52- Prof. Jim Thomas- Focusing the mind

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-thomasAccess career timeline:https://academicstories.group.shef.ac.uk/jim-thomas/