As a scientist, I spend all my day thinking, observing, getting information, putting things together. But scientists work as a community, we are collaborative – a team. I depend on others to make my research possible. You can’t be a lone wolf with your idea out there. You work as a team with others who contribute to your research and challenge you. Scientists have high standards to live up to. That’s part of the professional behavior that comes with being a scientist, and it has to be learned just like any other aspect of science.

So science is way of thinking about things, but it’s about feeling, too. Everyone I talk to says they do science because it gives them joy. Emotions are part of doing science. It’s just that science is done in a certain framework that guides us, so we don’t freak out and have unreasonable fights or something. But it doesn’t mean you take emotions out of doing science.
If I have an idea or a discovery and I announce it, my adrenaline will be flowing. I will be very excited. And people will say, “Whoa, Dieter, this is great, what you’ve done,” and I will feel the same pride as a soccer player or football player when they score a goal.

My life has led me to ask certain questions that I would love to be able to answer. I want to do as much as I can during my lifetime. That is what drives me on a daily basis. But if for some reason we can’t get that gravity wave detector, or we can’t get that gamma ray detector, maybe the next generation will catch up. And in life you can’t just do one thing – you have to design your life in an entertaining way. I do science but I also like cooking, travelling and pretty much all sports – except I can’t find a way to really fall in love with football. It’s just not exciting to me. One thing I wish I could do is create music, because I love music, but I don’t really have that skill.

Everybody takes a zig-zag route to where they are going in life. The trajectory you are on is determined in little episodes. You decide the direction, and school, teachers, parents, professors – we just guide or assist you on a small segment of a complicated road. So when thinking about your future, don’t ask “What do I do next?”, think “What is it that I want?” and with help from people who can guide you, discover what you are capable of. I wasn’t sure for the longest time that I could do this, but here I am.