• Question: Whats the longest you've ever taken on a project?

    Asked by chels1999 to Ben, Jony, Katharine, Mark, Peter on 18 Nov 2011.
    • Photo: Jony Hudson

      Jony Hudson answered on 15 Nov 2011:

      It took 12 years to measure the shape of the electron. That was about 10 years more than I though it would!

    • Photo: Ben Still

      Ben Still answered on 15 Nov 2011:

      It would be the project I am working on now, T2K which is based in Japan. I have been working on the experiment 6 years in all, including my PhD, and still enjoying it. We will be switching on again early next year after we were shut down but the massive earthquake on the East coast of japan in March 2011. I hope the new year will bring yet more exciting times.

    • Photo: Katharine Schofield

      Katharine Schofield answered on 15 Nov 2011:

      It took me 3 1/2 years to finish my PhD so I guess that’s the longest for me personally. However, the experiment I worked on (called BaBar) had already been running for four years before I joined it, and would have been several years under construction before that. Big science experiments can take a long time – some people have been working their whole careers on the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) at CERN and it is only just starting to produce results now! It will be worth the wait though.

    • Photo: Mark Basham

      Mark Basham answered on 15 Nov 2011:

      My PhD project carried on through my first job, and the work I was doing there progressed over 6 years. Although I left the project to work at Diamond, my boss is still continuing the work at Glasgow 10 years on.

    • Photo: Peter Williams

      Peter Williams answered on 18 Nov 2011:

      5 years so far….

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