What field of science to do :S

I think I'll be doing BSc(Advanced) in university(college equivalent in America but anyway I live in Sydney),possibly not too practical in terms of finding a job compared to a professional degree but anyway, I really like science I really like basically all science subjects (biology, chemistry, physics, biochemistry, molecular biology, geology, geophysics, astronomy, etc) so I'm just gonna ask you peeps your opinion on which courses are the "best" ie which are the best for finding a job (In Australia science jobs are a tad harder to find than other jobs... I dunno is it the same elsewhere?!) since some fields have more (relatively) more jobs than others.I suppose molecular biology, biotech and bioinformatics are the fastest growing, and possibly medical physics (ie imaging, etc), what are your opinions? Thanks!

My opinion is that you should ignore the job prospects and go with what you enjoy.

Oh; and don't make the mistake I made - work hard at university.And take a year out first.

Thx Mr Jack for replying. As for doing what I like in science-lol I wish I could do them all but I don't think that's possible Mr Jack what field of science do you do and would you recommend anyone who likes that field to do it?

Not a scientist, I'm afraid.I did a Master of Mathematics, but found lectures quite terminally dull and did very little for four years. These days I'm a computer programmer.University is rather a different world from earlier education; no-one makes you do anything so you have to motivate yourself. I wish I'd taken a year out, working in the real world for a year would have really helped I think. Those who had taken years out seemed to come to it more focused anyway.Obviously, I don't know much about the University system in Australia; but on the assumption it has its colonial roots I'm guessing you can probably take a joint honours degree in (say) Biology and Physics - you'll probably even find you can switch after the first year of such a course to straight physics or straight biology - so that could be an option.In my opinion, Biology is the hardest of the three 'big' sciences, and Physics is the easiest - but I suspect this comes from my matematical bent.

I did geology. It's interesting, and I found it overall to be really enjoyable - but the geology dept. in my university were terminally technophobic, and that got a bit annoying because I really wanted to get into geophysics and computer simulations.Don't do geology if you're not prepared for the technical stuff, which is utterly head-wrecking. If you don't have good teachers, then it can be hell on earth.Otherwise, learning about the history of the Earth is just about the greatest thing I've ever done, and I wish more people would choose to do it.Best of luck,The Rock Hound

I agree with Mr. Jack, do something that you enjoy. I learned early on that plants bored the hell out of me so I went into Zoology instead of Biology (Zoology is Biology for the plant phobic I guess). I have since focused in microbiology, but that was due to job availability more than anything else. For the best job prospects, at least here in the states, molecular biology seems to be the best bet. Forensic jobs seem to pop up all the time (DNA fingerprinting and such). I have found mol bio quite interesting and new technology and methodology seems to be advancing quickly. If the word EcoR1 makes you quiver with anticipation, I would definitely consider mol bio.

Biology is where the most jobs are currently, at least if you go into anything related to biomedical applications (including bioinformatics). (If your heart's desire is study slugs, on the other hand, the job situation is not as rosy.) A number of areas of biology -- genetics, genomics, proteomics, systems biology, maybe developmental bio -- are particularly attractive intellectually at present because new technologies are opening up new levels of understanding. My PhD is in physics, and I was a high energy physicist for ten years, but I'm having a lot more fun doing genetics than I did as a physicist.

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Don't do geology if you're not prepared for the technical stuff, which is utterly head-wrecking. If you don't have good teachers, then it can be hell on earth.

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*drum-roll*
Da-Dum! CHIIIING!!!

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"Illuminant light,
illuminate me."

lol... thx for the replies all. Molecular biology doesn't seem bad Will probably do that, but we'll see in a few years.

--I will be on my way to the university years next fall, hopefully at the University of Florida. Personally, I am well set on geology as my prime interest, and will focus with abandon on getting my Ph.D. in some field within, most plausibly geophysics. When I first started to notice my desire to read the scientific literature and eventually become a scientist, I really wasn't set on any particular field. I was reading lightly on geology, for a brief time heavily on molecular biology, and moderately on astronomy with the specific interest of the origin and evolution of our solar system. It took over a year of general reading to notice that I had a passion for the geological sciences (though rocks and minerals really didn't interest me, I thought the geodynamics of seafloor spreading and subduction were the coolest things in the world ). I think that if you pervasively read the scientific literature, you will eventually discover that you have more of an interest in one or maybe two specific fields of science. I don't claim to be experienced (and I'm not!) but I also presume it is best to go with the field you are most interested in. Even if it is low in the job market, I would think that if you excell substantially, there will be certainly be a good place for you (probably more so if you are interested in teaching)--and what better time to start than now.Cheers,
-Chris Grose
OYSI

Well, it really depends on what you are interested in and how much time your are willing to spend.

WHA???? You don't like rocks???but, but....blech... typical geophysicist! [/disgust]The rocks are the best thing about geology. Looking at rocks is like being in a time machine - the history of the planet is at your fingertips. Then there's the added bonus of spending your summer months in the field hiking, mapping, hiking, sampling, hiking, ... there is nothing better than geology. 8-)

And people say scientists aren't biased, hehehe.

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WHA???? You don't like rocks???
but, but....

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blech... typical geophysicist! [/disgust]

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lol! I'll have you know that rocks were something I had little appreciation for not too long ago. Slowely, rocks are looking cooler and cooler. To me, the field of geodynamics and geophysics is very interesting, though there are many other geoscientific interests I have and am developing. Paleopedology and geomorphology for instance.--I would rather anylize drill cores than interpret seismic refraction data as well.. But then again.. I guess I like both.Cheers,
-Chris Grose[This message has been edited by TrueCreation, 01-08-2004]