Interviews

Latest

1. Engendering equality: The Lise-Meitner-Gesellschaft

   The Lise-Meitner-Gesellschaft aims to raise awareness of gender inequality in the natural sciences and mathematics.

2. Editor’s choice: an interview with Yaiza del Pozo Martín

   When she realised that reading papers and discussing science was just as enjoyable as doing research, Yaiza del Pozo Martín decided to move away from a career as a postdoc to try something different. She now works as an Assistant Editor for BMJ Open.

3. In the laboratory of science policy: an interview with Richard Aragon

   A “completely random” encounter with a former classmate propelled Richard Aragon from a postdoc to the world of science policy. He now works for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as the Chief of the Office of Program Planning, Analysis, and Evaluation at the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS).

4. Core strengths: an interview with Diana Ordonez

   Of all the tools that Diana Ordonez used to study populations of immune cells during her PhD and postdoc research, flow cytometry was the most important. Now she uses her experience and skills to advise and support other researchers as a Flow Cytometrist at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany.

5. Down the wormhole: an interview with Zoë Hilbert

   Zoë Hilbert is a PhD student at MIT, where she studies neuronal gene expression in the roundworm, C. elegans.

6. Genomics in industry: an interview with Yilong Li

   After finishing his PhD in cancer genomics, Yilong Li felt that most academic labs did not have the computational infrastructure needed to tackle clinically relevant questions in genomics. He is now a Principal Scientist at a company called Seven Bridges Genomics.

7. Illustrating science: an interview with Leslee Lazar

   Neuroscientist Leslee Lazar has always been interested in design and art. Now, as a freelance graphic designer, he creates visual aids that communicate complex scientific information – especially biomedical research – to the right audience.

8. Less writing, more industry: an interview with Dennis Breitsprecher

   After completing a PhD in biochemistry, Dennis Breitsprecher was sure that he wanted to pursue an academic career. However, he grew bored of constantly writing papers and grant applications as a postdoc, and is now Head of Biochemistry R&D at NanoTemper in Munich.

9. Professional development: an interview with Maria Fernandes

   While doing a PhD in Pharmacology at King’s College London (KCL), Maria Fernandes seized a number of opportunities – setting up the KCL Pharmacological Society, organising events and sitting on committees – to gain enough experience to move into a career outside of research. She is now the Professional Development Manager at the Microbiology Society.

10. Harnessing forces: an interview with Lining (Arnold) Ju

    On reading that the 21st century would be known as the century of biology, mechanical engineering graduate Lining (Arnold) Ju decided to pursue a PhD in biomedical engineering. He is currently a postdoc at the Heart Research Institute and a lecturer at the University of Sydney in Australia, where he studies how platelets sense mechanical forces and how problems in this process can lead to various blood diseases.