Careers in science

Name: Cynthia James

Job title: Research Fellow in Astrophysics

What education and qualifications do you have?

12 ÎOâ-levels (1956-1957), Membership of the Society of Radiographers (diagnostic) (1961), BA Open University (1st Class; 1987), PG diploma in Computing for Commerce and Industry (OU, 1993), MPhil Astronomy (UCL, 2001)

Give an outline of your career so far; why did you choose this career path?

Left school, 1957: ÎAâ-level dropout; because I wanted to do ÎAâ-level Pure Maths, Applied Maths and Physics, but I wasnât allowed to do physics in less than 3 years.

Scientific assistant in the Met. Office, 1958: Intended to study for A-levels at evening classes and then go on to university. Left when I realized that (at that time) there was no hope of service on a weathership for a woman!

Radiography student at Guyâs Hospital, 1959-1961: Chose radiography, because it was applied physics and I was interested in photography and people.

Radiographer (full and part time), 1961-1978: Worked at Guyâs, Eastman Dental, East Surrey Hospital, Redhill General and Crawley hospitals. Enjoyed my work, but finally found its scope was rather limiting.

Studied for a 1st degree with the OU (part time), 1975-1988: Studied Maths, Physics and Computing. I needed to raise my level of general education so that I could find fulfilling work outside of radiography. The OU way gave me this opportunity whilst still supporting my family.

Computer Analyst Programmer in the Civil Service, 1978-1983: Found that I enjoyed my computing studies so I made my career change in this direction.

Systems implementation officer and then systems programmer (British Gas), 1983-1987: My intended career path was towards more scientific applications, and I hoped that these posts could help me in that direction. Sometimes one follows a rather meandering path towards oneâs goals!

Studied for a post-graduate computing diploma (OU) (part time), 1985-1994: To increase my effectiveness in my work and to help me move to more scientific applications in due course.

Database Administrator (BT), 1987-1996: Well paid, secure job with good pension deal. I now needed to consider such things seriously. I wasnât getting any younger!

Studied for an MPhil in Astronomy at MSSL, 1996-2001: A very good voluntary redundancy package from BT gave me the opportunity to finance myself through a higher degree. Astronomy seemed to be a good choice, because I had enjoyed the astronomy-biased modules during my degree studies. Also it is a field with opportunities for continued involvement beyond normal retirement age.

Research Fellow at MSSL 2001-? I have found space and satellites exciting since the time of Sputnik in the late 1950s!

What does your current work involve?

I am part of the calibration team for XMMâs Optical Monitor and currently I am involved with allocating a wavelength scale to data from the optical grism filter (a cross between a prism and grating spectroscope). I also copy and keep track of XMM data CDROMs and write/maintain a few web pages.

Hobbies and interests outside work

I am a keen birdwatcher and carry out fieldwork for the British Trust for Ornithology. I have retained my early interest in photography and I am now studying for a City and Guilds qualification, which should also give me licentiateship of the RPS. I also enjoy other outdoor activities such as walking, camping and sailing. I have two grand children who I donât see as often as I would like, since they live in Bristol which makes it at least a dayâs outing to visit them.