• Question: what was the turning point in your career to get you where you are now?

    Asked by anon-187710 to Stewart, Miriam, Marton, Laura, Kathryn, David on 8 Nov 2018.
    • Photo: Stewart Martin-Haugh

      Stewart Martin-Haugh answered on 8 Nov 2018:

      Turning point to study physics: reading The Emperor’s New Mind by Roger Penrose. Before that I wanted to be a lawyer, or something. Difficult to remember: it was 16 years ago!

      Turning point to do particle physics: I applied for a paid placement at CERN and was successful. I really liked being there that summer and thought particle physics would be fun. Then I applied to do a PhD, and I’ve kept doing particle physics ever since.

      It’s tricky to pin down further because even relatively simple choices (e.g. which university you apply to) can change your life, and it’s difficult to imagine how things would be otherwise.

    • Photo: Marton Olbei

      Marton Olbei answered on 8 Nov 2018:

      To where I’m actually now: I was meeting with my old supervisor in Hungary, we were chatting about my old project. A friend of ours just popped into the office, and told me about this small city in the UK, and how they have a cool PhD programme, and maybe I should give it a try …

      So I applied, and to my biggest surprise I got invited to an interview and got in. I couldn’t believe it at the time, and I still feel so lucky to have this chance to do what I do!

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