24 MESSAGES ON A SUSTAINABLE CAREER IN RESEARCH AT UCPH 24 MESSAGES ON A SUSTAINABLE CAREER IN RESEARCH AT UCPH 24 MESSAGES ON A SUSTAINABLE CAREER IN RESEARCH AT UCPH The messages are written by the 24 scholars who completed the UCPH Forward programme in 2019. UCPH Forward is a new talent and elite programme recruiting 24 of the best scholars each year. PREAMBLE BY RECTOR HENRIK C. WEGENER Photo by: Jon Norddah When you work in research, you are most likely driven by I have encountered adversity, struggles, conflicts and periodically curiosity, passion and a quest for excellence in a scientific immense workloads throughout my career. I suspect all scientists discipline. These are some of the prerequisi AMELIE STEIN Research is often considered a passion, a calling. There is always more one could do. Yet I feel that innovative ideas emerge most easily from a rested mind that is able to unwind regularly. Like many peers I aim to juggle work and family; time for deep thought; dialogues with colleagu Due to my drive and passion for science, my work naturally takes up a lot of my time. When my efforts lead to meaningful and valuable outcomes like new knowledge, well-educated students, or a new drug candidate that might help patients ANDERS BACH one day I feel energised and rewarded. However, The challenges of a scientific career are familiar to many. There is a constant struggle for research funding and pressure to balance many competing tasks. As researchers, we can have a tendency to focus on these negatives, but I never forget what a privilege it is to do science for a living. I alwa CHRISTA GALL Astrophysics is a fast-paced, highly competitive research field. This comes with many consequences such as stereotypical mindsets, unclear career prospects, and high pressure to deliver paired with low success rates in obtaining funding, to just name a few. All these aspects impact on 13 CHRISTINA GRAVERT My research all boils down to the trade-off between doing something difficult or unpleasant now for significant benefits in the future the same situation every researcher faces. Our work is often slow and frustrating. Criticism, setbacks and failures outweigh success and positive DAVID GLORIAM What matters most to me is a sense of meaningfulness, sparring over findings and ideas, and life-long learning, for myself as well as for others whose work and careers I can nurture. Work-life balance can mean very different activities and timetabling for different people and goes bey 17 ELINE LORENZEN It is easy to lose yourself in academia. Competition is fierce: for grants, positions and impact. Like an all you-can-eat buffet, this rarely brings out the best in anyone. You can work yourself to the bone yet never be done; there will always be more papers to read, manuscripts to w 19 I am still at the beginning of my career: fresh out of my first postdoc with no permanent position in view and several grant applications pending. At this critical juncture, sustainable research could very easily become survive in academia. ELSA YVANEZ Anything would do as long as I can continue m ENRICO CAPPELLINI Based on my experience, the elements that contribute most to a sustainable career in research are vision, impact and focus. In the early career stages as an independent researcher, you usually have a direct perception of the real potential, and the current limits, of the experimen FREDERIK POULSEN Ever since I learned biblical Hebrew, I have been fascinated by the literary world of the Old Testament and I have shared my passion for reading and interpreting ancient texts in various forums. To me, a sustainable research career is a life-long engagement with this treasure of th JANUS MORTENSEN In my experience, life as a modern-day scholar is filled with paradoxes. You have to be pretty smart but also a little bit stupid to pursue a career in research. Smart because the competition for jobs and opportunities is fierce at all levels, a little bit stupid because life as a r 27 Travelling is a large part of my life as a researcher. These travels are demanding with a family back home, but I use them to energise myself and work like crazy in order to work shorter days when I am back with my family. I enjoy the various cities as a backdrop for my computer screen and as new sc I am an early career researcher juggling the professional demands of managing a lab, staying at the cutting edge of my field, teaching, and being a good university employee and co-worker. I also have a one-year-old daughter at home and JONATHAN SHIK am trying to find a new balance between work and KAMILLA MISKOWIAK To me, a sustainable research career has three key ingredients: passion, planning and outsourcing. Passion is the fuel without which a research career results in more sacrifices than gains. However, if you simply cannot live without research, you will enjoy the journey through its KARINA KIM EGHOLM ELGAARD Being part of highly specialised and competitive business and research environments where constant drive, dynamics, development and innovative thinking play the key roles is an integral part of a sustainable research career for me. I am curious, determined, hard-working an 35 KNUD JØNSSON I do fieldwork for a month every year, which is a challenge when you have a family. Other challenges in academia involve a rather loose job description with a lot of freedom but with few clear-cut assignments. Instead, there are high expectations to deliver large amounts of high-qualit 37 Throughout this journey, I have challenged myself across various academic topics and different countries. I learned machine learning and artificial intelligence for my PhD. I learned genomics and epigenomics during my postdoc. I KYOUNG JAE WON learned metabolic biology for my first academic job at LARS CYRIL NØRGAARD For me, a sustainable career is a complicated matter. Different things at different times make life as a researcher not just sustainable but desirable. My studies at the Faculty of Theology have given me a strong sense of academic citizenship: my individual research findings fit LOURDES CANTARERO ARÉVALO The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic has triggered a need in me to get closer to adolescents living under severe confinement and who have lost relatives or friends. I am doing this through a research initiative that aims at understanding how adolescents are experiencing their new re MARIA KRISTIANSEN Life as a researcher is often a balancing act. I am driven by passion, curiosity and an ambition to generate impact through science that branches out to and feeds from the surrounding society. However, this inner drive needs to be kept in check. Sustainability is about finding a p 45 Building up a research career requires a wide range of competences and achievements. It also requires the capacity to deal with criticism from our peers, rejections of applications, and a very high work load. If we are unsuccessful, we tend to MARIANNE NISSEN LUND work more hours in order to achie I am currently working to understand the extinction of species on oceanic islands, as islands were home to 60% of the species humans have driven to extinction over the last 500 years. I want to understand what happened and what MICHAEL K. BORREGAARD is, in fact, still happening. My deepest motivat NINA MOLIN HØYLANDKROGHSBO The academic world is increasingly built on a foundation of short-term grants and is filled with uncertainty. I try not to think about competition, and instead enjoy the beauty of discoveries. To me, a sustainable career includes having fun while developing new ideas, set RUNE IVERSEN Since I was a young boy, I wanted to become an archaeologist and learn about prehistoric cultures and lost civilizations. Regarding my career path, I have always followed my passion. The passion that compelled me to study archaeology in the first place also led me into research and bac 53 EPILOGUE BY ULLA VISKUM, JENS HJORTH & MARIELOUISE NOSCH Is well-being compatible with the elite and being talented? Can the highly competitive world of science encompass both mental and physical balance, mindfulness, music and focused thinking? In this booklet, we illustrate how 24 ambitious and hi 55 These reflections stem from the UCPH Forward programme, As in any field of society, demands and competition are ever an intensive 10-month talent development scheme with increasing. Scientists are eager to comply in order to perform systematic supervision, mentoring and coaching. Its goal is wo achievement. They have contributed significantly to the global pool of science and the ongoing, international dialogue with fellow academics. We hope that these 24 talented scholars will go on to inspire fellow researchers to choose unconventional UCPH FORWARD pathways and to be courageous. Scient ALL PORTRAITS IN THE BOOKLET ARE BY ARTIST AND PHOTOGRAPHER SUSTE BONNÉN, AND WE ARE GRATEFUL FOR HER CONTRIBUTION 59 24 MESSAGES ON A SUSTAINABLE CAREER IN RESEARCH AT UCPH Published by the University of Copenhagen Editing: Katrine Rønsig Larsen Photography: Suste Bonnén Copyright photographies: UCPH Forward Copyright texts: contributors UCPH Forward icon: Alban Alidjra-Vignal ISBN 978-87-93510-49-4 2020 Printed