How to Help Your Child Become a Scientist: 6 Tips for Parents

1. Explain how to find the right direction

To put forward hypotheses, arrange experiments in laboratories, study scientific papers and write your own - the tasks of scientists are different. The specific list depends on the profile of work. For example, a marine geologist periodically lives on a ship, studying the bottom of the sea, and a computer scientist literally does not leave the monitor. And in every profession there are specializations. For example, biologists, depending on the chosen scientific field, can study both humans and animals or plants.

To find yourself in science, you should study the features of different areas and choose what your soul lies in. This will help assess interests and view interviews with practicing experts - professors and doctors of science. If possible, the child should also talk directly to scientists to find out what challenges they face and how a typical work day goes. You can meet practitioners at science festivals and open days at research institutes.

2. Tell me where to get specialized knowledge

Choose a class or school with an emphasis on a specific science - for example, with a physical-mathematical or chemical-biological bias. This way, studying will become more interesting and useful: more information will be given on the subjects that are needed for the Unified State Examination, which means that there will be a higher chance of successfully passing exams and entering a university. It is better to think about transferring to a specialized class in advance in order to find out what is needed for this. required, and have time to prepare for the OGE - the points scored are also taken into account upon admission.

If there are no thematic classes at school or you didn’t manage to get into them, find out about other ways to immerse yourself in the subject more — for example, look for circles or electives. Do not limit yourself to your own school - see what all the educational institutions of the city offer. Online courses are also a good option. Such classes allow you to study without leaving your home, but require a lot of motivation and concentration.

3. Encourage participation in olympiads, forums and competitions

The main advantage of such events is the opportunity to get to know your favorite direction in science more deeply while still at school, as well as to pump up creative thinking and skills for solving non-standard problems. By the way, you don't have to win the Olympics. Certificates and diplomas, of course, will not be superfluous: they can bring additional points when entering a university or other benefits. But you should not reduce the meaning of participation in competitions to scoring maximum points and solving absolutely all problems without a single mistake.

The Olympics is first and foremost an experience. If a child learns to quickly concentrate on tasks and calmly answer questions in an unfamiliar environment, then he will not be confused at the exam. In addition, participation in competitions trains strong-willed skills, because one cannot do without persistent preparation. And at the events you can meet like-minded people and feel like a part of a community that unites one interest.

4. Improve your analytical and critical thinking

The scientist is constantly in search of answers. Therefore, one cannot do without curiosity and a desire to get to the bottom of the matter in this profession. And for these qualities to lead to a successful result, you need to be able to analyze information well and be critical of any data, even those that are given in articles and textbooks.

You can start training skills already at school. For example, explain to the child that you do not need to limit yourself to one source if he is looking for information for an abstract. Together, check what they write on other sites, and compare the information. Solve puzzles and logic tasks. Arrange family discussions - discuss books, films, science and technology news. Try to listen carefully to each other, and then express your opinion with reason. Remember that expressions like "this is already clear" or "even babies know this" cannot be proof of your position.

5. Learn to admit mistakes

Another quality that a scientist needs is love for the truth. And it should be more important than the pursuit of fame. The hypotheses put forward are not always confirmed by experiments and studies, and previously proven patterns can be refuted over time - and you need to be prepared for this. It is important to teach your child to calmly accept criticism and admit that he was wrong. Yes, failures can hurt self-esteem, but without failures there are no great successes - especially in science. Thanks to mistakes, some important discoveries are even born. For example, Alexander Fleming once left a container with a sample of staphylococcus at an open window. The wind blew mold spores into the sample, the fungus killed the bacteria - so the scientist accidentally opened penicillin.

Everyone makes mistakes, but they shouldn't discourage you from trying something new. Think with your child about what you can do to change the situation. Suppose he wrote the test badly. But thanks to perseverance and hard work, next time he will be able to improve the result. Teach your child to analyze his experience and remember what mistakes he made and what helped to correct them. Explain that failure is just an opportunity to understand what knowledge and skills are worth pumping.

6. Choose a university with research opportunities

The qualifications of the teaching staff, the percentage of employment of graduates, the overall rating of the university are important criteria that need to be checked before admission. But if a child wants to do science, it is worth studying the equipment of a university or institute: see if it has laboratories, what equipment students use, where they do their internship and from which course they can start working in as an intern. In a university with a cool research base and the opportunity to test theoretical knowledge in real conditions, it will be more interesting and easier to immerse yourself in the profession.

By the way, you need to study for a long time. First you need to complete a bachelor's and a master's degree or a specialist, then go to graduate school and defend a Ph.D. thesis, and then you can also go for a doctoral degree. But you won't have to spend all these years buried in papers or sitting in lecture halls. In parallel with your studies, you can work, conduct experiments, contribute to science and make the world a better place. For example, scientists involved in applied research develop various mechanisms and technologies, medicines and chemicals that make life easier for people.