PODCAST · business
Working Scientist
by Nature Careers
Working Scientist is the Nature Careers podcast. It is produced by Nature Portfolio, publishers of the international science journal Nature. Working Scientist is a regular free audio show featuring advice and information from global industry experts with a strong focus on supporting early career researchers working in academia and other sectors. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episodes
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Why failure is a taboo topic in science
Experiments fail and careers plans can go awry, forcing us to pivot in a different direction. Organizations also make mistakes. But failure, at both an individual and institutional level, can be a useful teacher. In the first episode of a six-part podcast series about failure in science, Nature...
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How jazz boosts my creativity in physics
Theoretical physicist Stephon Alexander was 12 years old when his father bought him a saxophone at a garage sale near their home in the Bronx, New York. Soon after he heard Ornette Coleman, a pioneer of free jazz, on the radio. “There was this saxophone playing that was completely out there,...
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Hit a lab project glitch? Thinking about your thesis title like a storyteller can help you focus
Frances Brodsky believes that writing her three mystery novels set in the world of bench science has improved her scientific writing. “I love making up titles for my books and chapters,” she says. “One of the best ways to train someone in the lab to focus on their project is for them to come up...
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Running a farm, pursuing a research career: what’s the difference?
Brandon Brown “fell into farming” after tiring of city life during the COVID-19 pandemic and now tends more than 150 fruit trees alongside his research into HIV and public health ethics at the University of California, Riverside School of Medicine. “I had to look at farming the same way that I…
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How a passion for baking fermented a fresh career move
Baking bread during Covid-19 lockdowns provided Chantle Edillor with some career inspiration. “I knew I wanted to do something different and an exploration in sourdough presented an opportunity that I felt uniquely able to pursue,” she says. In 2022, after completing PhD research into metabolic...
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How sewing can set you up for failure and success in science
Yasmin Proctor-Kent likens sewing to science. “I find them really hard to separate them in my brain. I don’t think I can sew without engaging the same part of my brain that I do science with,” she says. For Proctor-Kent, a research and development scientist at the cancer diagnostics company Leica...
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Hit a glitch in your research? Some ‘night science’ thinking could move it forward
The French biologist and Nobel prizewinner François Jacob talked about day and night science as part of the creative process that underpins research. The former, he argued in his 1988 autobiography, is a “cold, orderly logic” leading to a conclusion of the kind that gets covered in seminars and...
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How to thrive in science when you move abroad
Among the barriers faced by researchers who move abroad to develop their careers is a so-called “hidden curriculum,” says Sonali Majumdar, whose book, Thriving as an International Scientist, was published last year. Navigating these unwritten rules that cover social norms and cultural…
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How procrastination can rob you of career fulfilment in science
Simon May describes his 2025 book Jump! as a new approach to conquering procrastination. Unlike self-help manuals that urge readers to break tasks down into manageable chunks with clear deadlines, May digs into the philosophy of why we put things off. He also explores not only why we fear career...
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Why labs need a napping room to help you work, rest and play
Joseph Jebelli believes burnout and overwork has reached pandemic levels, telling Holly Newson that it kills 750,000 people annually, with three out of five workers struggling to maintain a healthy work-life balance. His 2025 book, The Brain At Rest, proposes that regular bouts of doing nothing…
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‘Be a problem-solver, not a job-seeker:’ how to pivot from academia to industry
Gertrude Nonterah helps researchers step off the academic hamster wheel and seek opportunities beyond their specialty. She does this by tapping into her personal experiences of losing a postdoctoral position when her lab leader’s funding ran out, followed by a role at a biotechnology company that...
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Nervous networker or conference presenter? Care less, says speech coach Susie Ashfield
Learning to care less about how you come across in a conference talk, funding pitch or networking event frees you to communicate more naturally and confidently, says Susie Ashfield. In the second episode of a podcast series focused on six books about the scientific workplace, Ashfield, whose 2025...
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Women in science are not a ‘problem to be fixed’
In the first episode of a podcast series focused on six books about the scientific workplace, Cordelia Fine tells Holly Newson why she wrote Patriarchy, Inc: What we Get Wrong About Gender Equality and Why Men Still Win at Work. Fine, a psychologist and workplace gender-equity researcher at the...
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Why an industry career move is a taboo topic in academia
In his role as research director at NielsenIQ, a consumer intelligence company based in London, Josh Balsters helps global brands drive product innovation. Balsters relies on expertise he gained in psychology and neuroscience, both during his PhD and as an assistant professor at Royal Holloway,...
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Academia’s parent trap: the struggles faced by researcher mothers
Alison Behie was approaching 40 when she underwent multiple rounds of IVF, enduring the mental and physical turmoil of miscarriage and uncertainty along the way. How good is the academic workplace at supporting women like Behie, a biological anthropology researcher at the Australian National...
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When a colleague dies: exploring academia's "death-denying culture"
In the sixth episode of Off Limits, a podcast series exploring topics that are often perceived as taboo in the academic workplace, three researchers describe their personal experiences of loss and how their respective institutions handled it, both practically and emotionally. Krista Harrison, a...
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‘We need to dismantle the stigma of alcohol dependence in academia’
Wendy Dossett tells Adam Levy why the stigma of having an alcohol dependence in academia can be a huge barrier to seeking help. “We’re supposed to be the brightest and the best, moving the frontiers of knowledge forward,” says Dossett, who has been in recovery for 20 years. “We’re not supposed to...
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Can academia handle my religious faith?
Elaine Howard Ecklund, a sociologist who studies attitudes towards religion in academic workplaces, says that scientists often feel they cannot be open about their faith at work. In the fourth episode of Off Limits, a podcast series exploring topics that are often perceived as taboo in the...
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‘Bodies like ours aren’t considered in academia’
Theo Newbold featured in a 2022 careers article about sizeism in science which discussed some accommodations that could make a difference in the workplace. Some follow-up comments on the discussion platform Reddit questioned whether Newbold and other interviewees in the article were suited to a...
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Campus protests and civil disobedience: does academia have a problem with activism?
In May 2024, Uli Beisel signed what she thought was a fairly innocuous petition. But it led to her face being printed in a national tabloid. This was after student demonstrators at the Free University of Berlin had occupied a lecture theatre in protest at the ongoing Israel assault on Gaza. The...
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'Coming out as a transgender scientist made me the best teacher I’ve ever been'
In 1997 Shannon Bros came out as a transgender woman to students and colleagues. “When I transitioned, everything stopped,” says Bros of her research career. “I had a huge friend base by that time. I was confident, you know, what I was doing. Everything collapsed overnight.” Bros, an emeritus...
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The problem with career planning in science
In June this year developmental biologist Ottoline Leyser stepped down as chief executive of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), the country’s national research funding agency. In the final episode of a six-part Working Scientist podcast series about career planning, Leyser tells Julie Gould how…
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How to pause and restart your science career
In the penultimate episode of this six-part podcast series about career planning in science, Julie Gould discusses some of the setbacks faced by junior researchers, including political upheaval, financial crises and a change in supervisor. Shortly after embarking on a PhD at Johannes Gutenberg...
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Keep, lose, add: a checklist for plotting your next career move in science
In the fourth episode of a six-part podcast series about science career planning, Julie Gould investigates "planned happenstance," a theory which encourages workers to embrace chance opportunities during their working lives. Holly Prescott, a careers guidance practitioner at the University of...
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When life gets in the way of your meticulously-planned career in science
In the third episode of this six-part Working Scientist podcast series about career planning, Sam Smith, a behavioral oncologist at the University of Leeds, UK, reflects on his plan as an early career researcher to relocate to the United States and become a professor. Did thing work out as…
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Two tools to help you achieve career success in science
Uschi Symmons says that attending a workshop about individual development plans (IDPs) during her molecular biology postdoc at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia blew her mind. Going away and crafting her own IDP helped her to identify technical skills she lacked, and consider...
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Tips and tricks to plan your career in science
Many junior researchers see career planning as a luxury item, feeling unable to spare time in their busy personal and professional lives to plan their next move or work out longer-term goals. In the first episode of a six-part Working Scientist podcast series about career planning in science,...
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Five reasons why Nepal struggles to attract women into science
Women are woefully under-represented in Nepalese science, says Babita Paudel. She blames a combination of gender stereotyping, a paucity of female role models and mentors, poor networking opportunities, institutional discrimination, and a societal pressure that pushes them towards other...
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Why strong mentorship was essential for my career success in science
JoAnn Trejo co-leads the Faculty Mentor Training Program at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) medical school, where, thanks to her efforts, the number of tenure-track faculty members from under-represented groups shot up by 38% from 2017 to 2022. Trejo, a pharmacologist whose…
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How Indigenous values permeate my chemistry teaching and research
Joslynn Lee seeks to bring Indigenous values and heritage into her chemistry and biochemistry teaching at Fort Lewis College. The institution in Durango, Colorado, is a Native American-serving non-tribal institution where 30% of its student population identifies as Indigenous, Native American or...
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Why I co-developed a research career launchpad for first generation students
Arezoo Khodayari and Laurie Barge started a mentoring collaboration more than a decade ago, providing students at California State University Los Angeles (Cal State LA) with paid research opportunities at Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), in nearly Pasadena, where Barge is based. Khodayari,...
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‘For AI to change how economies work, it has to represent all of us’
Vukosi Marivate helps to build scientific communities and networks for African researchers in machine learning and artificial intelligence. These include Deep Learning Indaba, an events and awards programme inspired by the isiZulu word for gathering. Marivate, a computer scientist at the…
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How AI can deepen inequities for non-native English speakers in science
A paper co-authored by Tatsuya Amano was rejected recently without review because its level of English did not meet the journal’s required standard. His research suggests that 38% of researchers who are not fluent in English have experienced similar rejections. Amano, whose first language is...
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Why I study trauma's genetic legacy
Rana Dajani studies epigenetics of trauma in vulnerable communities around the world. A molecular biologist based at the Hashemite University in Zarqa, Jordan, her research explores what genes are turned on and off through trauma and if they are transferred to future generations. In the second...
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The Māori values that make good sense in science
In her role as director of Bioprotection Aotearoa, a New Zealand Centre of Research Excellence, Amanda Black works with local communities to protect the country’s natural and food-producing ecosystems. Black says the Indigenous values that she applies in her role include te pono, which stands for...
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Celebrating researchers who make the scientific workplace more inclusive
Nature's 2022 special issue on racism in science spawned a follow-up Q&A series with researchers who champion inclusion in their workplace or community. Now eight of the 21 Changemakers who have appeared in the series so far revisit their stories in a podcast series that also explores their…
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Why science recruiters struggle to find high-calibre candidates
In the final episode of this six-part podcast series about hiring in science, Julie Gould asks what it takes to be the perfect candidate for a science job vacancy. Lauren Celano, a careers coach who co-founded Propel Careers, based in Boston, Massachusetts, in 2009, defines a high-calibre…
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Should I use AI to help draft my science job application?
In the penultimate episode of this six-part podcast series about hiring and getting hired in science, Julie Gould investigates how artificial intelligence (AI) is being used by recruiters to draft job ads, process applications and shortlist candidates. She also asks how recruiters feel about...
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Salary negotiations: a guide for scientists
Three researchers and a career coach discuss if there as much scope to negotiate salaries in academia as there is in industry. In either setting, they say, negotiation should not be a battleground. Hiring managers should not take advantage of a beloved future colleague who may have zero…
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How to delight your future boss at a science job interview
Should you tailor your job interview style based on the age, gender and cultural background of the person asking the questions? Margot Smit and Dietmar Hutmacher compare their approaches to hiring and how generational influences might shape how they respond to candidates. Smit, a plant molecular...
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Seeking a job in science? How hiring practices across industry and academia compare
Julie Gould compares hiring practices across industry and academia by seeking perspectives from Tina Persson, an organic chemist-turned-careers coach based in Malmö, Sweden, and Lauren Celano, a recruitment consultant who founded Propel Careers, based in Boston, Massachusetts, in 2009. Persson,...
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Curiosity, drive, willingness to learn: three qualities to display at science job interviews
Successful job candidates aren’t necessarily the smartest or most confident people in the room, Ilana Wisby tells Julie Gould in the first episode of a six-part weekly podcast series about hiring in science. Wisby, a physicist and former chief executive of Oxford Quantum Circuits, which builds...
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How academia’s ‘lone wolf’ culture is harming researcher mental health
Academia’s focus on individual achievement can be a breeding ground for poor mental health, says astrophysicist Kelly Korreck. Korreck, who experienced pandemic-related burnout while working on NASA’s Parker Solar Probe, describes a competitive and ultimately damaging ‘lone wolf’ culture. She is...
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How to bring health and happiness to your lab
A relentless pursuit of perfection in science can mean that researchers are in perpetual and self-critical ‘survival mode,’ forever questioning their behaviours and actions in the workplace, says clinical psychologist Desiree Dickerson. “We are not very good at taking the spotlight off ourselves…
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‘Researching climate change feels like standing in the path of an approaching train’
Three researchers with personal experience of anxiety and depression triggered by studying the environmental destruction caused by a changing climate describe the steps they take to protect their mental health. Ruth Cerezo-Mota, a climate scientist based at the National Autonomous University of...
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How my research focus exposed me to threats and harassment
Krutika Kuppalli, a physician researcher who studies emerging infectious diseases, joined the World Health Organization in 2021, where she worked to combat the COVID-19 on a global level. She had previously been targeted by threats and harassment as a result of media and US congressional...
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‘There is life after burnout in academia’
Kelly Korreck tells Adam Levy how a once-loved career in science gradually left her feeling exhausted, upset, and chronically stressed, with accompanying feelings of imposter syndrome. In 2020 the COVID-19 pandemic deprived Korreck, an astrophysicist then working on NASA's Parker Solar Probe, of...
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‘Do I need to lead this lifestyle to succeed?’ The mental health crises that forced faculty members to change tack
Hilal Lashuel and Dave Reay join Michelle Kimple to talk about faculty mental health and why it is often overlooked. A heart attack in 2016 forced Lashuel, a neurogenerative diseases researcher at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, to question success in science and how it is...
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How to be a brilliant ally to your neurodivergent lab mate
Charlotte Roughton says she developed a deep-rooted shame and resentment towards her autism diagnosis, causing her to mask the condition during her biosciences degree at the University of Durham, UK. But socially camouflaging and striving to appear as neurotypical to others led to burnout and…
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Mind matters: investigating academia’s ‘mental health crisis’
Why do so many academics struggle to ‘power down’ at the end of a long working day, and what are the longer-term health effects of failing to switch off at evenings and weekends? Desiree Dickerson is a clinical psychologist based in Valencia, Spain, who works with academic institutions to develop...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Working Scientist is the Nature Careers podcast. It is produced by Nature Portfolio, publishers of the international science journal Nature. Working Scientist is a regular free audio show featuring advice and information from global industry experts with a strong focus on supporting early career researchers working in academia and other sectors.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
HOSTED BY
Nature Careers
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Working Scientist have?
Working Scientist currently has 229 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Working Scientist about?
Working Scientist is the Nature Careers podcast. It is produced by Nature Portfolio, publishers of the international science journal Nature. Working Scientist is a regular free audio show featuring advice and information from global industry experts with a strong focus on supporting early career...
How often does Working Scientist release new episodes?
Working Scientist publishes regularly with 229 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
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You can listen to Working Scientist on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Working Scientist?
Working Scientist is created and hosted by Nature Careers.
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