Three NCCR RNA & Disease professors at different career stages give deep and personal insights into their career paths by talking about opportunities, difficulties and obstacles they encountered along the way.

Stefanie Jonas, Magdalini Polymenidou and Frédéric Allain share with us their view on mentoring, gendered science programs and how to juggle a career in science with having a family. Their experiences and pieces of advice are diverse and tailored for the individual situations they encountered as young researchers embarking on a career in science.

But a common theme of the stories of Stefanie Jonas, Magdalini Polymenidou and Frédéric Allain is also that there is not one single road to success, although passion for and dedication to science in combination with appropriate training and support remain the critical ingredients that lead you to the top. 

Assistant Professor at the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biophysics at ETH Zürich, Switzerland, since 2017.

What is the main research question in your lab?

We study mechanisms of RNA processing and RNP assembly in human cells and work towards a better understanding on how errors in these processes can lead to diseases.

When and why did you choose to become a scientist?

Looking back, it was not a decision that I could pinpoint, but rather a slowly growing determination. My fascination with natural sciences started early in childhood, I always wanted to understand on a fundamental level, how the world around us works. In high school, I carried out my first smaller research projects. That was the point at which I decided to study chemistry, because I was curious and wanted to learn more about the molecular principles that govern nature. My inclination towards practical research deepened during my undergraduate and graduate studies and from my Master's thesis on, I poured all my energy into basic research.

How did you get to the position you are in today? Can you give us a short description of your career?

Biomolecular chemistry became my focus towards the end of studying classical chemistry in Göttingen. Because there were not many opportunities to go deeper into biochemistry in my department, I went abroad for the research project of my Master's thesis. With a Studienstiftung scholarship, I joined Jennifer Doudna's lab at UC Berkeley. This was my first in-depth contact with molecular biology and RNA research. About one year later, after completion of my thesis, I moved on for a PhD in Florian Hollfelder's group at the University of Cambridge. There I studied how enzymes can efficiently catalyze chemically diverse reactions and how this feature is exploited by nature during evolution of new enzyme functions. For my postdoc, I went back into the RNA world. In Elisa Izaurralde's lab at the Max-Planck Institute in Tübingen, I studied nonsense-mediated mRNA decay and general mRNA degradation complexes. Before starting my own group, I joined Ulrike Kutay's lab at ETH Zurich to start working on RNP assembly during a second, short postdoctoral research period.

Did you ever consider leaving academia and if so what made you stay?

Leaving academia has so far not appealed to me as a goal, I have always been looking for options to keep on doing basic, academic research.

Did you/do you have mentors during your career? How crucial do you think is mentorship for the professional development in academia? Do you think mentorship for female scientists should differ from that for male scientists?

So far, I have not seen substantial differences in mentorship for female or male scientists. However, what is also significant is the effect of role models. They are very important, because they provide a backdrop of normalcy and templates for how "someone-more-like-me" can succeed in this job. By chance, four of the five supervisors and PIs that I have worked with were women, every one of them successfully mastering the challenges of a scientific career in their own way.

I am grateful to all my previous PIs for having granted me the freedom to drive projects into the directions that I wanted to pursue. Furthermore, they have supported me in the next steps with advice, encouragement, practical help and with recommendations, whenever I applied for fellowships or subsequent positions. This type of support network, I would argue, is essential for everyone who wants to build a career in academia.

“This type of support network, I would argue, is essential for everyone who wants to build a career in academia.”

What programs or events to which you have participated do you think have been most useful for your career progression?

During my post-doc at ETH, I became a member of a peer-mentoring group. It was actually initiated by two postdocs as part of the NCCR's [NCCR Structural Biology, editor’s note] equal opportunities program. It is still running and consists of an informal group of female PhD students, post-docs and senior scientists that meet monthly for discussions over lunch. We provide support and advice for each other in terms of career and scientific progress. The meetings had a very encouraging effect on me, and the group was one of the factors that contributed towards me taking the next steps and applying for group leader positions. One great thing about such an informal group is that it could be founded by any student or researcher anywhere. Time commitment is minimal, but nonetheless in our group the effects of this peer-mentoring have been beneficial for all its members.

In your opinion do women in science need gender-specific events/awards? Why?

In some areas that might be approached differently by women and men, I have made good experiences with gender-specific workshops that addressed e.g. negotiation tools, communication, or how to use one's voice efficiently.

What is your experience of balancing career and family and what are the challenges and benefits of “having it all”?

My experience in this is only one year old. So far I can say that it is crucial to bring in all the support that one can get to organize childcare: from one's spouse, family, daycare institutions, or hired help. For us, the Kitas at ETH have proven to be very valuable and flexible programs such as "Kita Flex" have made it possible to return quickly to a sustainable working mode and to adapt to changes in professional schedules. My husband and my brother are also of great help, each contributing one day of child-care a week, which allows me to work full time. Flexibility from all persons and institutions involved has also been key. Thankfully, my team (and also our baby) are understanding of the slightly unusual circumstances and are very supportive. In summary, for both my husband and I, having a family and a challenging profession have proven a great joy, and we are immensely grateful.

“Flexibility from all persons and institutions involved has also been key.”

How do you handle the high demand for mobility in your career with having a family?

In the past, my husband and I both pursued our education and specialization at the institutions that promised the best progress for our vocation. This also meant that we spent a number of years apart, living in different countries, including the U.K. and the U.S. Currently, we live together as a family in Zurich. Based on your professional experience so far and if you had one advise you could give your younger self what would this be? Take heart, there is good reason to maintain hope and keep working towards your goals. Do not let go of your dreams.

Website Jonas Lab

SNSF Assistant Professor since 2013 with a double appointment between the Faculty of Science and the Medical Faculty of the University of Zurich, Switzerland.

What is the main research question in your lab?

We investigate the molecular pathways that lead to the neurodegenerative diseases amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal dementia. Key players in the pathogenesis of these diseases are the RNA-binding proteins TDP-43 and FUS, so our research intersects with basic RNA and phase separation biology, which are particularly exciting and active research fields. Specifically, our lab aims to 1) understand the toxic mechanisms and the basis of disease heterogeneity, 2) devise faithful cellular and animal models of disease and 3) eventually identify new molecular targets for mechanism-based therapies for these diseases, which today are incurable and fatal.

When and why did you choose to become a scientist?

I took the decision very early on, I guess in my childhood, even if I didn’t exactly know what it meant then. As a child I was influenced by my father, who was a medical doctor and my uncle, who was an engineer and an academic scientist. Both had successful careers and were passionate about science and they have passed this passion on to me from a very young age. I remember stating that I will do a PhD before I could write, which made my grandparents laugh. Already then I was convinced that research was the most exciting “job” one could do. And now, a few decades later, I am happy to say that this conviction hasn’t changed!

“Already then I was convinced that research was the most exciting ‘job’ one could do.”

How did you get to the position you are in today? Can you give us a short description of your career?

Many turning points in my career path have been serendipitous and I think that this is probably true for most people. At the last years of high school in Greece – which would be the equivalent of the Gymnasium in Switzerland – I had decided that I wanted to do research on disease mechanisms. For this reason, I was intending to study medicine, which I thought would give me the best basis for this. However, in the Greek educational system, entering Medical School – or any other University level or professional school – depends on a single nationwide exam that ranks students based on their performance and then distributes them to Schools, according to their own preference list. To cut a long story short, I did not get my first preference, but my second one, which was Pharmacy, so you can say that my career started with a failure. Studying Pharmacy at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, however, turned out to be just as good a starting point, if not better. During the last two years of my studies, I joined the lab of Theodoros Sklaviadis, who was our Pharmacology Professor and who had just returned to Greece from Yale Medical School to set up a research lab to study prion diseases. This at the time was a very active research topic due to the mad cow disease epidemic in Europe, so many excellent laboratories throughout Europe were focusing on it, often collaborating via European funding. Prof. Sklaviadis was my first scientific mentor and has been extremely supportive to me and to all the students that have passed by his lab over the years. He has instilled the belief that mobility is essential for evolving as a scientist and has encouraged me to search for a PhD position in a leading academic institution. This has brought me to the University of Zurich and the laboratory of Adriano Aguzzi, where I studied prion biology and disease mechanisms. Coming from Greece, where funding and infrastructure was minimal, research in the Aguzzi lab was full of possibilities. This time has shaped me as a scientist and taught me to combine focus with creativity in my research. This was a particularly productive period that set up the foundation for an academic career. In fact, I enjoyed working there so much that it was hard to leave. After I defended my thesis in early 2006, I stayed in the lab as a postdoctoral fellow for almost two years. During this time, I have worked for six months with a Novartis team in California on a prion diagnosis project. This gave me a unique perspective and appreciation of the industry world that most academic scientists don’t experience. After that, in early 2008, I moved on to my postdoctoral studies to the lab of Don Cleveland at the University of California in San Diego. I chose this lab because I wanted to work on a different field of neurodegeneration and to focus on a fundamental, mechanistic question and to expand my scientific horizons. I was extremely lucky to enter the field of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) at a particularly exciting time, when a number of breakthrough discoveries pointed to alterations of RNA-processing as a (then) novel mechanism for ALS pathogenesis. Indeed, identification of ALS-causing mutations in two new genes encoding for RNA-binding proteins – namely TDP-43 and FUS/TLS – were reported by several groups worldwide, soon before and during my postdoctoral studies at UCSD. These developments provided a unique opportunity for my postdoctoral work, which allowed me to become an “incidental” RNA biologist, as I chose to investigate how alterations in these two proteins may affect RNA processing and thereby trigger neurodegeneration. This time also prepared me well for academic independence and my next career step, which was the setup of my own research group as an Assistant Professor at the University of Zurich in September 2013.

Have you actually ever thought about yourself as a “woman in science” as compared to “just” a scientist? If so, was this the case right from the start of your scientific career or did it come up later?

Not in my early years. As a child and teenager, I never thought of this. My family’s “normal” was a working mother who, although she chose a less demanding career than that of my father, never questioned gender equality in terms of career ambitions. My mother herself studied gender bias as a part of her master’s degree and I remember conversations at the family table on this topic since I was a child. Both my parents have raised my older brother and myself without any such biases, at least when it comes to our professional development. The aim was the same for us both: “find something you love and do it as best as you can”. I also had very dedicated and knowledgeable teachers in high school who instilled the importance of gender equality. Surprisingly, the first time I realized that other people might see things differently was in Switzerland, when after I defended my thesis I was discussing with a more senior male lab member about postdoctoral opportunities abroad. I was shocked when he asked me why bother, since I will soon have a family anyway. The most shocking part of his reaction for me was that it was honest – he didn’t mean to offend me, he was genuinely perplexed – and that it came from a person that I respected as a colleague and a scientist.

“I was shocked when he asked me why bother, since I will soon have a family anyway.”

Did you ever consider leaving academia and if so what made you stay?

I have had some disheartening moments in my career and on these moments I wondered if life would be easier had I chosen a different path. These were short-lived, however, and I soon saw that difficulties and failures are part of any career – not just in academia. It is this realization that made me stay the course and I sometimes tell my students that the most difficult part in scientific research is to deal with frustration. It takes a lot of persistence and focus and it is not always easy, but it is definitely worth it!

“It takes a lot of persistence and focus and it is not always easy, but it is definitely worth it!”

Did you/do you have mentors during your career? How crucial do you think is mentorship for the professional development in academia? Do you think mentorship for female scientists should differ from that for male scientists?

I have had wonderful and influential mentors in my career and I consider myself very lucky for this. I think good mentorship is absolutely crucial for a successful scientific career. I think that mentorship needs to be adjusted to the personality and peculiarities of each individual and career path. Gender is a factor of this, but certainly not the only one and I don’t think that there is a single recipe that works for everyone in this case. It certainly helps to talk with someone that understands the specific demands and dilemmas of your own life and that can give you some real-life examples of how to deal with them. For me a very important aspect was that my mentors, who I deeply admire for their scientific achievements and vision, believed in my own abilities and potential as a scientist. This has boosted my confidence and helped me overcome my own “impostor syndrome” that I think is characteristic for many women scientists.

Do you think that specific programs or events that you have participated in have been particularly useful for your career progression?

Especially in the beginning of my career, attending international scientific meetings has played a very important role, because they were the inspiration that made me appreciate the life of a researcher. I remember how fascinated I was, when, as an undergraduate student, I attended such a meeting on prion diseases in Germany. At the time it felt like an entire new world was appearing in front of me, one with likeminded people that were curious and passionate about making scientific discoveries. Later, during my PhD and postdoc years, I have attended a number of courses and workshops, organized by EMBO, CSHL or other organizations, which were intense and short – ranging from a few days to a few weeks depending on the topic – and focusing on a specific technique or scientific topic. These were fantastic for immersing the participants into a new topic and to introduce them to other scientists with similar interests from all over the world. A special course in such a setting was the EMBO Lab management course, which I took as an early postdoc and which helped me think about important aspects for taking the steps towards an independent scientific career.

In your opinion do women in science need gender-specific events/awards? Why?

This is a difficult question and I can think of good reasons both for and against the idea. On the one hand, if gender equality is the goal – which in my opinion it is – then we shouldn’t need any gender-specific measures at all. In reality, however, while we are far from an ideal gender-balanced scientific world, I think that we do need to highlight, support and celebrate women scientists. This is important in order to boost the careers of talented women, but also to inspire girls and young women that are inclined towards a scientific career, but may hesitate due to societal stereotypes that are unfortunately very persistent. In my opinion, one of the biggest obstacles for the younger generations is that examples of successful women scientists are much fewer than that of men, especially in Europe and even more so in Switzerland. Putting women scientists to the spotlight in a positive manner is one way to counteract this trend.

“While we are far from an ideal gender-balanced scientific world, I think that we do need to highlight, support and celebrate women scientists.”

What is your experience of balancing career and family and what are the challenges and benefits of “having it all”?

I think that it is hard to balance family and career for everybody, both women and men. My younger self was often annoyed by the fact that the “having it all question” is only – or mostly – asked to women. Men have always been “having it all” and no-one seems to question their abilities in this respect. However, since I have my own family, I have come to realize that it is important to recognize the fact that having children takes a much bigger toll on a woman’s life, particularly during pregnancy and nursing, and that fact is independent from societal stereotypes. During this period, no matter how involved a father may choose to be in family life, women face a decrease in productivity, almost invariably. This can be a short period, however, and soon after, familycareer balance is a matter that should concern both genders equally. I am lucky that this is the case in my own family. My husband, who is also a scientist, understands the demands of this career and equally shares childcare and family time with me. For me, I guess the biggest challenge is time. Sometimes, it feels like there are not enough hours in a day and it is this feeling of “inadequacy” that I find the hardest. I think it is great that organizations like EMBO, ERC, SNF, HFSP, NIH and several others appreciate this natural “imbalance” and apply measures to counteract it. I find this particularly motivating and I think that everybody benefits from making it equally possible for women to successfully combine family and career. For me personally this combination means happiness! I could not imagine my life without the satisfaction from my research and from working with many talented students, postdocs and collaborators. But I also cannot imagine a life without my children and the joy from seeing them grow and discover the world. Ideally, nobody should feel like they have to choose between these two. And we should strive to make this possible.

“Sometimes, it feels like there are not enough hours in a day and it is this feeling of ‘inadequacy’ that I find the hardest.”

How do you handle the high demand for mobility in your career with having a family?

This is an important point that seems to discourage many young scientists from pursuing a scientific career. For me, having to move for my PhD (from Greece to Switzerland) and postdoc (from Switzerland to the USA) were both exciting prospects that I took as life adventures rather than burdens. The fact that my husband is also a scientist helped, since moving was eventually advantageous for both careers, as is often the case for scientist couples. Once we had children, however, creating a stable environment for them became a priority. Our next move (from the United States to Switzerland) was when my first son was one year old and even though we were returning to a more familiar environment, moving was much harder than before. I think that mobility is rightfully valued in an academic CV since it offers so much in terms of training, experience and way of thinking. In my opinion, however, it is important to view each case individually and not make mobility a hard requirement or eligibility criterion, since this disproportionally drives women away from academia.

Based on your professional experience so far and if you had one advice you could give your younger self what would this be?

Worry less, trust yourself more and don’t forget to celebrate each step and to enjoy the journey!

Website Polymenidou Lab

Full Professor at the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biophysics at ETH Zürich, Switzerland since 2010 and Co-director of the NCCR RNA & Disease since 2014.

What is the main research question in your lab?

In my lab, we are interested in how RNA binding proteins (RBPs) regulate gene expression post-transcriptionally. We take a structural biology approach to understand this. We solve structures of protein-RNA complexes to understand the role and mechanism of action of RBPs in regulating splicing, RNA editing, miRNA processing and translation.

When and why did you choose to become a scientist?

This was quite late in my studies. I always liked science but not more than politics, anthropology, history and psychology. My grandfather, who was an archeologist (prehistory and galloroman period), was certainly an inspiration to become a researcher; I did learn a lot from him. The excitement for biology came from studying biology at high school and then in “classe préparatoire” where I had a really fascinating Biology teacher (Mr. Darchy). He was clearly doing more than the usual classes, organizing field trips etc. and was very encouraging to me. He really transmitted a passion for biology and made us realize that there is a lot to discover in this field. This mentality motivated me to study hard and it certainly was an asset in my later succeeding in entering the prestigious “Ecole Normale Supérieure” in Paris (ENS). In that school, the goal is primarily to train teachers and researchers; so the goal was set, but the path needed to be created.

How did you get to the position you are in today? Can you give us a short description of your career?

This was realized step by step and not with this objective as a longterm goal. In research, I do not think that you can plan a career. I remember this discussion with an American PhD student during my PhD studies, who told me that his plan was to become a professor in one of the top five US University within 10 years. He then enquired about my plans, and I remember telling him that I had none beside graduating and publishing at least one paper. This was true, but he did not believe me! This was in 1993 and I was appointed as an assistant professor at ETH in 2001. So, to some extent, I achieved without planning it what this American student was dreaming of. His own PhD was not as successful as he was hoping for, and he never fulfilled the goal he had set out for himself. So, to come back to the question, after studying chemistry at the ENS and doing a master in bioinorganic chemistry, I got the opportunity to visit the MRC-LMB in Cambridge (UK) during a visit to my father in Cambridge. My father, who is a professor in Hematology, had arranged for me to meet the Director of Studies of the LMB. At the time I had no idea about this lab, but after visiting it and meeting with two PIs, I was fascinated. I discovered a worldclass lab and was very keen to join it! My luck was twofold; financial support from the ENS for two years on the one hand, and on the other hand, the need for military reason to be studying abroad for 16 months under the condition that the lab would pay my salary. During the interview, I met my future PhD adviser, Dr. Gabriele Varani, who impressed me greatly with his enthusiasm. Although I had no guarantee that they would pay the 16 months, I still decided to join MRC-LMB in the Varani lab for my PhD. At that time, I also made the hard personal decision of going to the UK despite the fact that my girlfriend was staying in France to pursue her PhD. This was a very difficult decision to make, and the relationship did not survive past the first year of my PhD studies. Despite the fact that I really enjoyed my PhD at the LMB and published nine papers, which gave me a great start in the academic world, I did feel guilty about this personal decision. To the point that, three years later, I asked my “exgirlfriend” if she would join me for a postdoc in the US. We then searched together and the choice of joining the lab of Prof. Juli Feigon at UCLA was partly motivated by the fact that Juli helped my “exgirlfriend” find a postdoc in a neighboring lab. I do mention these personal issues to emphasize the difficulty of mixing the academic track with personal relationships. I should say that in the end, it did not work out better, as we never got back together as before, and we broke up a second time 7 months after starting our postdocs. Now, there were some advantages in what happened to me with these two “breakups”, as they resulted, in both cases, with me working twice as much. Being single and living in a foreign country allowed me to focus and concentrate fully on my work. It was also a great motivation to succeed in science, as I was quite unfortunate with my personal life. In the end, the postdoc was also successful and I therefore quite naturally applied to faculty jobs in the US and in Europe. It did not work out the first year, and this is the reason why I decided to go for a second postdoc in the lab of Prof. Doug Black. There, I wanted to learn something different, i.e. alternative splicing in neurons, as my PhD and postdoc labs were both in the field of NMR of nucleic acids. Faculty job searches worked out better in the second year of applying, and I got several offers (two were tenured positions and one tenuretrack from ETH). I went for the more risky one and joined the ETH Zurich as an assistant professor in 2001. I got tenured in 2007 and have been a full professor since 2010. I met my wife in 2001, in the first months of my arrival in Switzerland, and we have been living together since 2002. We have a daughter who was born in 2010, when I was 40 years old.

Have you actually ever thought about yourself as a “man in science” as compared to “just” a scientist? If so, was it like this from the start of your scientific career, or did it come up later?

Yes, of course. From the very beginning. I remember that when I heard I would meet with Gabriele Varani (Gab), I thought Gabriele was a female PI, since “Gabrielle” in French is a female first name. I must say that I was not very keen to have a female PI as PhD advisor. This shows that back in 1993 I had a “stupid” prejudice against women in science. The lab I was working in at the time in Paris during my master in bioinorganic chemistry was dominated by male professors and had very few female scientists in the lead. Yet, all the PhD students were female. Anyway, I did accept the interview and found out that Gabriele was a man. However, when looking for a postdoc, I did not hesitate to apply to Juli Feigon, a female professor at UCLA. I must admit that the fact she was a female scientist was an element of my decision, along with the attraction of working in a great scientific environment. I was certainly keen to find out if there would be a difference in management compared to what I experienced during my PhD and Master. This was indeed a very different management. I think that, at times, I was emotionally closer to Juli than to Gab, but I was scientifically and intellectually closer to Gab. My lab management overall is inspired by both, as I try to be emotionally close to my coworkers while at the same time guiding them scientifically to the best of my ability. I think that working with PIs from both genders has been a plus.

“I must say that I was not very keen to have a female PI as PhD advisor. This shows that back in 1993 I had a ‘stupid’ prejudice against women in science.”

Did you ever consider leaving academia and if so what made you stay?

I never considered this very seriously. Sometimes at home we joke about me doing another job, as mine is very absorbing, stressful, not always familyfriendly and hard to share with family members. Nonetheless, this job offers the possibility to explore the unknown, it is full of surprises and we have a lot of freedom. I also greatly enjoy contributing to the development of my coworkers. I do not have much of an entrepreneurship drive and I am not after money, so the academic path suits me well.

Did you/do you have mentors during your career? How crucial do you think is mentorship for the professional development in academia? Do you think mentorship for female scientists should differ from that for male scientists?

I do think that mentorship is crucial, as scientific mentors show you the path. Of course, sometimes this is very stimulating and positive (my grandfather, Darchy or Gab), while others might show you a path that you should not follow (Juli at times). Feeling that your mentor “believes” in you is very important, but you will not go very far if in the first place you do not believe in yourself. It is interesting to see that in fact both aspects are rarely present simultaneously, me believing in them and them in themselves as well.

“I do think that mentorship is crucial, as scientific mentors show you the path.”

What programs or events to which you have participated do you think have been most useful for your career progression?

There are several. The first thing is meeting the right people, as discussed above. Attending meetings where you can orally present when you are a PhD student or a postdoc has been really important to me, as these meetings were a great motivation to work hard and collect enough material to compete with others and be selected for an oral presentation.

In that context, the RNA society tive (my grandfather, Darchy or Gab), while others might show you a path that you should not follow (Juli at times). Feeling that your mentor “believes” in you is very important, but you will not go very far if in the first place you do not believe in yourself. It is interesting to see that in fact both aspects are rarely present simultaneously, me believing in them and them in themselves as well. What programs or events to which you have participated do you think have been most useful for your career progression? There are several. The first thing is meeting the right people, as discussed above. Attending meetings where you can orally present when you are a PhD student or a postdoc has been really important to me, as these meetings were a great motivation to work hard and collect enough material to compete with others and be selected for an oral presentation. In that context, the RNA society or the CSHL meetings are exemplary. As a PI, attending a course on lab management was very informative, not so much on the content of the course, but rather because it made me realize that when you start your lab, as much as you try to avoid conflicts, there will be problems with the lab members at one point or another.

In your opinion do women in science need gender-specific events/awards? Why?

It is a reality that an academic career in science is harder today for women than for men. This is just unacceptable and we should make sure to help women so that their chances are at least equal. The first thing is certainly to make women aware of the situation very early on (possibly already at high school level) and organizing events on this topic is essential. But men need to be educated, too, and they should help. Sensitizing men to this effort is absolutely crucial. My eightyearold daughter told me recently that she did not want to be a boy because they are clearly less smart than the girls in her class. Clearly, both genders have the same intellectual capacity and it is a real tragedy that our system creates extra barriers for women. We need to remedy to this actively.

“Sensitizing men to this effort is absolutely crucial.”

What is your experience of balancing career and family and what are the challenges and benefits of “having it all”?

I think this is a key question and this aspect is not so simple. As mentioned above, my rather unsuccessful personal life at the beginning of my scientific career turned up to be rather positive. My research project was the only positive aspect of my life at that time and this was almost a question of survival. Science is a creative process and suffering certainly favors creativity. Research in science is fascinating but is not made for people aiming at comfort. This is part of the dilemma we are facing between career and family. We seek comfort and stability to raise our children, but our work requires creativity that can often only be triggered by stress and instability. In conclusion, it is hard to “have it all”.

How do you handle the high demand for mobility in your career with having a family?

Again, I come back to my story during the PhD and the postdoc. I already moved during my PhD studies and the consequence was an impaired relationship and a certain distance between me and my family in France. Yet, looking back, this move to the UK was certainly the most beneficial decision for my scientific career. I did sometimes regret it in the past and felt guilt, but for sure, I do not regret it today. I grew so much, scientifically and personally, by going to the UK, the US and now Switzerland, that I wish I could go somewhere again! I think the mobility should not be felt as a “must” but as an opportunity. Very few professions facilitate going abroad like ours does, so if you are moving, make the most of it! Of course, people with family restrictions should not be forced to move. The Americans or the British for example, do not go abroad as much, and yet there are still very good scientists around. In the end, what matters most is the quality of the scientific production, not where it was produced.

Based on your professional experience so far and if you had one advice you could give your younger self what would this be?

It is a really difficult question, because I am the sum of my experiences and I would be a different person if I had not lived through all these experiences. I realized that several of my career decisions were based on nonprofessional reasons and maybe this was not always reasonable. But from this I also learned a lot about myself and this was equally important. So in retrospect, I do not regret any period of my professional experience so far. One piece of advice I got from my stepmother Helen during my postdoc was “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade”. This is key to progress.

Website Allain Lab

Interviews by Larissa Grolimund and Ana Claudia Marques