Question: What was the most challenging thing you had to do to become a scientist?

Hazel Gibson answered on 16 Mar 2018:

I suppose the most challenging thing I have had to do to get to the science job I am in now was to finish my PhD. It was four years of looking at one question! That was a lot of focus and by the end of it I was pretty exhausted. However the biggest thing I personally have had to overcome is self-doubt. I question what I am doing and if I am good enough -all the time-, which is often also described as imposter syndrome – where you feel a bit like a fraud and that you will be found out and kicked out at any moment. I have to work pretty hard to overcome those feelings and remind myself of what I have managed to accomplish in my career so far.