What it really takes to become a person of science

Several students ask me these questions very frequently:

1. I want to become a scientist, but I don't have the innovative abilities or intuitive imagination required. What should I do to develop these abilities?

2. I don't have a very high IQ. Will I be able to become a good scientist?

3. I am not financially sound to pursue higher education. Can anybody help me?

Here I am adding the answers I gave to these students so that others too can use them.

Children say so many things when asked what they want to become when they grow up. But do they have real passion and dedication to follow their aspirations? If you have these, you need not worry about other things. Because these two qualities try to gather other things required, i.e., curiosity, trying to see the whole pictures of everything, observing things keenly, reasoning, critical thinking, creatively connecting things etc. [ The specific traits of a scientific mind (1) ] and drive forward.
"Teaching somebody to become a scientist" is not a good thing to do. Can any body learn things if s/he is not really into them? If you have a strong desire to become a scientist, you become automatically engaged with the subject of science.
First, decide whether or not you are hungry about the subject. Then which area of the subject you really are interested in. Then cut off other distractions as much as possible from your mind. Eat, sleep, breathe and think only about it. Read/follow all the available literature about it.
Observe the problems around you. Think how you can use the knowledge you acquired to solve them ( that leads you to creatively connect things and innovation -  the-right-way-to-boost-your-intelligence-and-become-insanely-crea ). Ordinary intuition is not good for science and will not help you much. What scientists do is 'informed imagination' or 'educated guesswork'. Once you are deeply involved with your subject you naturally start doing it while trying to solve the problems you face. 

Critical thinking capabilities are extremely important too. If you don't develop it, you will not go far enough in your chosen field of science.

And above all this Q is really important: Do you have the patience to pursue a subject for several years despite numerous obstacles? The answer 'yes' is critically important to become a scientist!

High IQs are not really that important (ref 2) to shine in science if you are strong in other areas. Read my article based on this by clicking on ref 2 link.

Several banks here give loans to pursue higher education both in India and abroad. University Grants Commission, Department of Science and Technology (DST,CSIR) too give fellowships to pursue Ph.Ds in Science (3). Therefore, you need not worry about your financial situation. Try to get good ranks/ grades to obtain these fellowships in the qualifying exams.

Read my article that deals with the subject in detail here: http://kkartlab.in/group/some-science/forum/topics/how-to-do-resear...

References:
1. http://kkartlab.in/group/some-science/forum/topics/the-specific-tra...

2. http://kkartlab.in/group/some-science/forum/topics/ungifted-intelli...

3. http://dst.gov.in/r&d_funding/rdfs.htm