Shifting to new research roads
Dr Nicolas Bonnet
Many researchers ask themselves how they may know what the right time is to move into industry after a research career in academia. There is probably not a single right answer as it will completely depends on your experiences and context. Dr Nicolas Bonnet is someone who has recently made the jump and who is keen to create close connections between academic and industrial research. He shares with us some elements in his research career path.
About Nicolas
Nicola Bonnet gained his PhD from the University of Orleans (France) before moving to Switzerland to work as a postdoctoral fellow in the Division of Bone Diseases, in Geneva. He worked for many years at the University of Geneva and developed close working relationships with industrial partners. More recently, he has moved into industry (Nestlé Research Center).
Get in touch with Nicolas
This will get you thinking about:
· Why early conversations between PI and Postdocs matter to help transition towards research independence
· How seeing your capacity to develop new research ideas as an endless process support your research transition
· What equilibrium are you seeking between the happiness of your family and your research career aspiration
Some reflections and questions to ponder based on my discussion with Nicolas
When you feel scared about letting go of your Postdoctoral project
Nicolas admits that during his postdoctoral project, he was just happy working in the lab, focusing on getting the science done. He did not really have at the time a defined strategy for the future. His strategy was about doing great experimental work and publishing in good journals. Whilst no research career can progress without the intensity of this focus, there reached a point in all postdoctoral research careers, where individuals need to shift gears and start considering their next steps. If the intention is to remain in academia through a fellowship or lectureship, a major step for Postdocs is to start defining a research niche away from their mentor/ principal investigators.
When you have worked for many years on a research project as a Postdoc, you will feel that you own the project. However, for many Postdocs, their research funding will have come from a PI who got the grant and whose research career may have been built on focusing on a very narrow research area. Whilst a Postdoc may have spent several years working on this project, there comes a time when conversations need to happen between PI and Postdocs about who takes what forward.
Developing their own individual research niche, away from their PI, can be an incredibly frustrating and challenging period for postdoctoral researchers. When is the right time to start discussing about this? Each time, I have run a Postdoc induction, I have always included a conversation on this very issue. Getting both parties- PIs and Postdocs- to have honest conversations from the start about research ownership is not something we see often. It is probably not that people do not want to have these conversations. It is more that research is complex and messy. We know the start of projects, but we never know where they will end up.
Weaving conversations about a Postdoc’s future research niche should probably be something, that is an ongoing process throughout a postdoctoral contract instead of waiting the end of a contract and the end of the funding. Of course, not all Postdocs will become fellows and PIs; some do not want to, while others may not have sufficient publication track records to progress and access independent funding. Some will have great research ideas, but may not be so good at communicating them.
The greatest gift a PI can do in supporting their Postdocs in their research career is not to just get them their next round of research contract, it is to get them to reach a position where they have defined their own research niche and have the publication track record that will convince funders to invest in them. Nurturing the next generation of research leaders is about nurturing research independence.
As a PI:
o When do you start discussions with your Postdocs about the transition into their own research area?
o How do you feel about letting go of some projects that Postdocs may want to continue after they leave your group?
o What actions are you taking as a leader to support the transition of your Postdocs into their own independent research space?
As a Postdoc:
o What are you waiting to develop side projects and new ideas to take your Postdoc project and skills beyond and develop your own research area?
o What do you need from your PI to ease this transition? Have you asked for what you need?
o Can you prepare yourself to let go of your Postdoc project and see that there is no limit to your research ideas? Can you let go and move on to develop your very own research space?
Enthusiasm goes a long way, however…
Nicolas reminds us in the podcast that the way we present our work, the way we showcase our excitement and motivation for our work has tremendous impact on how we will be perceived by others. All our professional interactions are aimed at creating connections and dialogues with others, whether they are academic peers, potential collaborators, patients, industrial partners or other stakeholders. Engaging others starts by communicating that we really care about the work, whether it is our own work or the work of others.
We are always told that first impressions matter. With this, there is of course the challenge of all the biases that we hold. How we showcase our enthusiasm for our research could look very different based on our personality, preferences, cultural and educational background. Finding a way to showcase our enthusiasm and capacities when we engage others in our work is not about doing a happy dance that will work no matter what. Like Nicolas says, we have to be ourselves in the way we engage others. This does not mean that we do not need to work hard at finding ways to engage better with others, but we just have to find a way that works for us and connect with others.
Paying attention to the biases that we hold in the way we expect others to showcase their motivation for their work is important. If we are only prepared to engage with those who can do the happy dance in talking about their research, we are probably missing out on many interesting conversations and collaborations.
In reflecting on who you engage with, when you attend a meeting or conference, start paying attention about who you are drawn to talk to during the coffee break. Is it the loud-mouth, self-assured and boldly confident researchers? Or are you taking the time to talk with the foreign researcher, who has got a really strong accent? Are you disregarding attempting conversations with the presenter whose slides were overcomplicated, but who may be better at talking about their work directly with you?
I think that the concept of the echo chamber is a useful one when we think about who we connect to in the research world. We all like to connect to people who are like us. We like to work with people who are like us. That’s why changing the landscape and diversity of the research culture is so difficult. We all have a responsibility to challenge ourselves to engage with others who are very different from us, from the way they communicate and interact, to the ideas and research methodologies they develop.
o When you think “enthusiastic and motivated researcher”, who do you see?
o Who are you missing out from this category? Who are you excluding without even engaging?
o What is your own approach to showcasing that you are an “enthusiastic and motivated researcher”?
o Who may not engage with you, as a result of your own approach?
o Can you be more proactive in reaching out to those who may not include you in the inner circle of those they are reaching out?
“when you start to initiate a discussion with somebody which is new, the first thing that I start to show them is that I’m exciting and quite highly motivating on this specific project. And when we see that, actually we say, wow, this guy is quite motivated. I want to join team. And this changed everything.”
