 Mar 2019.
    • Photo: Martin McCoustra

      Martin McCoustra answered on 4 Mar 2019:

      There are lots of equations that are difficult to solve but which can be treated using computers. Increasingly we use computer-based alegbra and numerical simulation to look at mathematical problems that are difficult to solve by the methods that you learn at school.

    • Photo: Kate McGonagle

      Kate McGonagle answered on 4 Mar 2019:

      Hey again! There’s definitely ALOT of problem solving to be done in this job and everyday things happen that are surprising and we might not initially understand. I am constantly chatting with co-workers about problems I’m having and things which aren’t making sense to me. Because everyone has different experience there is usually someone who can help and has a good suggestion! There is a big team here with experts in all different fields so being able to talk to them at any time is so useful, everyone has their strengths. Hopefully sometimes I manage to repay the favour too and help them with a problem they are having.

    • Photo: Sylvia Soldatou

      Sylvia Soldatou answered on 4 Mar 2019:

      I don’t really work a lot with equations but I do encounter a lot of problems that need to be solved. Sometimes I’m capable of doing it on my own but other times I need the help of someone with either more experience than me or experienced in a different field that would look at the problem from a different point of view. It’s important to work with people form different research areas to get a new perspective into things

    • Photo: Bryony Hockin

      Bryony Hockin answered on 4 Mar 2019:

      Well, I don’t do a lot of equations or algebra in my job, and when I do it’s usually quite easy ones… and I hope I’m solving them right! When I do have a problem though, like if an experiment goes wrong or a machine isn’t working, I always go to one of my coworkers to ask questions. Asking questions is the most important part of science! In fact, it’s very important to be able to say “I don’t know” to answer a question, because of course no-one knows everything, and finding out the answer to these difficult questions is basically my job. The best thing about working as a scientist is that if you don’t know the answer to a problem, someone else usually will… and if they don’t know either, two brains are better than one, and you can find out together! I’m lucky that all of my co-workers and my boss are always friendly and chatting to me and usually we solve all our problems as we go along.

    • Photo: Sumit Konar

      Sumit Konar answered on 5 Mar 2019:

      I will take the equation as any kind of problem.
      My approach will be: self solving approach in the beginning; I will try at least couple of days before I approach to my co-worker. If he/she can solve it then brilliant. If not, I will try another few days solving alone before I ask another co-worker for help.
      You can see my approach is slow and I spend so much time to learn and try to solve my problem by myself; this experience is invaluable.

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