Working Scientist

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, completely wild,” he recalls. “You could just play whatever you want and make up whatever you want.” Alexander, a jazz saxophonist who now directs the Brown University Center for Theoretical Physics and Innovation, in Providence, Rhode Island, says: “I would not be the physicist I am today if weren't for my practice as a musician, especially as an improvisational musician.” He credits it for making him “more fluid and flexible mentally in terms of approaching and attacking physics problems,” some of which he ponders while watching performances in New York jazz clubs. In the final episode of Creativity in Science, a six-part podcast series, Alexander also lists his former high school physics teacher Daniel Kaplan as a key influence. He says that Kaplan, a professionally-trained jazz musician, taught him that “intuition is the lifeblood of a good physicist.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 with the title of a paper that they want to write. That tells them where they're going. Also, when I interview people, I ask them: ‘What is the title of the thesis you plan to write?’​​​​​​​”Brodsky, a cell biologist at University College London, writes under the pseudonym B. B. Jordan. Her books feature Celeste Braun, a virologist in San Francisco, California, who uses her scientific expertise to solve mysteries and fight crime. “Sitting down to write these novels, my scientific writing became markedly better,” she says. “The exercise of fiction writing helped me put my work into a narrative.​​​​​​​”In the penultimate episode of this six-part podcast series on creativity in science, Brodsky says the discipline of writing a novel has also taught her perseverance, adding: “When you start a writing project, you have to stick with it to get it to the end. Sticking with something and having faith that it will work out is a really good quality to have.​​​​​​​” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 look at my academic career, and to take it one day at a time with my eyes towards a goal,” he says.Brown says it took him a while for the realization to dawn. “My PhD taught me that the work is never done, and there’s always a new research project to pursue, more students to collaborate with, more policies to work on,” he says. “And since research builds on research, the fun never ends.”Mornings spent outdoors also gives him time to think about work priorities. “I have lots of free time to think as I do the farming, and many times I write down notes as I’m working, because ideas and kind of reminders and goals and deadlines pass through my mind,” he says.There are other benefits. Brown says he now falls asleep to the “beautiful” sound of howling coyotes, alongside possums, racoons, skunks, squirrels, lizards and gophers.This is the fourth episode in a six-part series about creativity in science. Previous episodes featured a researcher who draws parallels between her research and sewing, another whose pursuit of baking and fermentation revealed fresh career opportunities, and two researchers who follow the concept of “day and night science” to distinguish between routine tasks and reflection. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 diseases at the University of California Los Angeles, Edillor began a postdoc there, where she researched the anti-inflammatory properties of fermented foods. She now works as a fermented food scientist at Microcosm Foods, a non-profit research organization that maps connections between fermented foods, microbes and human health, a role she combines with assay development at the Astera Institute, a similar non-profit based in the Bay Area, San Francisco.  In the third episode of a six-part podcast series about creativity in science, Edillor says fermentation techniques re-ignited a childhood interest in cooking: “I have early memories of sitting and watching the Food Network with a metal bowl full of egg whites in my lap, holding a whisk and attempting to make stiff peak meringue, but also to understand how proteins capture air to create volume and texture.” Edillor’s culinary and scientific creativity extends to adding kombucha to leftover dinner party wine to make red wine vinegar, and making miso from blue tortillla chips. “Because the chips had been deep fried and fat does not necessarily ferment super well, it had this off flavour, kind of oxidized fat. I​​​​​​​’ll not be commercializing that anytime soon.”Summing up her career to date, she says: “I​​​​​​​’m a human geneticist masquerading as a yeast geneticist, masquerading as a microbiologist. There are certain areas of science that are less competitive and more collaborative. Those are the spaces I like to occupy.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Yasmin Proctor-Kent, an R&D scientist in cancer diagnostics who reached the finals of The Great British Sewing Bee, links sewing and science in surprising ways. She describes how lockdown rekindled her craft. She traces parallels between patterns and experiments. She encourages trying risky hobbies and embracing being bad while learning.

Martin Lercher, a computational cell biology professor in Düsseldorf and co-creator of Night Science workshops. Itai Yanai, an NYU professor studying gene regulation and cellular plasticity and creativity mentor. They explore the day versus night modes of research, using arts analogies and career pivots to spark fresh thinking. They share tools like beginner’s mind, yes-and play, metaphors and creative routines.

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 expectations, both in the lab and outside work, can feel particularly daunting to scientists who, like her, were born elsewhere, she adds. In addition, international scientists often have restrictive funding arrangements that tie them to a particular lab or Principal Investigator’s research focus, she says.US visa restrictions can often mean missing family events back home. Majumdar, for example, who gained a biochemistry and molecular biology PhD from the University of Georgia in Athena in 2014, could not return to India to attend her parents’ funerals. “It was probably the biggest sacrifice I’ve had to make in my life,” she says.  In the final episode of a six-part podcast series covering books about the scientific workplace, Majumdar, who is now assistant Dean for professional development at Princeton University in New Jersey, tells Holly Newson that having a “growth mindset” can help international scientists to thrive abroad.  This means not focusing on problems, but on possibilities and solutions, she says, supported by advisors, mentors, and sponsors. The US, she says, has a reputation as a melting pot of different cultures, a place to meet colleagues with a shared passion for science and solving problems. But in the last decade the climate for researchers who relocate there from abroad has become more difficult, she adds.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Simon May, visiting professor of philosophy at King’s College London and author of Jump, A New Philosophy for Conquering Procrastination, digs into why we delay and how the modern cult of productivity alienates us. He examines fear of failure and even fear of success. He reframes boredom and regret as signals, and suggests making big goals feel smaller so you can begin.

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 can change your life. Finding time to let your mind wander and take a daily 30-minute nap can make you more creative and efficient, he argues.  In the fourth episode of a six-part podcast series focused on books about the scientific workplace, Jebelli describes the "productivity guilt" he felt during his neuroscience PhD at University College London, where he studied the cell biology of neurodegenerative diseases, followed by a postdoc at the University of Washington, Seattle. "It's the guilt in which you equate your worth as a human being with your output, with how many hours you're in the lab. If it were up to me, there would be a napping room in all laboratories. We have to get it out of our heads that we’re switching off, shirking, or being irresponsible or reckless. We’re actually helping our brains produce our best work.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 ended after two months. Nonterah now works in medical communications and career counselling through The Bold PhD, a consultancy she set up in 2021, and a podcast, which she launched last year. Her 2025 book, Navigating the Pivot, promises strategies and insights to power career transitions from academia. In the third episode of a podcast series focused on books about the scientific workplace, Nonterah, who is based in San Diego, California, tells Holly Newson how to tailor a CV or resume for industry employers. Instead of focusing on publications, she urges industry job applicants to show evidence of problem-solving, a highly-prized skill in the sector. Another thing to include are examples of communicating their research to people beyond their academic specialty. Nonterah then emphasizes the importance of networking, describes strategies to counter imposter syndrome, and offers advice on how to talk about career setbacks.Finally, she talks about how to bounce back from being laid-off, based on her own experience. She tells Newson: “How do I turn this into my comeback? How do I turn this into a time where I rediscover myself, my skills, when I rebrand and reinvent myself.”  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.