Solving the RPE Puzzle

What inspired you to choose a research career?

The main inspiration for choosing my degree was my mother, a PhD biologist who combined her career with family life brilliantly. Watching her in the lab, doing her research and overcoming various challenges, influenced me greatly throughout my childhood. Even though I chose a slightly different subject, she gave me the inspiration for my postgraduate degrees and pursue an academic career.

I have met various inspirational people along the way, and the one thing they have in common is the passion for their field and the desire to get to the bottom of things by asking interesting questions. This still excites me greatly – some of these questions now come from my students, and make me stop and think, “What an interesting perspective!” If I’m not sure how to answer, I develop a hypothesis and think about practical ways of addressing the problem. I have been very lucky to find people who knew how to ask questions that weren’t immediately obvious, which started interesting conversations, rewarding projects that in turn led to exciting discoveries.