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Asked by anon-322231 on 22 Mar 2022.
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Luke Humphrey answered on 22 Mar 2022:
In theory, we can go abroad for conferences…
I started this job during the pandemic, so all conferences have been virtual for the last few years. Nowadays, a few are starting to go hybrid with both in-person and virtual options. I’m actually going to my first in-person conference next week, but it’s in Manchester so no traveling abroad for work just yet.
In this industry, do have a major international bi-annual (every two years) fusion research conference which would have been in Paris last time but was held virtually, and the next one is going to be in London! So I’ve been thwarted again. One day…
Another reason to travel abroad for work would be for collaboration with international partners. For example, a lot of my work at the moment is funded by Eurofusion’s ITER project, which is based in the south of France, so if I had a reason to visit the site I might end up traveling for that reason as well. 🙂
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Martha Hilton answered on 22 Mar 2022:
Yes! Before Covid I went to Mexico for a particle physics conference and I lived in Geneva to work there for two years.
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Daisy Shearer answered on 22 Mar 2022: last edited 22 Mar 2022 4:34 pm
Yes, usually I would do a lot of travelling as part of my job but in the past few years not so much. Before then, I would travel abroad for conferences (big gatherings of researchers where we share our most recent findings) and do experiments using the equipment of other labs. For example, I went to a big magnet and laser lab in the Netherlands a few years ago which was really fun and exciting! It’s so nice to be able to experience different cultures and collaborate with scientists and engineers from around the world as part of my work!
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Alex Headspith answered on 23 Mar 2022:
It does!
We work with a lot of international collaborations and partners, which require visits in order to learn, develop and work on systems. I have had the opportunity to work at CERN on the Swiss/French border, and earlier this year went to Fermilab in Chicago for a collaboration on a huge project called PIP-II (Proton Improvement Plan), which involves creating a new proton accelerator to generate neutrinos which will be fired through the earth from one side of the USA to the other.
My colleagues have worked all over, in France, Germany, USA, Italy, Spain, Sweden and Japan to name but a few!
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Alin Elena answered on 24 Mar 2022:
collaboration is the key… and to do that efficiently you have to travel… as a fun fact… I am now in Italy working with Italian colleagues…
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Victoria Fawcett answered on 24 Mar 2022:
Yes! I’m very lucky that astronomers get to do a lot of travel. There are scientific conferences around the world that you get to travel to and talk about your work to other scientists.
As an astronomer, I also get to travel to telescopes in cool places! For example I got to visit India a couple of years ago to take some observations with a radio telescope 🙂
Comments
Luke commented on :
Ah, I should define a conference: that’s where a bunch of people from different institutions get together to give talks about their research. It’s a good place to meet others in the field that you wouldn’t otherwise meet, and to keep up to date on what’s going on in your topic of science.