What image comes to mind when you think of a scientist? White coat, clipboard, lack of social life? Possibly mad hair and 'evil genius' tendencies?
What about technologists, engineers and inventors? Do you tend to picture such individuals up to their elbows in grease, happier in the company of machines than humans - and again, possibly with a wild thatch of a hairdo on top?Hollywood and those tv washing powder adverts have a lot to answer for when it comes to stereotyping! But unfortunately, many people do believe these unappetising scenarios are an accurate reflection of what a career in science or technology would really be like.
This is why Science Year was set up. Its aim is to help make science and technology more appealing to the public at large and to open people's eyes to the brilliant opportunities and rewarding careers available to people with sci-tech qualifications.
"Yeah, right…" you may be thinking wearily, "you still mean geeky jobs that no-one else wants to do though…'.
But no - we don't. Well, not necessarily!
Take Catherine MacDonald. From an early age, she was interested in designing and making things, and in sport. She went on to study engineering at university and she's now an engineer with the Formula 1 giant, Jordan. And there's never a dull moment.
"Seeing the Jordan cars racing inspires me in my work," she says. "It is hugely satisfying when the race results are good, knowing I have helped to design the cars.
"When the race results are disappointing, the race is on back at the factory to improve the design for the next race. It's a challenging, exciting and dynamic business to be involved in."
In a totally different line of work - and on top of the world as you can see - is David Schudel. He's a forensic scientist who trained in the UK and now lives and works on a Caribbean island, after successfully applying for a job he saw advertised on the internet.
Living in a glorious climate is presumably no hardship, but first and foremost, it's the work he loves.
"I like the fact I'm dealing with real cases, real tragedies, real problems, and like to think I'm making a difference. The work can be highly varied, not to mention difficult at times. Now and then, you get one of them cases where the police are stumped and you blow the lid right off it."
And as if one job's not enough, David also keeps busy by writing murder-mysteries based on cases he's encountered… so you may see him on a bookshelf near you soon.
Don't fancy high-performance car design or forensic investigation yourself? No problem, there are plenty of other careers to try and tempt you with…
People with science qualifications go on to work in the music industry, in art restoration, in marine biology, in sports science, in special effects in the film industry, in astronomy, in aeronautics, in telecommunications, in food technology and many other areas.
Some, like science teacher David Bromfield even end up presenting science programmes on TV and radio. In fact, science communication is growing all the time, so if you enjoy science and are good at explaining it to others there's plenty of scope careerwise - from devising interactive exhibitions for museums to writing for the papers or developing cutting edge educational software.
All jobs have their stresses and strains, so it would be highly misleading to portray all science-related jobs as being paradise on earth… But many scientists do feel that effectively they are in the happy position of being able to pursue their favourite subject full time - and at the same time make a living from it.
Paul Stevens is a good example. He's a physicist turned parapsychology researcher at Edinburgh University. As he's always been fascinated by telepathy, mind-over-matter and other X-Filey topics, this is his dream job. Its seriously respectable and rigorous work - a long way from those tv X-Files - but he loves every day of it.
"I admit I sometimes find it hard to draw the line between work and play," he confesses, "but that's what happens when you work at something you're actually interested in - I sometimes feel like I get paid to do my hobby!"
Same goes for Stuart Butchart. He's always been fascinated by wildlife, and now spends his days studying bird behaviour. And very fortunately, his work takes him to some of the world's most beautiful regions from fenland waterways and Scottish moors, to further afield in Australia and India.
You can find scientists and technologists almost everywhere in the modern world. In that respect, they're a bit like the air - or accountants! Their work is about creativity, discovery, problem-solving and communication in differing proportions. As you'll have gathered, these are skills that are in demand in many contexts. So if you can identify your favourite hobby - chances are, there's a job in that field you could aim for.
Why settle for a 9-5 of drudgery when you could travel the globe, meet like-minded people, stimulate your brain, have fun, work hard because you want to - and who knows maybe even change the world for the better and get written into the history books?
