The imPerfect Scientist

How would you feel about this statement?

“Science is not about finding out the truth”

Provocative, isn’t it? ;-) - So is our topic today and our guest Andrew Westhoff, but bear with us because this episode is full of useful and down-to-earth advice on how to approach your research life and how to communicate your science in a non-conventional yet super effective way!

I have to admit that at first my mind rejected this statement for being bold and untrue. But here’s a bit more context:

“Science is not about finding out the truth, but about building useful models”

That made a bit more sense. At the end of the day, we do build hypotheses and models based on our observations and then challenge our own and others’ models agains new evidence. Then we build new models, challenge old ones and this is a never-ending circule that is at the core of scientific advancement.

Today’s episode is all about breaking dogmas in how to think about your research, an in particular about how to think about it and how to communicate it. Our guest is Andrew Westhoff and it is totally worth it to listen to how he thinks of these topics.

Some of the topics we discuss today include:

So you see, once more a rather unconventional chat full of surprises and usable skills and tools you can test in your every lab life!

Looking forward to your feedback :-)

You know how it is in science, we do often work in interdisciplinary teams with people from all nationalities and cultures. And wow do we at least find this enriching and rewarding!

Yet it does come with some challenges attached, doesn't it? Today's topic with Dr. Julia Quante is intercultural communication, a topic that is not so often heard of in courses you might take during your graduate or postgraduate studies. Yet it is a very deep topic and one that we are sure you can learn about and profit from! We definitely have done both during our conversation with Julia.

Julia is a scientist by training who did her PhD (attention!) on the differences and similarities between German and British cartoon humor styles and rules. If that's not cool, then we don't know what is (LOL).

Believe us, you're in for a treat in this episode. Among other topics, we talk about: 

And much more!

And here are some of the resources that we discuss during this episode: 

If you’re anything like us, you probably believe(d) that a scientific career is a pretty straightforward thing. That you can think of it as a pretty straight “line” starting with your studies, going into your masters, PhD, postdoc, junior professorship, tenure track, etc. The thing is - like most things in life - this does not always work like that. Sure, that’s kind of the standard path, but there’s a lot of opportunities for side-entering and side-leaving.

In today’s episode, we talk to Iris Beirith, who has a completely different story to tell about how she ended up doing her PhD in pancreatic cancer research. Iris is a super energetic person with a positive mindset and a question in mind that she asks herself again and again, and that is: “why not?”

And you know, with this question as a tool, Iris has gone from being a semi-professional dancer to founding her own dance school, participating in a weightlessness experiment, doing 2 masters at the same time and finally doing her PhD in pancreatic cancer.

As you can see, the range of topics we cover with Iris is pretty wild, but there’s a unifying theme and that’s how we chose the word of the episode “positive pro-activity”

So come along and listen in for this episode of “the imPerfect Scientist”, we believe that this one can be really inspiring if you’re the kind of person who tends to doubt yourself and think you might not make it. Because, you know, “why not?”

What do you think of when you think of the word “uncertainty”? What kinds of feelings does that trigger in you? Maybe you are thinking of the uncertainty of scientific contracts, maybe about the uncertainty and the unpredictability of research per se. 

Uncertainty is a big topic in research and during your scientific career. As scientists, most of us feel comfortable handling some level of experimental uncertainty which goes along with the very idea of testing a hypothesis and figuring out how things work. But we are also - understandably - quite anxious about uncertainty in the professional environment. And we come to decisions points quite often, where uncertainty certainly (see what I did there? -wink!) plays a big role. 

In this week’s episode, Daniel and talk about our experiences with uncertainty and how we have learned to embrace it and even welcome it under certain circumstances. As always, we discuss tools that have helped us move on despite uncertainty and give you examples of our dealings with uncertainty in our scientific career. 

Some of the topics we discuss in this episode include:

As you can see, this is again an episode loaded with interesting information that we believe you will be able to relate to from your daily life. Now tell us about your own uncertainties!

Are you considering a transition from academia to industry? If you are, do you feel like:

If you do, you are not alone! Today in the podcast, we talk to Dr. Ute Pokorny, currently the Director of Global Business Excellence at Leica and about how she went through the process of transitioning from academia to industry.

Our word of the day is “playground”, and if you feel like this is not a word you’d typically associate with industry, bear with us and listen in to Ute’s insider view on how things work in industry.

Today’s episode is full of interesting and valuable messages, including:

As you can see, we talk about a lot of very hot and interesting topics in this episode, so listen in and let us know what you learned. And if you want to know more about Ute’s transition or about our view and advice on how to do it, contact us!

Having trouble making decisions?

In this episode, we talk about a topic that you can all probably relate to: decision-making. Have you ever felt that like the decision you were making was going to “change your life”? Well, believe us, been there done that :-)

What we share with you in this episode, is all of our experiences making decisions and the tools we’ve learned along the way. Some of the things we cover include:

- The Samurai technique for making decisions

- Why most decisions are made emotionally but are then rationalised afterwards

- Why you might be better off with “only” 80% of the information

- Techniques you can use to reconnect with your “inner wisdom” or initial intuition

- How focusing on the positive aspects of a choice can help you be happier about it

- How Daniel faced his divorce and the time after and what he learned in terms of decision-making

- How Eva decided to move from Germany to Span and back to Germany and what she learned from this

- Why we are so risk averse and how to overcome your biggest fears when it comes to decision-making

And much more!

We also talk about a few resources that you could find useful and inspiring:

- Simon Sinek’s TED talk “The why”

- Mel Robbins’ TED talk “The 5 second rule”

- Thinking fast and slow

We hope that you enjoy this very personal episode! We would love to hear your stories about decision making!xn

In this episode of the podcast, we talk about scientific collaboration. We discuss the kind of mindset you can pursue when starting a collaboration, about being open to new collaborations, and about being brave. Because collaborating can be a lot of fun, and in our experience it also takes courage to engage with someone you don't know upfront and suggest to do something together. So that's why we say "Sharing is caring, but it is also daring" 

For this episode, we have a special guest, Dr. Florian Kuchenbauer, an established group leader with a lot of collaborators all over the globe. Florian has been all over the place, as we like to say "there and back again" ;-) and he has made very useful experiences finding and setting up new collaborations in his career. 

So bear with us, because in the  episode of the podcast, we talk about exciting topics, such as: 

As you can see, this is an episode full of very interesting aspects of scientific collaboration. Florian is great fun to talk to and super energetic, so we are sure that you will find this episode of the podcast not only informative but also very entertaining!

Leave us a comment if you have any questions or feedback!

Do you know the concept? It says "build the plane while flying it" and while it may sound scary, we have found that it is indeed a very valuable way of going through your projects in life. Not to say that you shouldn't plan and leave all to improvisation, but it doesn't hurt to remind yourself that it is always possible to adapt and adjust as you go!

In this episode of the podcast, we have a guest who is a strong advocate for the "build the plan while flying it" motto: Dr. Alexander Schiller. 

Alexander is a chemist by training and now a professional coach and facilitator. He believes in immersive training and in the concept of "touching people's lives" and he shares with us his background, how he learned about immersive training, his background in improvisation theatre and about one of the masters of interactive training: Thiagi.

Our word of the day is "liminality" - and if you don't know what that means, don't worry because we also did not before recording this episode! :-) 

Amongst others, we leave you Alexander's tips for your career, which include: 

- Learn how to present

- Look for a mentor

- Learn transferrable skills

- Read books, listen to podcasts, use the resources around you to build transferrable skills

- Learn to use the "yes, AND" technique

So sit back, relax, and enjoy this episode full of useful advice for your career and for letting go of constraints and excessive planning.

So, have you ever looked around at your colleagues and ask yourself: "why do they all seem to be so much smarter than me?" or "so much better qualified than me" or "so much more confident than me"? 

If you have and that has left you feeling like an impostor then, all we can say is "welcome into the club" 😉 - Because, yes, both Daniel and I have felt like impostor several times and even with all the tools we have at hand today, I still do very much feel like an impostor every now and again. 

In this episode, we have a very special guest to talk about impostor syndrome. Someone who cares for and about words, because how you say things also has an impact on what comes across. Muna Wagner is a communicator, an educator and an enthusiast for change.

Here's what you'll find in today's episode: 

Oh, and we should not forget the word of the day: this time it's "discernment". You can guess who picked that - yes, it was Muna, and it's an excellent word to remember. If you didn't know it already, it could come in handy 😉

Finally, here are some book and impostor test recommendations from Muna: 

To your empowerment and impostor-free career!

If you have interviewed for a PhD or postdoc position, or for an industry position you really really liked, then you know how nervous you can get going into it. Sometimes you are so nervous you might not even "be yourself". And that exactly, being yourself, is one of the keys to nailing your next interview. Well, that and the not-so-secret but often forgotten fact that you should always consider in any one interview process: "what is in it for you, what is in it for them"?

In this week's episode, we talk about interviewing, about our experiences on both sides of the hiring wheel, about tools you can use to prepare for the interview and to be authentic during the interview. Because it's all about you and we know that you can nail that interview!

Topics we discuss in this episode: