In November 2021, Maria Leptin became president of the European Research Council. After a long career in biological research, Leptin admits that starting the process of closing her lab at the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) before taking up her new role, was difficult. “You win some you lose some,” she tells Nature careers editor Jack Leeming of this new career step. “It's painful, but that's the decision I've made.”
Leptin shares some advice for early career researchers writing grants and how researchers can advocate for more funding of science from politicians. She also speaks about the different types of research that deserve to be funded. It doesn’t all need to be ground-breaking, she says, adding: “Just because it's incremental and is not another breakthrough, doesn't mean it's not important. It's extremely important.”
This episode is part of an ongoing Working Scientist podcast series about funding in science.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The career costs of COVID-19: how postdocs and PhD students are paying the price
Stop the postdoc treadmill … I want to get off
Why life as a postdoc is like a circling plane at LaGuardia Airport
How to craft and communicate a simple science story
How to sell your public outreach ideas to funders
How films and festivals can showcase your science
How to transition from the lab to full-time science communicator
Coronavirus conversations: Science communication during a pandemic
Science communication made simple
How the academic paper is evolving in the 21st century
How to get media coverage for your research
How to bounce back from a bruising peer-review or paper rejection
How to write a top-notch paper
How apartheid's legacy can still cast a shadow over doctoral education in South Africa
The PhD thesis and how to boost its impact
Team PhD
It's time to fix the "one size fits all" PhD
Too many PhDs, too few research positions
My courtroom battles to halt illegal peatland fires in Indonesia
Working Scientist: The award-winning neuroscientist who blazes a trail for open hardware
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Reaching your Goals
Chief Change Officer
Thee Millennial Management Podcast
What It’s Like To Be...
The Cardone Zone