Inspiring Science

Hoping for the Unexpected

In a new project, Medical Research Council scientists share their knowledge and experience with fiction writers.

Is one of your fictional characters a scientist? Do you wonder how scientists spend their days - their challenges, high points and frustrations - what kind of environment they work in, who they work with and what they are trying to find out? In a new project, Medical Research Council scientists share their knowledge and experience with fiction writers. If you want to know more, get in touch.

Scientists are problem-solvers and pursuers of knowledge. They are driven by a passion for their subject, a thirst for discovery and to improve people's lives, and the satisfaction of being the first person in the world to find out something new.

They chase problems in many different ways - planning experiments, talking with colleagues and dealing with bureaucracy and equipment. They may work in a laboratory in large teams, in a hospital with patients or in an office with just a computer or robot for company. But scientists all have one thing in common; they stick at tasks for weeks and months and years to get the results they need and want.

The goal of all scientists is to publish research. This is the way they prove themselves, because both journal editors and their colleagues have to agree that the research is important and reliable enough for the world to see. So a good day for a scientist is one on which a journal agrees to publish a piece of research, or money comes in from a research funding organisation. But best of all is when the research itself works - a scientific result, often unforeseen and astonishing, which enters unmapped territory, lights up another avenue and promises to fill a gap in the picture of our world.

Scientists funded by the Medical Research Council www.mrc.ac.uk work on a huge range of topics with the aim of improving human health, from brain diseases and drug addiction to cancer and infections like HIV - both here and in the developing world. Some scientists work on fundamental science, such as the study of genes or the structure of molecules, which may ultimately help in the design of new drugs to cure disease. Others deal with people, studying the effects of disease or testing new treatments or ways to prevent illnesses.

The life of a scientist has the potential for scandal, rivalry, jealousy, power and ambition, as well as love, obsession and disappointment. Set this in the emotionally-charged environment of a laboratory or a hospital, where cutting-edge and world-changing discoveries are being made and there's a race to get there first; mix this with politics, and there's an intriguing plot waiting to unfold.

If you want some science for your fiction, or even just to be inspired, the following summaries will help you decide which scientist's expertise would be most relevant for your work.

To contact any of these MRC scientists, please email.