University of Otago graduands have been encouraged to "be bold'' and challenge themselves and their limitations to attain success.
Prof Christine Thomas, a researcher at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, made the comments in an address to about 300 graduands in biomedical sciences, physical education, surveying, dentistry, pharmacy, health sciences and medicine.
Prof Thomas told those at the ceremony at the Dunedin Town Hall at 1pm on Saturday that her work for The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis had shown her "work and life are unpredictable''.
After enrolling at the University of Otago to complete a bachelor's degree in physical education she quickly learnt she did not know what she wanted as a career.
By being open to research suggestions she found herself working on physiology research where she learnt working with others was crucial to success.
"Engaging others whether at work or elsewhere, listening to their diverse opinions, and respectively considering their points of view can refine you, compel you to adapt and make your ideas rigorous.''
Such open-mindedness was important in her work to improve the lives of people with spinal cord injuries, she said.
"Tools will not solve the problem. The difficult task is to understand what you see and to turn that information to some use.''
Graduates needed to be inspired and work together to ask the right questions to advance science, she said.
"What helps is courage, careful thought and passion.''She also encouraged graduates not to settle for the mediocre.
"If you do not find reward, move on to something else ... and love to do it.
"That will bring about a fuller sense of a well-lived life.''
About 400 science graduands attending a ceremony at 4pm were encouraged to celebrate their learning the language of science.
AbacusBio managing director Dr Anna Campbell urged graduands to understand that they would need to learn "many more languages in life''.
She recalled a visit to Inner Mongolia where she stepped out of her own subculture to communicate in a way that would make a difference.
"And as you go on in your lives, I ask you to learn other languages, and work across new disciplines and other cultures.''