This month we talk with Ana Boskovic about her experience of setting up her own lab and hiring a new team Ana began studying languages and literature… but found it too easy, so she switched She questions whether you are ever ‘ready’ to set up your own lab It’s important that you find the right ‘fit’ for the place you want to work and this should be a supportive environment She learnt early that it is important to hire people with diverse personalities who each fill a gap in the skills the lab ne...
Nov 26, 2024•56 min•Season 3Ep. 8
This month Ivan Oransky joins us to talk about his work as a journalist and advocate for monitoring scientific misconduct. Ivan confesses about his beginnings as a young playwright of the immune system He discusses how and why he left medicine to become a journalist Ivan’s mentors encouraged him to develop by getting experience as a journalist and editor Ivan reflects on how his training as a physician was helpful and allowed people to trust him He stresses how important it is to read in order t...
Oct 29, 2024•50 min•Season 3Ep. 7
This month we enjoyed talking to Arjun Raj about his interdisciplinary approaches to studying biological systems Arjun shares how he almost became a truck driver and experimented with a career in an (unnamed) rock band He tells us about his journey from mathematics to quantitative biology and he shares thoughts about comparing biology with physics and what they can learn from each other He says we all struggle with how to teach creativity and how to evaluate the most promising ideas. Arjun discu...
Oct 01, 2024•58 min•Season 3Ep. 6
This month Alicia Rojas tells us about her journey from Costa Rica to Israel and back, in search of pathogens and parasites Alicia shares the personal difficulties of being far from home and how she missed family and food She reflects on coming back to Costa Rica to explore its rich biodiversity She recalls the challenges of returning from a luxurious postdoc at the Weizmann Institute to setting up her own lab in Costa Rica during a pandemic She discusses the need to be resilient and creative an...
Jul 29, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Season 3Ep. 5
This month Hans Clevers talks to us about his productive career and his pioneering work on organoid technologies. Hans admits that he initially found biology frustrating and disappointing But then he learnt to enjoy the rare spark of excitement from discoveries He managed to get his PhD in just one year! You need to trust yourself and learn to share with others Hans warns new group leaders not to expect too much from younger colleagues It’s important to give your students their own space He pain...
Jun 25, 2024•59 min•Season 3Ep. 4
Today we chat with postdoc Nour El Houda Mimouni about her passionate commitment to improving womens’ health. Nour urges young scientists to get themselves a support group from the beginning She also insists on the importance of developing interests outside of the lab Addressing womens’ health issues is ‘not just a job’ for Nour She recommends students to not alway blindly follow other people's advice She discusses her advocacy work at the European Health Parliament She thinks that every scienti...
May 28, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Season 3Ep. 3
In this episode, we kick off our Season 3 guests with David Fajgenbaum who shares his extraordinary journey to cure himself from Castleman disease. David shares his very personal story of searching for a cure to his own disease He describes how having a vision for the future helped him to survive He insists that patients can be part of the process and can be active collaborators in the search for cures He pleads for a shift from an Investigator initiated model to a Community initiated model invo...
Apr 29, 2024•1 hr 12 min•Season 3Ep. 2
In this episode Renaud and Jonathan share their excitement about the launch of Season 3 of The Lonely Pipette podcast. BUT this time, they are not the ones asking the questions. 💌 Subscribe and receive the next season in you mailbox To find out more about Renaud and Jonathan : Twitter : https://twitter.com/LePourpre LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/renaudpourpre/ Twitter : https://twitter.com/Epigenetique LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanweitzman/%20 More about the soundtrac...
Mar 26, 2024•1 hr 6 min•Season 3Ep. 1
Dear Lonely Pipetters, Season 2 has been an amazing journey, BUT Season 3 will be awesome. We are so proud to be still here, with you supporting us. Thank you! In this final episode, we take the chance to give you untold stories about Season 2 making-of, personal stories and what you can do to help us build Season 3. Don’t miss it out ! Subscribe to be updated when Season 3 starts : https://bit.ly/NLTLP To find out more about Renaud and Jonathan : Twitter : https://twitter.com/LePourpre LinkedIn...
Aug 22, 2023•39 min•Season 2Ep. 16
This week, we talk to Maria Leptin about her path to the head of the European Research Council Maria claims she didn’t receive any formal mentoring advice, but rather absorbed and learnt along the way Against the perceived wisdom, Maria warns against the advice to be continually networking. She advises to listen to what others say and then add your own thoughts. Maria is sure that if you really enjoy the stuff you're doing, then you will do it well and you'll get something out of it. She says th...
Jul 25, 2023•42 min•Season 2Ep. 15
This week, we meet our first philosopher guest - Thomas Pradeu tells us what scientist can learn from philosophers Thomas shares his journey navigating from philosophy to immunology and biology He explains the difference between ‘philosophy IN biology’ compared to ‘philosophy OF biology’ He mentions ‘mutual ignorance’ - that scientists often don’t know about philosophers who would be interested in their science Thomas argues that philosophers should be brought in at the beginning of a project ra...
Jun 14, 2023•1 hr 16 min•Season 2Ep. 14
This week, Elphege Nora shares personal thoughts on his journey from Paris to California Elphege discovered at an early age that the best way to explain who we are is to look back at where we come from and our evolutionary trajectories From his earliest research experiences, Elphege was intrigued about the sociology of the lab and it’s unusual social etiquette He shares his memories of working with Edith Heard and what she taught him about mentoring He claims that personality tests can be useful...
May 17, 2023•1 hr 13 min•Season 2Ep. 13
This week, Christophe Lavelle shares his double passion for science and for cooking Christophe left engineering studies for the freedom of research science. And then he jumped from physics to biology for his PhD studies He thinks science makes him a better cook and cites lots of specific examples He describes his very free mentoring style and questions what makes a good mentor He describes his chaotic ‘schizophrenic’’ interdisciplinary interests What has to be done has to be well done - else don...
Apr 18, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Season 2Ep. 12
This week, Ana-Maria Lennon-Dumenil tells us about her passion for science interfacing with physics and her journey from Santiago to Paris Ana-Maria was inspired from a very young age by her namesake Ana-Maria Lenon She quickly left genetics because ‘DNA doesn't move enough’ She stresses that every Principal Investigator needs to find their own way and warns against trying to imitate others Ana-Maria feels that the biggest mistake is to think that everyone in the lab is like you (instead of appr...
Feb 22, 2023•1 hr 18 min•Season 2Ep. 11
In this episode, we talk to George Church about his successful career in DNA repair and his entrepreneurial adventures translating research findings into biotech companies George proudly describes himself as a biologist-engineer He ponders whether his dyslexia may have helped him by making him realize he was different from others when he was growing up He looks for projects in ‘exponential fields’ that combine pure scientific interest, technology breakthroughs and bring societal benefit. George ...
Feb 07, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Season 2Ep. 10
In this episode, we talk with the multi-talented Jenny Rohn about her journey zig-zagging from academia to a biotech-startup, to science publishing and then back into academia. She tells us about her unconventional path and how she decided to go to a start-up and then come back to academic research She made long, agonizing lists about pros and cons of leaving or staying in academia This period of indecision led her to start writing novels Jenny admits that it was not easy to get back on to an ac...
Jan 24, 2023•1 hr 11 min•Season 2Ep. 9
Get ready for 2023 ! In this special episode, we're going to change the narrative. We're going to dive into this original narrative-interview with 4 scientists who experienced an original meeting with us. Invited by Jean-Leon Maître in the south of France at the fondation Les Treilles, are you ready to ask yourself why you go to science conferences? Our special guests are : Jean-Léon Maître , the organizer of the meeting, CNRS research director at the Institut Curie, at Paris, France Rita Mateus...
Jan 10, 2023•44 min•Season 2Ep. 8
This week we have a surprise treat - a conversation with Jonathan’s twin brother, Matt. He discusses his energetic commitment to mentoring and grant-writing workshops. They share their genetics, but also a desire to “help scientists do better science” Matthew comments on the usefulness of healthy competition in science Matt compares the joy of running a lab to cooking in the kitchen He loves the flexibility of science and constantly stimulated by interactions with colleagues and young scientists...
Dec 06, 2022•1 hr 6 min•Season 2Ep. 7
This week, we talk with Ashani Weeraratna about her inspiring path from apartheid South Africa to director, professor and activist. Ashi cites good advice that she remembers “ read voraciously … and be engaged with the literature” She insists that mentoring is all about the trainees and hearing their individual needs Ashi believes that diversity of thought needs diversity of population and stresses the importance of welcoming different groups into the lab For her, representation matters and it i...
Nov 22, 2022•58 min•Season 2Ep. 6
In this episode, we speak with André Choulika about his exciting journey from a bench scientist to a biotech entrepreneur taking genomic engineering to the clinic André shares his fascination about the logic of biological systems and his admiration for experimentalists “You can always do something else if it fails” insists André André stresses that the boss has to take responsibilities for decisions “You don’t hire people to tell them what to do, but they should tell you what needs to be done” “...
Nov 08, 2022•53 min•Season 2Ep. 5
In this episode, we step beyond the life sciences to talk with Jen Heemstra, a professor of chemistry who brings much energy to thinking about mentoring and improving academic culture Jen tells us how early failures drove her to strive for success in science She shares how she overcame early doubts about an academic career She talks about how different students need different mentoring styles and how important it is to adjust each time She admits that she is so excited about all her roles that s...
Oct 24, 2022•1 hr 11 min•Season 2Ep. 4
In this episode, we speak with Steve Jackson about his successful career in DNA repair and his entrepreneurial adventures translating research findings into biotech companies He remembers his early passion for innovation and for dark heavy rock He was even turned down by the University of Cambridge when he first applied Steve reminisces about the serendipity that led him into the DNA repair field How important it is to create a collaborative, cooperative and fun lab environment “The highs become...
Oct 10, 2022•58 min•Season 2Ep. 3
In this episode, we were honoured to kick-off Season 2 talking to Edith Heard about her journey to become the first woman to lead the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL). She tells us about her early experiences of patients with diseases Edith emphasizes the importance of doubt for a scientist She says “mentoring is about caring” and mentions TLP guest Susan Gasser She stresses the importance of changing environments (like taking a sabbatical) and stepping out of your comfort zone She l...
Sep 26, 2022•1 hr 5 min•Season 2Ep. 2
In this episode Renaud and Jonathan share their excitement about the launch of Season 2 of The Lonely Pipette podcast They look back at Season 1 and what they learned from the tips of the TLP guests Renaud and Jonathan share their thoughts about science communication They update The Lonely Pipette community about what we have been up to over the last year Renaud describes his Cell Worlds immersive cell biology show Renaud explains how important it is to be persistent in science communication Jon...
Sep 12, 2022•47 min•Season 2Ep. 1
In this episode Renaud and Jonathan share their tips and thoughts about the first season of The Lonely Pipette podcast. Renaud and Jonathan tell their own ‘origin stories’ And we discuss the origins of the podcast and what we have learned We talk about non-linear careers in science We discuss the #HSDBS mission and how we are both committed, in our own ways, to helping scientists do better science We talk about highlights from Season 1 and share some of the joys of listener feedback And we make ...
Feb 08, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 10
Subscribe and receive the next podcast in you mailbox Tell us your thoughts about this episode Last summer, we were honored to host Magdalena Skipper, Editor of Nature, to share her tips with the community. When Nature announced its new Open Access policy in November 2020, we asked her to come back for another interview in January 2021, to discuss these specific issues. This episode is in two parts: the classic interview with Magdalena sharing her stories with the community and a second part wit...
Jan 25, 2021•2 hr 10 min•Season 1Ep. 9
Subscribe and receive the next podcast in you mailbox Tell us your thoughts about this episode In the first episode of the new year we talk to Oded Rechavi about his unusual way of doing science and new ways of sharing science. He tells us about his meandering path from painting in Paris to studying epigenetics in worms Oded repeatedly highlights the importance of not over-planning one’s career or path in science He stresses that it’s important to keep encountering new ideas, testing and failing...
Jan 11, 2021•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 8
Subscribe and receive the next podcast in you mailbox Leave us a voice message about this episode In this episode Wendy Bickmore shares her personal thoughts about mentoring, recruiting, publishing and making mistakes We discuss about establishing and maintaining relationships with mentors Wendy offers thought about how to recruit members to your team She also comments on the craziness of the current models of scientific publishing and peer review Wendy says sometime you just have to learn to ‘w...
Dec 14, 2020•47 min•Season 1Ep. 7
Subscribe and receive the next podcast in you mailbox Leave us a voice message about this episode In this episode we talk to Maria-Elena Torres-Padilla about how she followed her dreams from Mexico to the Pasteur Institute and then to direct a new institute in Munich. She tells us about how she followed her dream to come to work in Paris She discusses how she chooses scientific questions and which model to work on Maria Elena was always driven by her passion and curiosity which helped her to ove...
Nov 30, 2020•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 6
In this episode Bob Weinberg discusses his long career in cancer research and offers tips about recruiting and mentoring. Bob talks about his motivation to simplify the complexity of cancer biology by distilling out a small set of rules We discuss the virtues of being a ‘scientific gypsy’ and Bob stresses the importance of getting the right balance between a narrow focus and a broad interest in different areas of science We talk about different mentoring styles and get useful tips about how to r...
Nov 16, 2020•55 min•Season 1Ep. 5
