The Lonely Pipette : helping scientists do better science – Détails, épisodes et analyse

Making the leap from postdoc to group leader is both exciting and terrifying. Episode 1 offers the postdoc perspective on this journey. Renaud and Jonathan from the Lonely Pipette talk with Florencia Fernandez-Chiappe (Boston University, US), Mayank Chugh (William & Mary, US), and Ashley Bourke (MPI for Brain Research, DE) about the fears, anxieties, and uncertainties that come with this transition. They share their personal experiences, discuss common challenges, and offer insights on how to navigate this crucial career step with confidence.

This podcast series is a limited-series from The ALBA-IBRO Diversity Podcast, a guide that will help you to adress the difficult issue of transitioning from postdoc to team leader. 

The ALBA-IBRO Diversity Podcast 'From Postdoc to PI' is organized with the support of the International Brain Research Organization (IBRO), a founding partner of the ALBA Network.

Support the show

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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

We had the great honour of producing a podcast for the ALBA-IBRO Diversity Podcast.

This podcast series is a unique resource, a guide that will help you to adress the difficult issue of transitioning from postdoc to team leader. We hope it will inspire you as much as it has transformed our vision of academia !

The ALBA-IBRO Diversity Podcast 'From Postdoc to PI' is organized with the support of the International Brain Research Organization, a founding partner of the ALBA Network.

This podcast is hosted by The Lonely Pipette, produced by Exaltia and organised with the support of IBRO.

Enjoy listening and see you next Wednesday for the broadcast of this limited series, which will be released every two weeks! 

The ALBA Diversity Podcast interviews neuroscientists from underrepresented groups to better understand their hurdles and victories, and what keeps them going in today’s brain research community. In season 2, with IBROs' support, we focus on the transition from postdoc to PI, highlighting the unique challenges faced by postdocs and early-career PIs worldwide. By sharing their experiences and strategies for overcoming obstacles, the podcast aims to provide valuable insights for scientists navigating this critical career stage.

Support the show

💌 Subcribe to our newsletter and receive the episodes and news directly in your mailbox : https://tinyurl.com/TLPNL

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

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

Support the show

💌 Subcribe to our newsletter and receive the episodes and news directly in your mailbox : https://tinyurl.com/TLPNL

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

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 that sabbatical breaks can be good to ‘put your brain to air a little bit’
• She says the ERC aims to  select the very best researchers across Europe, across all disciplines, and allow them to make wonderful discoveries. 
• To attract ERC funding, organizations or countries or regions need to create an environment where researchers are happy to work and have good conditions.
• Maria makes a passionate plea for fundamental research and better access for science journalists
• After a lie-in, Maria starts the day with a coffee and a cookie in the office
• Maria likes our question “if you had $100 million or euros to spend in science, how would you spend it?” She uses it herself in interviews.

She mentioned these institutions and researchers

• University of Bonn : https://www.uni-bonn.de/en/university/university
• University of Heidelberg : https://www.uni-heidelberg.de/en
• Basel Institute of Immunology : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basel_Institute_for_Immunology
• MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology : https://www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk/
• Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology : https://www.mpg.de/151769/biology-tuebingen
• European Molecular Biology Organization : https://www.embo.org/ 
• European Research Council (ERC) : https://erc.europa.eu/homepage
• Fritz Melchers : https://www.tbvi.eu/team/prof-georg-friedrich-fritz-melchers/

To find out more about Maria visit her websites or follow her on Twitter

• Website : https://erc.europa.eu/erc_member/maria-leptin
• Wikipedia : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Leptin
• ORCID : https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7097-348X
• Maria on Twitter :https://twitter.com/mleptin

Support the show

💌 Subcribe to our newsletter and receive the episodes and news directly in your mailbox : https://tinyurl.com/TLPNL

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

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 rather than at the end. He describes his model for embedding philosophers within a biology research environment
• He gives lots of specific examples, from immunology and beyond, where philosophers made an impact on science by intervening upstream
• Thomas stresses the importance of challenging the foundations (in the lab and at home)
• He also stresses the importance of reading every day
• Thomas talks honestly about the difficulties of improving life-work balance and gender balance in academia
• Thomas is proud of his success in creating examples of the Philosophy IN Biology networks as a model for interdisciplinary collaboration 

He mentioned these researchers/philosophers

• Jean Gayon : https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Gayon
• Edgardo Carosella : https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgardo_D._Carosella
• David Hull : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hull_(philosopher)
• Elliott Sober : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elliott_Sober
• Ernst Mayr : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_Mayr
• Richard Dawkins : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Dawkins
• Stephen Paget : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Paget
• Lucie Laplane : https://www.cnrs.fr/fr/personne/lucie-laplane
• Francis Bacon : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Bacon
• Dick Lewontin : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Lewontin

To find out more about Thomas visit his websites or follow him on Twitter

• Website : https://www.u-bordeaux.fr/universite/espace-presse/repertoire-dexperts/thomas-pradeu
• ImmunoConcept Lab : https://immunoconcept.cnrs.fr/conceptual-biology-medicine/
• PhilInBioMed:  Institute for Philosophy in Biology and Medicine : https://www.philinbiomed.org/
• Thomas on Twitter : https://twitter.com/pradeu?lang=en

Support the show

💌 Subcribe to our newsletter and receive the episodes and news directly in your mailbox : https://tinyurl.com/TLPNL

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

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 for understanding how to interact with colleagues and team members
• Elphege recommends that it is good to present your work early at conferences in order to gain visibility and attract recruits
• He shares thoughts about the different scientific approaches he has encountered in Europe and the United States
• Elphege shares how his interaction with his (famous) father pushed his to think about the abstract and conceptual impacts of his work
• He had to learn when it’s important to strive for perfection and when it is not
• He stresses the importance of trust in mentoring relationships
• He concludes ‘You need to understand what you're good at and what you suck at’

He mentioned these institutions, researchers and resources

• Curie Institute : https://institut-curie.org/
• Gladstone Institute : https://gladstone.org/
• Edith Heard : https://thelonelypipette.buzzsprout.com/1356877/11387623-tlp-12-science-without-frontiers-edith-heard
• Max Greenberg : https://thelonelypipette.buzzsprout.com/1356877/5520439-tlp-1-navigating-the-path-to-team-leader-maxim-greenberg
• Benoit Bruneau : https://twitter.com/benoitbruneau
• Moshe Yaniv : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosh%C3%A9_Yaniv
• Francois Jacob : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ois_Jacob
• Pierre Nora (Elphege’s father) : https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Nora

To find out more about Elphege visit his websites or follow him on Twitter

• Lab website : https://noralab.ucsf.edu/index.php/the-team/
• Twitter : https://twitter.com/elphegenoralab?lang=en

Support the show

💌 Subcribe to our newsletter and receive the episodes and news directly in your mailbox : https://tinyurl.com/TLPNL

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

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’t bother doing it
• He tells us that the ‘wow’ in the lab is when you finally understand something, but the ’wow’ in the kitchen is when you don’t understand something.

He mentioned these institutions, researchers and resources

• National Museum of Natural History : https://www.mnhn.fr/en
• Handbook of Molecular Gastronomy : https://www.routledge.com/Handbook-of-Molecular-Gastronomy-Scientific-Foundations-Educational-Practices/Burke-Kelly-Lavelle-Kientza/p/book/9781466594784
• Je Mange donc Je Suis : https://www.museedelhomme.fr/fr/je-mange-donc-je-suis

To find out more about Christophe visit his websites or follow him on Twitter

• Food Lab 2.0 : https://food20.fr/chercheur/christophe-lavelle/
• Lab website : https://biophysique.mnhn.fr/fr/annuaire/christophe-lavelle-9027
• Twitter : https://twitter.com/kristoflav

Support the show

💌 Subcribe to our newsletter and receive the episodes and news directly in your mailbox : https://tinyurl.com/TLPNL

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

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 appreciating how different they might be)
• She stresses the need for optimized communication in the lab and the need to clearly articulate expectations
• She learnt the hard way that ‘management is not natural’
• Ana-Maria laughs about the fact that she was too short to be a chemist
• She describes the challenges of finding a common language in interdisciplinary research collaborations
• She also insists on the role of parents in giving confidence to girls at an early age to become scientists

She mentioned these institutions, researchers and resources

• Pasteur Institute : https://www.pasteur.fr/en
• Harvard University : https://www.harvard.edu/
• Curie Institute : https://institut-curie.org/
• European Research Council (ERC) : https://erc.europa.eu/homepage
• Hidde Ploegh : https://www.childrenshospital.org/research/labs/ploegh-lab-research/hidde-ploegh
• Catherine Alcaide : https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherine-alcaide-5b165856/
• Matthieu Piel : https://curie.fr/personne/matthieu-piel
• Guillaume Dumenil : https://research.pasteur.fr/fr/member/guillaume-dumenil/
• If you are interested in buying a “zester” : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zester
• She is currently reading “Girl, Woman, Other” by Bernardine Evaristo : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girl,_Woman,_Other

To find out more about Ana-Maria visit her websites or follow her on Twitter : 

• Lab website : https://institut-curie.org/personne/ana-maria-lennon
• An interview with Ana-Maria in JCB : https://rupress.org/jcb/article/215/1/2/38770/Ana-Maria-Lennon-Dumenil-A-dynamic-career
• Her Wikipedia page : https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ana-Maria_Lennon-Dum%C3%A9nil
• on Twitter @LennonLab

Support the show

💌 Subcribe to our newsletter and receive the episodes and news directly in your mailbox : https://tinyurl.com/TLPNL

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

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 cautions against using the word ‘impossible’
• He talks about how he has contributed to scientific and technology revolutions
• He emphasizes the important of considering ethics, safety and security at the outset of ambitious science projects
• George remembers how he reacted to having his genome sequenced and speculates about the future of digital genomics and NFTs
• When recruiting, he looks for people that are ‘nice’ and have deep knowledge in at least two different fields
• George gets up at 4:30 a.m. and his head is immediately whizzing with new ideas
• He tells us how much he learns from his grandchildren (and even mends their party dresses) 

He mentioned these projects, institutions, companies

• Harvard Medical School : https://hms.harvard.edu/ 
• Duke University: https://duke.edu/
• Harvard University : https://www.harvard.edu/
• NIH Brain Initiative : https://braininitiative.nih.gov/
• NIH Centers of Excellence in Genomic Science (CEGS)  : https://www.genome.gov/Funded-Programs-Projects/Centers-of-Excellence-in-Genomic-Science
• Wyss Institute  : https://wyss.harvard.edu/
• Personal Genomes : https://www.personalgenomes.org/
• TIME 100 Most Influential People : https://time.com/collection/2017-time-100/4742749/george-church/
• Regenesis: How Synthetic Biology Will Reinvent Nature and Ourselves : https://www.basicbooks.com/titles/george-m-church/regenesis/9780465038657/
• Nebula Genomics : https://nebula.org/george-church/
• 23andMe : https://www.23andme.com/
• Biogen : https://www.biogen.com/
• Gail Martin : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gail_R._Martin

To find out more about George :

• Church Lab Website : https://arep.med.harvard.edu/
• George on Twitter : https://twitter.com/geochurch

Support the show

💌 Subcribe to our newsletter and receive the episodes and news directly in your mailbox : https://tinyurl.com/TLPNL

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

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 academic path
• She warns people against giving negative advise and she always tries to be honest, but positive feedback
• Jenny says that In the ‘old days’ there used to be a myth that there was only one way to do science. She says that somewhere in the ‘90s there was a shift but it took a while for the old-guard to notice.
• “Do not ever turn away from an opportunity to network. You need to get out and talk to people”
• She tells us how she came up with the idea of ‘lab-lit’ and recommends some of her favourites
• “If you want to be a writer… you need to write a lot and read a lot”
• Jenny shares her thoughts about the place of narrative in scientific writing 

She mentioned these labs, resources and lab-lit authors

• University College London (UCL) : https://www.ucl.ac.uk/
• The Lab Lit website : http://lablit.com/
• Science is Vital : https://scienceisvital.org.uk/
• Jenny’s blog ‘Mind The Gap’ : https://occamstypewriter.org/mindthegap/
• White Coats At Dawn on the Cosmic Shambles network : https://cosmicshambles.com/words/blogs/jennyrohn
• Her first novel ‘Experimental Heart’ : https://jennyrohn.com/exheart
• Her second novel ‘The Honest Look’ : https://jennyrohn.com/honestlook
• Her third novel ‘Cat Zero’ : https://jennyrohn.com/catzero
• Barbara Kingsolver : http://barbarakingsolver.net/books/
• Carl Djerassi : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Djerassi
• Allegra Goodman : https://allegragoodman.com/
• John William Waterhouse : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_William_Waterhouse

To find out more about Jenny visit her website or follow her on Twitter

• https://jennyrohn.com/
• https://twitter.com/jennyrohn
• Orcid : https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8766-6056
• https://www.instagram.com/jennifer.rohn.3/

Support the show

💌 Subcribe to our newsletter and receive the episodes and news directly in your mailbox : https://tinyurl.com/TLPNL

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