Matt taylor scientist biography lesson
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So my time at Imperial was FUNDAMENTAL in allowing me to start and continue with the career I have now.
I remember at my interview when asked why I wanted to do a PhD, I pointed at the interviewers, Professor Peter Cargill, Professor Michelle Dougherty and Dr. Robert Forsyth and simply said 'I want to do what you do.
You can become very focused on what you are doing and it's important to snap out of that and take a break. Some writers expressed appreciation for Taylor's apology. “We’ve got JUICE, a Jupiter mission coming up. JUICE will explore Jupiter and its icy moons, so of course it's going to be cool."
What is your fondest memory of your time here?
"This is all about colleagues and people.
Its going to be a bumpy but exhilarating ride."
Thinking about your time at Imperial, what did you learn during your time here, inside the lab and out? “It was run by Arthur James, an old professor with a big white beard, who just instilled in me an interest in what he was doing. That's in my PhD thesis too."
Photo credits: ESA/J.Mai, ESA/C.Carreau.
Dr Matt Taylor
It’s a Tuesday morning in October.
Just walking around, you have all of these déjà vu moments.”
Matt was one of the first in his family to go to university. That was key for me in my early career, working on the ESA Cluster mission, which I eventually entered ESA working on, ending up as Project Scientist of that mission for a number of years.
For me the task of Project scientist at ESA is primarily about collaborating (or driving collaboration) and ultimately facilitating science.
Michelle has been fundamental in getting this mission to where it is today. The technical heart of the European Space Agency (ESA), this site is the incubator of the European space effort – a sprawling mass of glass and concrete, where projects that push the frontiers of the solar system are born.
Today though, Matt can put his feet up.
I paraphrased it during the landing event, as we really are seeing unbelievable things with Rosetta. It is mind blowing that we will be able to track changes in the physical appearance of the comet. And I'm very sorry about this". Don't ask them for the sake of it of course, but if you don't understand, go ask. Is it hard to maintain your motivation and excitement over the whole duration of the mission?
“It’s archaic thinking about this now, but we had a whole block of PCs – 20 in total – that we could all work on. He recently returned to give a lecture, hosted by Professor Ronan McGrath – currently the Head of the School of Physical Sciences and once one of Matt’s own lecturers in the 90s.
“It was a bizarre experience,” he says.
What does that tell us about you?
"It tells you I like Blade Runner, and I think Rutger Hauer was AWESOME in that film. Others, including Boris Johnson, Julie Bindel and Tim Stanley, made arguments against this criticism. I was able to interact with many excellent scientists and learn how to DO research. Liverpool and the University have changed a lot – and all for the good by the looks of things.