Dr Ben Pilgrim MRSC

I think I was always inherently a chemist. I made mud pies in the garden as a young child and had chemistry sets for kids. I would also find things to mix from the cupboard under the kitchen sink (not something I would advise people to do in hindsight, I would add). For me chemistry was the science that explained the most about the world around us of all the sciences – why materials or substances had the properties they do or behaved in particular ways.

1. Follow what genuinely excites you in science, don’t go into an area just because everyone else says it is interesting or will lead to you getting a better job.
2. Have an inquisitive mind. Always ask: why? If you think the status quo explanation is incorrect, then challenge it.
3. Don’t worry about what career you might have after your study. Whether you have a career that directly uses your chemistry knowledge or not, the analytical, logical and problem solving nature of chemistry as a subject will be excellent training for any career path.

I have had the fortune of working with many incredibly bright students over the years. Teaching great students always keeps you on your toes. They often see things with a fresh perspective that someone who has worked in the area for ages can miss. Often the wide-ranging and sometimes quite off-topic discussions I have with students during my teaching gives me ideas for new directions in my research.

From global warming, to limited resources on our planet, to custom medicines, to the next smart materials and technologies, it is hard to think of any pressing global challenge that can be solved without the input of chemists. Whilst our field interfaces with so many others, knowing the core chemical principles of how and why atoms stick together and behave the way they do is crucial for the next generation(s) of students who will need to solve these problems.

I was on the UK Chemistry Olympiad Team myself as a student in 2005 and at the time when I won a medal for my country that was one of the proudest moments of my life. I still have the medal but it sits on a shelf, and it is meeting the great/talented friends and colleagues that I wouldn't know if it were not for chemistry that has been the real highlight of my career. In a sense the bonds we make between people are more important than the bonds we make between atoms.

I really enjoy both teaching and research. I’m fortunate to have a job where I can do both but managing the split between them is difficult. Unfortunately, many within the higher education sector view don’t view teaching with the same importance as research, meaning there are pressures (particularly as an early career researcher) just to do the minimum teaching required as it doesn’t ‘count’ as much as research. However, without excellent teaching there won’t be the next generation of excellent researchers to do the research. This is something I think the whole sector needs to address in the coming years.

I like both osmium and iridium. They're often found together in nature and in some senses ‘compete’. Osmium just beats iridium as the densest of the naturally occurring elements, whereas iridium has just overtaken osmium with the highest known oxidation state. Both have some cool uses as well.