• Question: What do you find so interesting about your work??

    Asked by Sehr x to Zena, Ian on 10 Mar 2015. This question was also asked by sopheth03.
    • Photo: Zena Hadjivasiliou

      Zena Hadjivasiliou answered on 10 Mar 2015:

      There are two specific projects that I am working on right now and I find them both interesting for different reasons. My main project is centred around the evolution of males and females. Most complex organisms including insects, plants, animals and fish need to have males and females for sexual reproduction. This is even true for tiny, tiny organisms that we cannot see without a microscope. So it seems like it is necessary that the two individuals that come together to produce an offspring sexually are different. But we don’t know why they must be different! I think this is a fascinating question! It is about something that we see everywhere, that seems so simple but that we cannot understand. I think that we can get closer to an explanation by thinking about it using physics and maths!

      I have been working on a project for a couple of years now trying to find a physical and mathematical explanation to help us understand the difference we see between male and females. I think that my equations have actually helped us understand this problem better, and this is the best part of my work: using numbers and maths to make progress in science 😀

    • Photo: Ian Sandal

      Ian Sandal answered on 12 Mar 2015:

      I find it interesting to be involved in projects where no one already knows the answers to the questions we are asking. Sometimes our ideas and projects work as we expect and this helps us develop new understanding, tools and technologies. But it can be even more interesting when projects don’t work as we expecting as then the work is asking questions of us.

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