Research lives and cultures

Dr Sara Vasconcelos is an Associate Professor based at the University of Toronto in the Institute of Biomedical Engineering with a research team in the Toronto General Hospital: University Health Network (UHN). Her research focuses on tissue engineering approaches to address cardiovascular problems. Imagine getting your first grant as a PI and not been able to take it because of visa issues for your partner. That’s the arduous path Sara found herself on, before moving to Canada. Imagine getting your first grant as a PI and not been able to take it because of visa issues for your partner. This is what happened to Sara, who had gained her first grant as a PI while working in the US. Sara had the modesty and courage to go back to a Postdoc position, before applying for a second time to gain independent funding and be able to start a research group in Canada. Her early experience of the research process at the start of her PhD in Brazil taught her to be meticulous in the planning of experimental work. The level of funding for research is highly uneven across the world and the more limited access to research funding in these early years of her PhD shaped her discipline in being thoughtful during experimental design. The scope of her learning expanded during her PhD as she was given the opportunity to work in part in the US; the more generous funding situation in the US allowed her to think differently about her research. As a foreign scientist, learning to work and write in English were important stages in her professional development; she enjoyed learning about different cultures. Her US PhD mentor in Alabama invited her to come back for an additional research visit before she transitioned to a Postdoc in Kentucky. The Postdoc period was a transition for her work from in vitro to in vivo research. An ongoing source of support has been a buddy group she is part of, with other women. They meet once a month and support each other to navigate the wave of challenging situation in their academic progression. Protecting time and managing priorities remain one of the biggest challenges. Her buddy peer group is an important anchor when facing the tumultuous time of a building a research team. Sara feels that the early years of building her team were easier when she still had a small team. Now, with an expanding team, finding a way to manage the many institutional and research demands whilst maintaining a high level of support for her team means revisiting her approach to leading her group. As a busy research group leader who still wants to hear the details of each research project she supervises, but with new global responsibilities as a team leader on larger multi strand projects, Sara’s approach to supervision, delegation and research leadership is fast evolving. Sara shares that for her, managing well researchers is about starting from a mindset of curiosity in the way she engages her team member, not assuming that what would work for her will work for others. Questions are the pivots of good supervision and research management. Questions take us away from making assumption. Questions create a space for others to think. Questions build ownership. Questions allow clarity in communication. As a more senior academic, Sara is now involved in institutional committee work. Making change happen in committee work can be incredibly challenging. Sara has learned that having partners/ champions on committees and steering groups help to promote the agenda of what you think need to change. Creating partnership with others to build more voices to influence change is part of what Sara is doing in furthering her leadership involvement. Listening to our conversation will prompt your thinking:

Prof. Thushan de Silva is an Infectious Diseases Clinician Scientist at The University of Sheffield. His research journey started during his medical training and continued thanks to several clinical fellowships that have allowed him protected time to build his research portfolio alongside continuing clinical work. Thushan is currently working as a Senior Clinical Lecturer at The University of Sheffield. He was heavily involved in SARS-CoV-2 research through the COVID-19 pandemic and was recognised with an MBE in 2021 for services to COVID-19 research. It took Thushan several attempts to obtain a funded Clinical PhD but this did not deter him from following a mentor to undertake a PhD at an MRC centre in the Gambia. This was the perfect hub for a clinician interested in infectious diseases to experience both field work and laboratory research. This extended period of research in the Gambia during an MRC Clinical Research Training Fellowship and a Wellcome Trust Intermediate Clinical Fellowship provided a fertile terrain to build his research portfolio, but also to understand the culture of undertaking research in a Global South context. This gave him the time to build a strong network of colleagues and collaborators committed to undertake work in the African context. Researchers often worry about changing research topics at the end of their PhD or Postdoc. Thushan did change his research direction and accepts that it can be difficult to articulate a congruent and powerful narrative about a shift in research direction to the funders. His logic of choice came from feeling more inspired to continue his work on vaccine development instead of remaining in the area of pathogenesis of HIV-2 infection and the molecular epidemiology of HIV-1 and HIV-2 in West Africa. Identifying the right balance for compartimentalising research and clinical practice is a crucial step for Clinical academics. It is likely that it will require substantial negotiations in the clinical setting and the academic department. It may be worth encouraging new clinical academics and clinical PhD students to explore what is working and not working for them. They may not know until they have started. Getting them to become aware of what is going to be manageable in the long term is essential. If a pattern of clinical and academic work has been set but is not working, or is just not manageable, encouraging clinical PGR or clinical academics to not give themselves such a hard time, but go back to the drawing board and explore alternative options for work patterns. Listening to our conversation will prompt your thinking:

Not everyone can say that their PhD recruitment interview took place from an exotic place; well Rebecca started her research career following a phone interview whilst she was travelling in Borneo. To me, this is an interesting career trait of not seeing limitations in a less than perfect situation, but a positive attitude in believing in positive outcomes. Dr Rebecca Dumbell is a senior lecturer at Nottingham Trent University. She is steadily building a research team having gained her academic position just when we entered the Covid pandemic. She has already acquired many valuable practices as a new PI, from practising routine reflection to co-producing agreements on communication approaches with her team. It took Rebecca 2 postdoctoral periods prior to jumping into the PI role as a lecturer at Nottingham Trent University. Her transition to gaining an academic position, from the time she started to apply for position seems to have been fairly quick. This likely stems from the many opportunities she took throughout her PhD and Postdoc positions. She describes the building of her network as being of particular importance in her career transition. Her strategy in choosing opportunities on the basis of what she enjoys has clearly paid off in her speedy transition. She is all too aware that academics need to make wise choices in the opportunities they take. Her mantra of “what can I say no to, to say yes to” written on a Post-it note on her desk is a reminder that staying focused and strategic is needed to not fall into overwhelm. Listening to our conversation will prompt your thinking:

Dr Joby Cole is an Infectious Disease and Acute Medicine Consultant for the National Health Services and an honorary lecturer at the University of Sheffield. He has held several clinical fellowships to enable him to undertake research alongside his clinical work. His current interest to give all patients the opportunity to get involved in clinical research projects as participation improves outcomes. He is also interested in contributing to novel ways of detecting microbial resistance that would allow fast identification of resistance and a faster approach to prescribing to right antibiotics to patients. Life in research for clinical academics is not a straightforward path. With an initial clinical fellowship and then a Welcome trust fellowship to undertake a PhD, the entry route into research for Joby could have been streamlined. It was not to be, as the Covid pandemic took control of our daily lives. As an infectious disease and acute medicine consultant, the Covid period meant going back full time to the NHS on the battlefield of a Covid ward and having to pause some of the interesting research work Joby had started during his PhD. As a clinician interested in both basic science and the application of research to clinical practice, Joby sees his role as being an important voice in influencing the direction of research projects that have the potential to contribute to medicine. Bringing in the bedside perspective to his basic science research colleagues and respecting others’ perspectives and skill set are his starting points in his collaborative approaches. His experience has taught him that there is great value in experiencing being involved in research early on in your career as a clinician, and that getting involved as early as you can in your career makes transitions easier. Being a clinical academic often means being on the look-out for collaborations and funding where the limited time you have for research can be rewarded in a manageable way.

Dr Ruth Payne has a dual professional identity as a Consultant Microbiologist for the National Health Services (UK) as well as a Senior Clinical Lecturer at the University of Sheffield. Her interest in malaria vaccines may have been the starting point for her research career, but her expertise in vaccines became the corner stone of her ability to contribute to the Covid vaccine development efforts. Ruth entered the world of research as a doctor following her appointment on a research fellowship position that became her PhD work at the Jenner Institute, University of Oxford (2012 - 2016). Her interest in malaria and vaccine development is anchored in a childhood spent in East Africa and in seeing first-hand the impact of this disease. After her research fellowship/PhD, she went back full time to a clinical role in Nottingham before jumping into a Clinical Academic Lectureship position. Ruth calls herself “an accidental academic” and admits that it was the inspiring and supportive approach of her academic manager/ PhD supervisor during her research fellowship position and PhD that led her to continue a career that embraced both clinical work and research. Building a research team is never easy but establishing yourself as a new PI when you work 50% time as a clinician and 50% time in research, and then on top of that a world pandemic is forcing you to stop your research…well that is quite a start when you are a new Principal Investigator. This challenging period has brought her resilience and connections. During the Covid period, her experience in vaccine development enabled her to get involved in many new vaccine clinical trials projects, that she could never have predicted. It allowed her to jump into new projects and build very close working relationships with many new colleagues. It created opportunities to be involved at a national level in policies related to vaccine development (e.g., UK Clinical Vaccine Network, Covid19 task force of the British Society of Immunology). Listening to our conversation will prompt your thinking: · How embracing the silver lining of the Covid pandemic created more opportunities and exposure than ever · How embedding yourself into larger projects creates the economy of scale needed when you get started as a new PI · Why keeping lines of communication within your network increases your opportunities

Prof. Jason King is a research scientist at the University of Sheffield who progressed his career via the fellowship route. He has spent the last 10 years working as a Principal Investigator and building a team with the ebb and flow of PhD students and Postdoc contracts. Jason has travelled the country from Birmingham, Cardiff, Glasgow to Sheffield from his undergraduate degrees to his current role as a Cell Biology Professor. He has held 2 fellowships, following a long postdoctoral period at the The Beatson Institute for Cancer Research. Jason shares how building a research team can sometimes feel quite haphazard, and is shaped by the opportunities that arise. As a new PI eager to start a new research group, it can be difficult to not take opportunities to recruit team members quickly. However, finding your feet when you are transitioning from a Postdoc into a fellowship may takes slightly longer than you anticipate. There is a fine balance between the eagerness of recruiting team members, the availability of opportunities and having things set up for your group to be functional. His advice to new PIs would be to take their time at the beginning of their fellowship and not recruit too many people at the same time. Research teams are always in flux with team members joining and leaving. One of Jason’s concerns is the challenge of retaining critical technical skills in the team. Thinking about the transmission of key skills within a team is an important consideration for retaining research expertise. Listening to our conversation will prompt your thinking: research nicheappraising your approach to individual team memberspromoting efficient working More about Jason https://jasonkinglab.sites.sheffield.ac.uk/home

Dr Leili Rohani is a research scientist with a specialism in engineering heart tissues for cell therapy. Leili currently works at The University of British Columbia in Canada in the department of Cardiology and cardiovascular surgery. Leili has had an itinerant research career across different countries and continents. She started her career as a graduate in Iran, then moved abroad for a PhD in Germany, followed some Postdoctoral positions in Canada as well visiting research periods in Austria and the US. Leili is now at the threshold of wanting to establish her own research group and shifting towards research independence. Her interest in stem cell therapy may see her move either way to industry or academia. Listening to our conversation will prompt your thinking:

Dr Madeleine Jotz-Lean has always had a passion for mathematics and research, which was nurtured from an early age by her teachers and supervisors. She began her publication record early, with 10 articles to her name by the end of her PhD. After moving from the US to Sheffield into a lectureship, she became more involved and interested in teaching, as well as equality and diversity, particularly tackling unconscious bias and stereotypes. She has also been involved in public outreach, using knitting and crochet to explain complex mathematical concepts to a wider audience. Madeleine is now a Junior Professor at the University of Göttingen (Mathematisches Institut). Look at the interactive timeline: https://academicstories.group.shef.ac.uk/madeleine-jotz-lean/ More recent info about Madeleine: https://www.uni-math.gwdg.de/mjotz/home.html

Jonna Kulmuni’s love of nature began at an early age but biology wasn’t her strongest subject. The challenge was what drove her to pursue a biological career and she fell in love with ants during her Masters degree, where she worked with a very supportive group and continued on to a PhD. At the same time, she completed a Masters in Science Communication – an invaluable experience, which has supported her career ever since and seen her become increasingly engaged in public outreach. She came to Sheffield in 2014 as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow and is always thinking ahead about the next opportunity to apply for funding. Jonna is now a Principal Investigator at the University of Helsinski. https://researchportal.helsinki.fi/en/persons/jonna-kulmuni View her timeline: https://academicstories.group.shef.ac.uk/jonna-kulmuni/

Prof. Jim Thomas was inspired by his father to become a scientist but, after not achieving the best degree in Chemistry at Reading, he opted to teach in the UK before going to Western Kenya with Voluntary Services Overseas, where he taught in a rural high school for several years. This lent him a great deal of perspective and led him to revisit his childhood ambition of becoming a research scientist, commencing a PhD as a mature student. While his late entry into an academic career would normally mean that path was closed, he continued to pursue it, despite being offered a job in industry with a top company. He achieved a high profile Postdoc position with a Nobel prize winner in France but soon returned to the UK, to Sheffield, where he began to apply for fellowships. He was awarded a Royal Society University Research Fellowship but also chose to take on a relatively large teaching timetable to show his commitment to the department and also to get to know students with whom he might potentially collaborate in the future. He has also engaged in science communication work, which has honed his skills in terms of writing proposals and technical papers and generally being able to write in a more interesting way. More about Jim: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/chemistry/people/academic/jim-thomas Access career timeline: https://academicstories.group.shef.ac.uk/jim-thomas/

Dr Julie Hyde’s love of chemistry was inspired by her father and experimenting with him in the garden shed when she was young. She left school with no qualifications but got a job in the chemical industry as an Analytical Chemist while also studying part-time at college. It was here that one of her tutors suggested applying to university, which she did. After her BSc, Julie moved into lecturing/ teaching chemistry in Further Education. During this time she taught on both academic and vocational courses as well as managing vocational programmes. This job was later combined with part-time study in her spare time for a PhD in Organometallic Chemistry and Crystallography at the University of Sheffield, aided by an extremely supportive research group and teaching colleagues. Julie currently teaches undergraduate chemistry at the University of Sheffield specialising in laboratory programmes and for the last seven years she has spent approximately three months each year delivering practical chemistry on the University’s joint BSc with Nanjing Tech University (NJTech) in China. Julie is also the Director of the Year in Industry Programme in Chemistry. Julie is a Chartered Chemist (CChem) and Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC) and, alongside her teaching roles, she is also heavily involved in public outreach as the Schools Liaison Manager. Julie received a Senate Award in 2017 for excellence in learning and teaching in the category of Sustained Excellence and in 2018 was presented with an RSC award for her promotion of chemistry locally, nationally and internationally. https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/chemistry/people/academic/julie-hyde#tab00

Dr Nicola Nadeau became interested in the natural world at a young age. After studying Zoology at Newcastle, she secured a PhD at Cambridge in evolutionary genetics. She moved from being unsure that genetics was really the area she wanted to be in, to becoming captivated by the possibilities it presented. She thoroughly enjoyed the PhD process, helped along by a supportive department and supervisor. After completing her PhD and a brief stint as a postdoc with her PhD adviser, she moved on to a 5 year postdoc position in a different lab. With the support of her postdoc adviser, she developed a side project into a fellowship application. After a few unsuccessful attempts, she bolstered her publication record with some high profile articles and was eventually successful, securing a NERC fellowship at Sheffield. This was a major transition and quite lonely at times but she formed some strong collaborations and has now settled into managing her own research group on the evolution of structural colour in butterflies. More about Nicola: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/biosciences/people/academic-staff/nicola-nadeau Look at her timeline and career milestones: https://academicstories.group.shef.ac.uk/nicola-nadeau/

Dr Jenny Clark developed an interest in biology at school in Belgium, but found it too qualitative and so ended up studying physics at university. She did her undergraduate and Masters at Imperial College London, with a year in Padua, but a summer stint at UCL was enough to cement a desire to work in the field of Biophysics. However, for her PhD she chose to work in a completely different research area, attracted by a more positive and supportive atmosphere. Her supervisor moved away after her first year but she managed to acquire another via email, who became a collaborator, friend and mentor to her and gave her the confidence to move on with the next stages of her career. While an academic career path does generally mean moving around quite a lot, placing her relationship and family life first has never negatively impacted on her career. She continues to love her work and find it fascinating, learning something new every day. More on Jenny: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/physics/people/academic/jenny-clark#tab00 Explore Jenny's career timeline and milestones: https://academicstories.group.shef.ac.uk/jenny-clark/

Professor Sherif El-Khamisy started off in community and clinical pharmacy in Egypt but the repetitive and unchallenging nature of the work left him seeking more. He completed a Business Administration diploma at the same time as a Masters in Pharmaceutical Sciences before securing a PhD position in Sussex, attracted by better research funding and facilities to be found abroad. This was self-funded at first, but he soon acquired a scholarship with the help of an encouraging supervisor. After a failed attempt at setting up a research group back in Egypt, he went to the US to improve his research profile and make himself more competitive for fellowship positions. He brought back the training on mouse models of human disorders he had acquired there to the Genome Centre at Sussex, where the Director was supportive and made sure he was separated from his PhD supervisor. In 2012, he successfully established a Genome Centre in Egypt in partnership with a Nobel laureate to give something back to his country and, for himself, he gained huge experience in managing infrastructure and people. After his fellowship, he was drawn to the welcoming and nurturing research environment at Sheffield, where he took up his current role in 2013. More on Sherif: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/biosciences/people/academic-staff/sherif-el-khamisy#tab00 Explore Sherif's career timeline and milestones: https://academicstories.group.shef.ac.uk/sherif-el-khamisy/

Prof. Ivana Barbaric discovered a love of scientific research through competing in a national biology competition she entered in secondary school, for which she won 1st prize. Early on in her career, she realised the importance of networking and began to develop an international network of colleagues, as well as amassing new technical skills, through working and studying abroad. During her PhD in Oxford, she completely changed the direction of her research to focus primarily on a new found fascination with stem cells – a challenging but positive experience. She went on to a postdoc position at the University of Sheffield where she started to think about what she needed to do to obtain an academic position. She made sure to keep publishing in good journals, apply for lots of funding and show her willingness to teach, which she did by taking on undergraduate and Masters student groups and completing a Certificate in Learning and Teaching. More on Ivana : https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/biosciences/people/academic-staff/ivana-barbaric Explore Ivana 's career timeline and milestones: https://academicstories.group.shef.ac.uk/ivana-barbaric/

Dr Andrew Lin is a senior lecturer in the School of Biosciences at The University of Sheffield. He was previously Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow in the Department of Biomedical Science when he was awarded a 5-year European Research Council Starting Grant. From a young age Andrew had his sights set on a career in academic research, pursuing his passion for neurobiology. Following his PhD at the University of Cambridge, he took a slightly different direction with his postdoc to expose himself to a wider range of techniques, questions and approaches. More on Andrew: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/biosciences/people/academic-staff/andrew-lin#tab00 Explore Andrew's career timeline and milestones: https://academicstories.group.shef.ac.uk/andrew-lin/

Dr Rhoda Hawkins is academic director at the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS Ghana). Rhoda has been a lecturer, then senior lecturer in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Sheffield since 2011. Rhoda grew up in a Christian family, where she developed a keen interest in studying the world around her through science. Following her first degree at Oxford, she left to do her PhD at Leeds, where she had previously experienced a supportive research environment during a summer placement. After a number of postdoctoral positions in both Europe and the UK, one of which led her to question her place in science and academia, she regained her love of science and discovered a passion for teaching – a chance to step back from research and do something positive. She applied for a variety of fellowships before it was suggested to her that she should apply for a lectureship, as this was not necessarily more difficult to achieve. The balance between teaching and research is still important to her now in her lectureship and, while balancing the pressures and expectations of the role can be challenging, she enjoys every aspect. Have a look at milestones in Rhoda's career: https://academicstories.group.shef.ac.uk/rhoda-hawkins/ More on Rhoda: https://nexteinstein.org/a-conversion-with-dr-rhoda-hawkins/ https://rhoda-hawkins.sites.sheffield.ac.uk/

Dr Rebecca Corrigan first became enthralled by science at school and specialised in microbiology from the mid-point of her undergraduate studies. After a very successful summer placement, which produced 2 papers, she was certain that a career in scientific research was for her. She ended her PhD with a further 4 1st author papers that helped her secure a postdoc position but, as a naturally shy person, she had to push herself to speak at conferences and international events. She went on to produce more high impact publications during her postdoc and was able to focus on her enjoyment of bench science, including a funded trip to the US to learn a new technique to bring back to the lab. After one failed attempt, she consulted her supervisor for invaluable help and advice on applying for fellowships, which led to her securing her current 5-year role. This interview will allow you to think about: Explore Rebecca's timeline with important milestones in her research life: https://academicstories.group.shef.ac.uk/rebecca-corrigan/ Hear more about Rebecca: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/biosciences/people/academic-staff/rebecca-corrigan#tab02

Dr Rebecca Barnes has always had an enormous love of science and imparting knowledge to others. She applied for a variety of PhDs before ending up in Glasgow to study the molecular biology of parasites, where she realised a passion for the academic environment. She was invited to help set up a lab as a Postdoc by a young academic from the USA and so moved to the States, but the expectation and pressure made it a very stressful time. She transitioned to a project in a different lab and got some good data but the failures of lab work and lack of publications began to get to her. Following suggestions from her PI, she began to teach and demonstrate at a nearby community college, which cemented a desire to find a teaching-focused university role going forward. She applied for a number of jobs in the USA and the UK, ending up at Sheffield. Here, she relishes spending time with the students, supporting other academic colleagues and moving things forward in the department, having the time to direct her creative energies into more innovative teaching methods. View the video and timeline: https://academicstories.group.shef.ac.uk/rebecca-barnes/

Dr Silvia Valenzuela-Lamas is a Principal Investigator and archeologist at the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) in Spain. She was previously a recipient of a prestigious European Research Council Starting Grant. She used this success to leverage a permanent position back to her home country after several years of hard work and academic uncertainty. This discussion will get you thinking about: