Mentoring a lab colleague? Share your ‘CV of failures’ with them
Melanie Stefan leads a computational neurobiology lab at MSB Medical School Berlin. But as a postdoc 16 years ago, a failed fellowship appli...
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Naturejobs Podcast
Naturejobs is the careers resource for the Nature Publishing Group, publishers of the journal Nature. The Naturejobs podcast is a free audio show highlighting career issues for scientists wi...
Episodes
20 of 231 episodesWhy failure is a taboo topic in science
Experiments fail and careers plans can go awry, forcing us to pivot in a different direction. Organizations also make mistakes. But failure,...
How jazz boosts my creativity in physics
Theoretical physicist Stephon Alexander was 12 years old when his father bought him a saxophone at a garage sale near their home in the Bron...
Hit a lab project glitch? Thinking about your thesis title like a storyteller can help you focus
Frances Brodsky believes that writing her three mystery novels set in the world of bench science has improved her scientific writing. “I lov...
Running a farm, pursuing a research career: what’s the difference?
Brandon Brown “fell into farming” after tiring of city life during the COVID-19 pandemic and now tends more than 150 fruit trees alongside h...
How a passion for baking fermented a fresh career move
Baking bread during Covid-19 lockdowns provided Chantle Edillor with some career inspiration. “I knew I wanted to do something different and...
How sewing can set you up for failure and success in science
Yasmin Proctor-Kent likens sewing to science. “I find them really hard to separate them in my brain. I don’t think I can sew without engagin...
Hit a glitch in your research? Some ‘night science’ thinking could move it forward
The French biologist and Nobel prizewinner François Jacob talked about day and night science as part of the creative process that underpins...
How to thrive in science when you move abroad
Among the barriers faced by researchers who move abroad to develop their careers is a so-called “hidden curriculum,” says Sonali Majumdar, w...
How procrastination can rob you of career fulfilment in science
Simon May describes his 2025 book Jump! as a new approach to conquering procrastination. Unlike self-help manuals that urge readers to break...
Why labs need a napping room to help you work, rest and play
Joseph Jebelli believes burnout and overwork has reached pandemic levels, telling Holly Newson that it kills 750,000 people annually, with t...
‘Be a problem-solver, not a job-seeker:’ how to pivot from academia to industry
Gertrude Nonterah helps researchers step off the academic hamster wheel and seek opportunities beyond their specialty. She does this by tapp...
Nervous networker or conference presenter? Care less, says speech coach Susie Ashfield
Learning to care less about how you come across in a conference talk, funding pitch or networking event frees you to communicate more natura...
Women in science are not a ‘problem to be fixed’
In the first episode of a podcast series focused on six books about the scientific workplace, Cordelia Fine tells Holly Newson why she wrote...
Why an industry career move is a taboo topic in academia
In his role as research director at NielsenIQ, a consumer intelligence company based in London, Josh Balsters helps global brands drive prod...
Academia’s parent trap: the struggles faced by researcher mothers
Alison Behie was approaching 40 when she underwent multiple rounds of IVF, enduring the mental and physical turmoil of miscarriage and uncer...
When a colleague dies: exploring academia's "death-denying culture"
In the sixth episode of Off Limits , a podcast series exploring topics that are often perceived as taboo in the academic workplace, three re...
‘We need to dismantle the stigma of alcohol dependence in academia’
Wendy Dossett tells Adam Levy why the stigma of having an alcohol dependence in academia can be a huge barrier to seeking help. “We’re suppo...
Can academia handle my religious faith?
Elaine Howard Ecklund, a sociologist who studies attitudes towards religion in academic workplaces, says that scientists often feel they can...
‘Bodies like ours aren’t considered in academia’
Theo Newbold featured in a 2022 careers article about sizeism in science which discussed some accommodations that could make a difference in...