Working Scientist

The road to commercializing research is strewn with challenges, but how can science start-ups prepare for developments that are harder to predict, such as a global pandemic?Daniel Batten, an investor and business coach in Auckland, New Zealand, describes strategies to prepare for unexpected events as well as more common crises, such as failed funding rounds or supplier problems.Barbara Domayne-Hayman, entrepreneur in residence at the Francis Crick Institute in London, says the path to commercialization seldom runs smoothly, which is why it is important to have a ‘plan B’, together with a network of trusted mentors.“Things never go exactly as you expect, even when things are going well. There’s usually some bumps along the road. Resilience is the single most important thing that you need to have,” she says.“You have to be the one that actually continues to keep the faith. You just have to keep picking yourself up and carry on.”This episode is part of Business of science, a six-part podcast series exploring how to commercialize your research and launch a spin-off.The series looks at investor pitches, patents, technology transfer and how to survive the inevitable setbacks along the way. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In their early stages, science start-ups require solid commitment, with founders and their teams clocking up long hours with little financial reward.Despite the uncertainty, company leaders also need to think about business growth. This includes transferring knowledge and skills to junior colleagues, planning organizational structure, product development and quality control, and considering customers and competitors.Charles Christy leads contract development and manufacturing at Ibex Dedicate, part of Lonza, a Swiss pharmaceutical and biotechnology company headquartered in Basle. He describes how science entrepreneurs should approach this crucial stage. Christy is joined by investor Daniel Batten and science entrepreneurs Javier Garcia Martinez, Wei Wu and Patrick Anquetil, who discuss their experiences of scaling up.“In an early-stage company, people can’t be half-hearted about things. They really have to commit,” says Barbara Domayne-Hayman, entrepreneur in residence at the Francis Crick Institute in London.This episode is part of Business of science, a six-part podcast series exploring how to commercialize your research and launch a spin-off.The series looks at investor pitches, patents, and how to survive the inevitable setbacks along the way. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Meet the people who advise researcher entrepreneurs on patents, licensing, business plans and commercial partnerships. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How does registering a patent compare to other scientific career milestones? For science entrepreneurs, is it akin to publishing a first paper, landing tenure or securing a grant?Three scientists who successfully commercialized their research tell Adam Levy about the process, and its significance to them and their fledgling businesses.Patent lawyer Tamsen Valoir describes different types of patents, the typical costs of registering one and how having a patent can reassure potential investors.She also outlines some common misconceptions around patents, including the extent to which they do or don't apply in other countries.This episode is part of Business of science, a six-part podcast series exploring how to commercialize your research and launch a spin-off.The series looks at investor pitches, patents, technology transfer, scaling up and how to survive the inevitable setbacks along the way. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you want your product idea to succeed, one of the first steps is to interest potential investors.This can be hard for academic researchers, whose previous focus will have been on getting published, winning grants and teaching classes, says Javier Garcia-Martinez, a chemist at the University of Alicante in Spain, and founder of Rive TechnologyThis episode is part of Business of science, a six-part podcast series exploring how to commercialize your research and launch a spin-off. The series looks at investor pitches, patents, technology transfer, scaling up and how to survive the inevitable setbacks along the way. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Two researchers with disabilities describe an ‘ableist’ culture in academia, a system designed for fully fit and healthy people that does little to account for those who fall outside those parameters.  This culture can sideline scientists with disabilities, chronic illnesses, neurological or mental health problems. As a result many choose not to disclose their conditions for fear of being stigmatised. This episode is part of Science diversified, a seven-part podcast series exploring how having a more diverse range of researchers ultimately benefits not only the scientific enterprise, but also the wider world. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 2020 Antentor Hinton led an online initiative via the Cell Mentor platform to mark the achievements of 1000 Black scientists. The list includes the cell biologist and diversity champion Sandra Murray. “If it wasn’t for her, putting up with certain institutional challenges....I wouldn’t be able to have a postdoc at Iowa, nor be able to be mentored by an African American male”, says Hinton, an assistant professor who studies mitochondrial dynamics regulation during aging at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.Carla Faria, a Brazilian laser physicist whose research group at University College London studies strong-field and attosecond-science, offers advice to scientists from under-represented groups on when to volunteer for workplace diversity initiatives. “You really have to ensure that time and the effort that you're putting there is effective”, she says. “ And what is going to happen is that your white male counterparts are going to publish another paper while you are spending your time doing this”.This episode is part of Science diversified, a seven-part podcast series which explores how having a more diverse range of researchers ultimately benefits not only the scientific enterprise, but also the wider world. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the past, many institutions produced similar types of scientists: researchers with a shared educational history who go straight from school to university then do a PhD and postdoctoral research.But not everyone follows this path. We meet two researchers who forged research careers later in life, and took very different routes to get there.How valuable has their previous life experience been in their current career? What skills did they learn along the way? And how did they overcome the obstacles they faced?This episode is part of Science diversified, a seven-part podcast series exploring how having a more diverse range of researchers ultimately benefits not only the scientific enterprise, but also the wider world.Each episode in this series concludes with a sponsored slot from the International Science Council (ISC) about how it is exploring diversity in science. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Two LGBTQ+ scientists describe how sexual and gender identities can help to drive research by offering perspectives that others in a lab group or collaboration might not have considered.What role, for example, did gay scientists have in developing the direction of research into HIV and AIDS in the early 1980s, when the condition was erroneously seen as something that only affected homosexual men? And how are transgender researchers helping to shape investigations into the physiology of transitioning women undergoing oestrogen therapy to underpin fairness in sport?This episode is part of Science diversified, a seven-part podcast series exploring how having a more diverse range of researchers ultimately benefits not only the scientific enterprise, but also the wider world. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For all sorts of reasons, women remain under-represented in senior-level jobs in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.To overcome these blocks, what can male allies do to challenge discriminatory practices and unconscious bias, and to recognize their own privilegeand the career advantages it has delivered?Two male scientists saw how female colleagues were ignored or talked over in meetings and treated more harshly than male candidates in job interviews.They discuss the need to take supportive action, including a range of measures that include a boycott of ‘manels’ — all-male panels.This episode is part of Science diversified, a seven-part podcast series exploring how having a more diverse range of researchers ultimately benefits not only the scientific enterprise, but also the wider world.Each episode in this series concludes with a sponsored slot from the International Science Council (ISC) about how it is exploring diversity in science. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.