Next Wave has talked to scientists who work in extreme conditions to unveil what life and work is like at the frontiers of the tolerable.

"People who have mathematical, computational, and statistical skills, [and] establish a collaboration and work on real biological problems, have the chance of doing some very, very significant things for human welfare." --Jaroslav Stark

For now you can choose to follow either training system … provided you choose a country that offers it.

"Postgraduate students used to be invisible in all sorts of ways," said Dame Janet Ritterman, Chair of the Arts and Humanities Research Board Postgraduate Committee.