• Question: Do you travel around the world for your research? If so, why?

    Asked by pixelator to Upul, Phil, Ian, Derek, Daniel on 16 Jun 2010 in Categories: . This question was also asked by taylortabagan.
    • Photo: Derek Mann

      Derek Mann answered on 15 Jun 2010:

      Yes there is quite a bit of travelling which is either to do experiments with colleagues in other countries or to attend scientific meetings where we present our work and get feedback on whether it is any good (or not!). This year I am travelling to Vienna, Los Angeles, Boston and Crete. Travelling is certainly a nice part of the job, although I do get very tired and bored sitting on long flights.

    • Photo: Ian Sillett

      Ian Sillett answered on 15 Jun 2010:

      I travel occasionally for conferences. The organisers move them around because most science research is international so it makes it fair for everyone. It’s entirely coincidental that the most popular conference venues are popular holiday destinations! So far I’ve been to Germany, Switzerland, Italy, South of France and Belgium.

      It’s nowhere near as much fun as you think, especially when you’re on your own.

    • Photo: Daniel Mietchen

      Daniel Mietchen answered on 16 Jun 2010:

      Science is a global endeavour, and interactions with scientists located in different places are vital for most research projects. For instance, I went to Korea for part of my PhD because a lab there was the world champion in terms of the smallest things they could image with Magnetic Resonance Imaging, the variant of microscopy that I had eyed for my thesis. This allowed me to join forces with them and to image the embryonic development of frogs (from the first cell division to hatching) in a way that the then tadpoles survived the procedure fine and continued to develop afterwards.

      However, not all interactions require collaborators to be physically in the same place, and saving on travel (especially long-haul flights) means saving time for other things and reducing our impact on the environment. Electronic media can help with that, e.g. by allowing to give talks remotely or to have virtual poster sessions.

    • Photo: Upul Wijayantha

      Upul Wijayantha answered on 16 Jun 2010:

      Yes, USA, Japan, Australia, Germany and China as well as other countries for collaborative research programmes and conferences.

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