• Question: How many years does it take to become a scientist?

    Asked by anon-257405 on 17 Jun 2020.
    • Photo: Sarah Appleby

      Sarah Appleby answered on 17 Jun 2020:

      This will vary depending on what path you take (university, apprenticeship, etc etc) and how far you want to take the subject. Some other people answered a similar question last week:

      How long do you need to be in university to be a scientist?

      The typical way is to study a science at university, although there are other routes you can take that some other people mention on this thread. That can take anywhere from ~3-6 years to get an undergraduate degree (I took 6 years and finished with a masters in astrophysics). Then many people do a PhD which takes ~3-4 years, although there are plenty of science jobs you can do without a PhD.

    • Photo: Paula Koelemeijer

      Paula Koelemeijer answered on 18 Jun 2020:

      I guess this depends on your take on what a scientist is! A lot of us learn most of our lives, and improve as scientists and continue to develop ourselves.

      Typically an undergraduate degree is 4-5 years, and if you want to do a PhD you spend another 3-4 years. But at which point you call yourself a scientist is up to you to some extent!

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