SoapboxScience

Veronica Bessone, M.En., Technical University of Munich, is taking part in Soapbox Science Munich on 1st June 2019 with the talk: “The Science behind an Olympic Gold”

Soapbox Science Munich: Did you choose a scientific career or did the scientific career choose you?

Veronica Bessone: The scientific career definitely chose me and science has always been written in my DNA. I have always been very curious. I grow up watching more National Geographic documentaries than cartoons and I remember that, for fun, I was used to do “extra research/reports” about different topics at elementary school only to improve my knowledge. I even used to create personal cards for my guinea pigs, cataloging their color and weight. When I was a child, my dream job was to become a veterinarian, but then my passion for Logics and Mathematics, and my consideration of the human body as machine, led me to biomedical engineering.

SSM: What was the key event that brought you to the place where you are now?

VB: I was a biathlete, competing at National and International level. When I ended my sportive career to concentrate on my engineering studies, I promised myself to try to keep a connection between the two fields: Biomechanics in Sports was the solution, applying the law of Physics to human movements.

SSM: What’s your favorite daily scientific superhero power?

VB: Patience. Science is definitely not a high speed road and there are no shortcuts. When you work with athletes, you need to wait for their availability after the competition season to do tests and without interfering with their training plans. Then analyzing the data takes a lot of time and finally, the publication procedure moves pretty slowly.

SSM: What is the most exciting aspect of your research?

VB: I am very pragmatic. Therefore, I like working face to face with athletes, giving them feedback and seeing changes/improvement in their technique and performance base on the suggestions I gave them.

SSM: What motivates you to give a talk in Soapbox science?

VB: I have always been inspired and fascinated by female scientists, explorers and artists of the past who, despite the taboos of their time, managed to stand out in their fields, thanks to their motivation and stubbornness. Many times their work was neither recognized by the community and/or they had to publish using a false (male) name. When thinking about outstanding female personalities, it is easy to think about the (most) famous Marie Skłodowska Curie, but I can also cite Artemisia Gentileschi, Amilia Earhart and Katherine Johnson, along with many others. Fortunately, these days, being a woman in science is a little bit easier. However, independently from the field (and the gender of the scientists), science is still something far away from the population, and considered “untouchable”. At the same time, scientists are considered very theoretical people with not much “contact” with real life and society. Therefore, with my talk, I would like to introduce science to a larger audience and in a pragmatic way.

Moreover, I would like to show the public a field of the world of scientific research that is never considered. Even though it could seem that the application of Biomechanics in Sports research is limited and just applicable to a small number of people, it is actually not the case. In fact, analyzing the movement of an athlete is not improving only his/her performance: A better understanding of sport movements allows us to design new equipment for the entire user population, as well as to suggest specific techniques/strategies that can reduce the injuries and can encourage people to have a more efficient gesture, independently of the level of the sportsmen.

Finally, I myself have experienced being not thought of as capable and not taken seriously as an engineer because I am a woman, blonde, young. I consider the Soapbox event as a sort of “revenge”, having the possibility to spread my voice although I am a woman, blonde and young.

SSM: Do you have a few words to inspire other female scientists?

VB: “Be less curious about people and more curious about ideas” is a quote of Marie Curie. Interpreting the sentence in a modern way, I think that its meaning is that we should care less about gossips and what people are thinking about us, but be more interested in things that really count in life, that are really meaningful for us, and that can help our self-development.

SSM: What can we do to attract more women to STEM fields?

VB: I think we can start deleting some stereotypes. We always associate people working in STEM with a specific attitude, style and hobbies (asocial, wearing a white polo and big glasses, and fanatic of Star Wars). Many girls might have the idea that they should “transform” themselves and match the “nerdy stereotypes” in order to work in STEM, or could consider themselves not “perfect” wannabe scientists because they don’t match these stereotypes. Changing the way scientists are seen by society could help the new generations to get closer to the scientific world. Female scientists are sociable, wear dresses and go running and dancing salsa, without having ideas about the difference between Star Wars and Star Trek (yes, that’s me). Thanks to social networks, women in science around the world can show to society how scientists’ stereotypes changed and what a modern female scientist looks like nowadays (check hashtags, as #ilooklikeanengineer).

Muthio Nzau, Technical University of Munich, will be taking part in Soapbox Science Munich on 1st June 2019 with the talk: “Participatory forest management: the case of East African coastal forest biodiversity hotspot“

Soapbox Science Munich: Did you choose a scientific career or did the scientific career choose you?

Muthio Nzau: I chose a career in science because I believe science is an important springboard to solving complex challenges and improving lives and livelihoods.

SSM: What was the key event that brought you to the place where you are now?

MN: I grew up in a semi-arid area in Southeast of Kenya. True the sun could be fierce, but our rivers never run dry as they do now. There has been a significant environmental change in my lifetime which I believe has contributed to increased livelihood insecurities. This has led me to develop and pursue a passion in human-environment interactions.

SSM: What’s your favourite daily scientific superhero power?

MN: I find the concept of superhero power a bit abstract.

SSM: What is the most exciting aspect of your research?

MN: The prospect of understanding complex human-environmental dynamics and the possibility to contribute to solutions for the challenges that arise from these interactions.

SSM: If you are stranded on a desert island: what scientific equipment would you bring?

MN: I work in an interdisciplinary field in social ecology and rely on the lab results from my natural science colleagues. I therefore do not use much of ‘hardware’ scientific equipment. But stranded on a desert highland, I would bring my camera. Photography is still a powerful tool in scientific research.

SSM: What challenges do you encounter in science?

MN: Balancing family and work, especially as an international student.

SSM: What motivates you to give a talk in Soapbox science?

MN: I believe scientific research is fundamental in tackling our persistent challenges such as climate change. Publishing our results is therefore as important as communicating them effectively to the public. I am very interested in effective scientific communication and ultimately would like to build my career around this interface.

SSM: Do you have a few words to inspire other female scientists?

MN: If science is your passion, go for it in spite of your gender!

SSM: What can we do to attract more women to STEM fields?

MN: I think it begins right in the formative years as children. We often underestimate or overlook the subtle conditioning achieved through gendered toys and clothing for example. They already set a limit to what either genders can or cannot do.

More importantly, we should ask how we can retain women in STEM. Setting up the right infrastructure to accommodate women at the work place is as important as addressing and having open conversation about longstanding stereotypes, implicit biases and subtle shaming towards women.

Dr. Sophia Doll, Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, is taking part in Soapbox Science Munich on 1st June 2019 with the talk: “Wofür sind gebrochene Herzen gut?“

Soapbox Science Munich: Did you choose a scientific career or did the scientific career choose you?

Sophia Doll: I chose the scientific career

SSM: What was the key event that brought you to the place where you are now?

SD: My Masterthesis at the biotech company Genentech in San Francisco found out that science can be fun!

SSM: What’s your favourite daily scientific superhero power?

SD: My favorite daily superhero power is the freedom of trying out crazy ideas

SSM: What is the most exciting aspect of your research?

SD: Most exciting aspect of my work is that I am working with actual cancer patients and that lab research can be translated into the clinic.

SSM: If you are stranded on a desert island: what scientific equipment would you bring?

SD: Probably none and enjoying sun and beach 🙂

SSM: What challenges do you encounter in science?

SD: Many challenges. Science is highly competitive. Science can be disappointing despite investing a lot of work but this is what makes you stronger and motivates you to tackle challenging problems.

SSM: What motivates you to give a talk in Soapbox science?

SD: Winning the Max Planck Science Slam.

SSM: Do you have a few words to inspire other female scientists?

SD: Have fun and don’t be shy!

SSM: What can we do to attract more women to STEM fields?

Promote them via PR of the institutions. More advertisement in public locations, such as u-bahn…

Alessia Sgobba, Trinity College Dublin, will be taking part in Soapbox Science Dublin on Sunday June 30th 2019 with the talk: “The difficult challenges the energy sector has to face to preserve the planet”

My story

My story is just a normal story of a normal girl. I have always been interested in a wide variety of subjects at school and I was always dreaming of becoming so many things as an adult. I am very curious, about everything and I guess this made it difficult to decide what to pick between so many options. At the end the spin stopped at engineering. So here I am, an energy engineer.

I am very happy with the choice I made. Energy can have many forms and it is in everything. Energy is a conserved quantity, meaning that it is not possible to create it or destroy it but only to convert energy from a form to another.  A simple way to see it is when wood (fuel) is burned (chemical conversion process) to produce heat (useful form of energy) to warm an environment.

The energy sector includes all the systems that convert, transmit and distribute energy where is needed and it allow us to have a high standard of living. A higher attention on the fuels and the conversion processes used has risen due to global warming. Burning certain fuels produces CO₂ which is the most significant greenhouse gas present in the atmosphere and it contributes to global warming.

As a researcher I collaborate with many other scientists in the field to find new ways or improve the existing ones to provide the energy needed for everyday activities in a sustainable way for the environment.

Things I have learned on my path

My curiosity made me become a researcher. I need to challenge myself with things out of my comfort zone as often as possible to learn as much as I can. To be a researcher in the field I am passionate about is great but sometimes it can be difficult as well.

PhD students, which have projects deeply focused on specific topics, often feel the pressure of having to know everything on the subject. I do not know everything. No one does, and no one can.

In fact, I want to share with you one of the most important things I learned in my path: only smart people are aware of the things they do not know. If you are true to yourself and accept the things you (still) don’t know, you can spend every day learning something new instead of spending it doubting yourself. Everything you learned is valuable and everything you do not know yet is an open possibility.

To all the young women who think they have to be geniuses to get into science, I want to say that every climbing starts with small steps at the bottom. So, don’t get discouraged and try your best.

And remember: the most important thing you can bring to science is an open mind.

Dr. Leonie Baier (@ninivechen), LMU Munich, is taking part in Soapbox Science Munich 2019 with the talk:“Sehen mit den Ohren? Wie ich den sechsten Sinn der Fledermäuse erforsche / Can sound paint a picture? How I explore the sixth sense of bats“ 

Soapbox Science Munich: Did you choose a scientific career or did the scientific career choose you?

Dr. Leonie Baier: I want to say that it chose me, but when I think about it some more I guess I did choose it as well. Not at one point, but over and over again. For a long time I felt somewhat like this career happened to me, but I’ve come to realize that I have actively worked towards it because I really want to do it.

SSM: What was the key event that brought you to the place where you are now?

LB: There wasn’t so much a key event as a key gut feeling. I’ve always loved nature and always loved getting to the bottom of things. So the actual key event was me following that gut feeling: After a practical on bats, I walked up to the professor and asked if I could do my diploma thesis in his lab. That was 15 years ago and I love that I got to come back to the same lab, working with the same bats that started it all. And I don’t think I would be where I am now without the mentorship of my professor. People who guide you and push you and inspire you are key.

SSM: What is the most exciting aspect of your research?

LB: I get to play with bats for a living, that’s very exciting to me. No, seriously, the most exciting thing is that my work is so varied. I’m a neuroethologist; that means I study the interplay of brain and behaviour. And I’m working with a study animal that uses ultrasound and can fly, so I have to apply quite a few technical toys and animal training skills to deal with that. And I don’t just work in the lab but also in the field. And of course for a bat researcher, outreach and conservation are always very important as well. So all in all I get to be a neurobiologist, an animal trainer, an engineer, a physicist, a programmer, a zookeeper, a writer, an ambassador, a traveller – an explorer, really.

SSM: If you are stranded on a desert island: what scientific equipment would you bring?

LB: Definitely a bat detector. That’s a little device that makes ultrasound audible so you can monitor bats even when you can’t see them. I love listening to them because the kind of sound they make can give away a lot: who they are and what they’re doing right now. And also they sound really funny, you should give it a try!

SSM: What challenges do you encounter in science?

LB: Well, for one just the usual: frustration, stress, and so on. But then there’s the constant uncertainty. Until they get a permanent position, young scientists usually are in a temporary employment situation for years and years. As you can imagine, that is especially a problem when you want to start a family. I’ve seen a lot of talented scientists drop out of academia simply because they couldn’t afford to wait for funding any longer. It’s really discouraging sometimes.

SSM: What motivates you to give a talk in Soapbox science?

LB: When I finished my PhD, people actually asked me “So then you’re getting a real job now?” I want to make people aware that being a scientist is an actual career, and not just going to school some more. The other question I constantly get asked is “So what exactly is your work good for?”  It always makes me wanna roll my eyes. Our society is so focused on applied science that we tend to forget that applied research only exists because of basic research. Sure, I might not be Alexander Fleming, but every day science collects knowledge and the more knowledge we have the closer we get to more breakthroughs. And nobody knows when basic research on a topic will turn into applied research on that topic. So with speaking at this event I want to promote science as a serious career option, also for women.  And I want to open the public’s eye to the pivotal value of basic research.

SSM: What can we do to attract more women to STEM fields?

LB: I don’t think women or girls need to be attracted to it, I think they’re already interested in it – and pretty good at it, too. What we need to do is give them better opportunities to do it and then keep doing it, choosing it as their career.

Prof. Dr. Julia Budka (@jubudka), LMU Munich, is taking part in Soapbox Science Munich 2019, with the talk:“Forget Indiana Jones! Why being an archaeologist is nevertheless a dream job; Vergesst Indiana Jones! Warum Archäologin dennoch ein Traumberuf ist“

Soapbox Science Munich: Did you choose a scientific career or did the scientific career choose you?

Prof. Dr. Julia Budka: I definitely made the choice – I knew already quite early that I wanted to be an archaeologist, at the age of 11. At first, I wanted to know everything about the Romans because I loved learning Latin at school, but then I discovered that the Ancient Egyptians are more interesting – and much cooler!

SSM: What was the key event that brought you to the place where you are now?

JB: These were two key events, almost simultaneously – both in the summer of 2012: the interview for the FWF START prize in Vienna and the interview for the ERC Starting Grant in Brussels. As both turned out fine, I knew I could stay in science (otherwise I would have been unemployed…) and follow my ground-breaking project – with very nice funding, a working group for 5 respectively 6 years. And these successful grants in turn pushed my career and were responsible that I was offered the professorship here in Munich. I will always remember these few minutes in Vienna and Brussels which were so crucial and passed by so quickly.

SSM: What is the most exciting aspect of your research?

JB: In Egyptian archaeology we have the great chance to get very close to past people, to specific individuals. We find textual records and can trace explicit persons, their careers, family relationships and if we are lucky (and find their tombs and skeletons) we can also reconstruct their health status, their age, their diet etc. For example, when I was just 22, a stone block was discovered during our excavations made by a person with the name Nehy at a Nile island in Egypt. He was a high official and lived in the second millennium BCE. I could publish this block for my master degree and did much research on this person and his life and monuments. 15 years later, I had the next encounter with the very same person: within my ERC project I excavated structures on another Nile island, this one located in modern Sudan – and we found objects with the name of my old friend Nehy. For me this is what my field is all about: working out details, understanding processes and putting together complex jigsaw puzzles. This may take years, but is extremely exciting and allows us to reconstruct parts of our past.

SSM: What challenges do you encounter in science?

JB: There are of course multiple challenges in science – one could talk about all the structural problems at universities, the limited number of positions for talented postdocs, the limited funding, the still existing gender bias at the highest level, the leaky pipeline for women etc.

For me, one of the biggest challenges is related to the current funding scheme: as archaeologists we are conducting primarily fundamental research; we are not doing applied science. Most funding agencies require that you know already when submitting your proposal what you will be doing 3 years later, what results and outcome to expect etc. But this actually slows science down and is ‘mainstreaming’ research – we need more flexibility, more freedom to try things, more support for things which seem to be boring. I am getting tired of always having to sell things as absolutely exciting, mind-blowing and ground-breaking interesting because otherwise it is not approved by the reviewers. Besides real innovative research, I would also like to have more time and more money to do basic work – because without these basic things, we will not be able to answer the real questions and get closer to the big picture.

SSM: What motivates you to give a talk in Soapbox science?

JB: I really like to engage with the public and to talk about my work – it’s not just that it is our responsibility being employed and funded by tax money, but it is also highly rewarding. Feedback from non-scientists is always really interesting and often surprising. Coming out of the closet – out of the science bubble into ‘real life’ – can be very inspiring. What really intrigues me about the Soapbox concept is that it is not an announced science communication event where one reaches an interested audience, but that one must engage with accidental by-passers – I expect a large set of diverse reactions and interactions and it definitely sounds like much fun.

SSM: Do you have a few words to inspire other female scientists?

JB: As scientists we have the huge bonus to other jobs that we normally love what we do. Always remember that this is a gift – and as long as you love doing what you do, never give up, even if grant proposals fail, if job positions do not work out and the data you expected and counted on are not there. Persistence normally pays off, and females are survivors and are getting more and more visible in science.

Dr. Emilia Jarochowska (@Emiliagnathus), GeoZentrum Nordbayern, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, is taking part in Soapbox Science Munich with the talk:“How teeth transformed the Earth“  

Soapbox Science Munich: Did you choose a scientific career or did the scientific career choose you? 

Dr. Emilia Jarochowska: It may sound improbable, but I clearly remember the day when I decided to become a biologist. I was in grade four and our teacher brought a head of lettuce into the classroom and drew a simple diagram of photosynthesis on the blackboard. My mind was blown when I learned that an ordinary, boring object possessed such an extraordinary superpower that people were struggling to master. I thought biology was the most powerful science in the world, as it could use such everyday objects like lettuce to capture solar energy and turn it into food or fuel. From that day, I started reading everything I could about biology. This has never really stopped, although I had many fascinations on my way. As a fresher, I volunteered in a research lab working on understanding what makes invasive plants successful, then on improving photosynthesis in maize varieties, looking at what happens when they are still young seedlings and a cold spell comes – how does it change their metabolism and how we can keep up the production and storage of sugars in their tissues. Additionally I took courses from programs in chemistry and geology. I remember seeing a fossil ecosystem in a thin section – a slice of rock polished so thin that one can look through it under a microscope. I was amazed how much ecological information could be read from it. This made me think that biologists are only studying the tip of an iceberg that life on Earth really is. Most species that ever lived are extinct now and studying fossils can tell us how much of what we learn from living organisms is a bigger pattern and how much of it is just a temporary circumstance. This is how I became a paleobiologist – I could never commit to one question.

 SSM: What’s your favourite daily scientific superhero power? 

EJ: My newly acquired superpower is being able to make a map of crystal orientation in a biological tissue – for example in a tooth. Biominerals such as teeth enamel are composed of crystals. How these crystals are oriented can tell us a lot about the properties of the organ – how hard, robust and resistant it is. It is a very difficult thing to measure this in a biological tissue and it took years of team- and labwork to find out how to do it. Now I want to make maps of all fossil teeth to see how they changed in the course of evolution.

A scientific superhero power I would like to have is math. I admire math but am not very talented for it – the next best thing is collaborating with people who can give me a glimpse into it.

SSM: What is the most exciting aspect of your research? 

EJ: Which one isn’t!? I think the fact that I have to learn new things all the time. I do not use a fixed set of skills. Each year I have to read into a new set of methods. Two years ago, I was learning network analysis and reading into feeding ecology. Last year I had the chance to go to the synchrotron at the Swiss Light Source. I am currently collaborating with structural geologists who look at crystals to find micro-deformations recording extreme conditions; with material scientists who reconstruct how bivalve shells grow; I need to read across the board just to learn how to talk with them. This is an example par excellence that science is collaborative: I will never learn a whole new field to such an extent, but thanks to such interdisciplinary collaborations we have a chance to produce something unique.

SSM: If you are stranded on a desert island: what scientific equipment would you bring?

EJ: I am lost without a microscope. I guess I would need to develop a solar-powered one!

Being half-geologist, I would also take a hammer and a hand lens. And sample bags and vials to catalogue the findings! I think I already have a research idea…

SSM: What challenges do you encounter in science? 

EJ: I am now an Assistant Professor and my time is divided between teaching, administration, and research. I find administration really hard as I have no training in it. Last year I voluntarily took a series of courses for university teachers and it has been a huge improvement, but nothing prepares a scientist to deal with German university administration. A second challenge is basically being the only woman among the faculty staff in my Institute, the only woman at my career stage (doing habilitation) in the entire Faculty of Sciences of my University, and being young. This means that senior scientists tend to patronize me or (often unconsciously) assume that I am emotional or do not have an opinion. At the same time, junior colleagues and students tend to preferentially talk to me about their problems, doubts, or even abuse they experience, even though I am not their supervisor. It is not uncommon that I have a student or colleague crying in my office. I know from my women colleagues elsewhere that they often end up performing such mentoring duties, but this is an additional workload that takes time away from research and is a big emotional burden. There are days when I find it hard to focus on research when I learn of the – sometimes very severe – problems my students and colleagues are facing on their way to science.

SSM: What motivates you to give a talk in Soapbox science?

EJ: I usually find it hard to stop talking about my science! And I am excited about all initiatives supporting young scientists, and particularly women, in connecting with the public. I hope there will be a lot of young people who will think “hey, I could be good at this too!”

SSM: Do you have a few words to inspire other female scientists? 

EJ: Please don’t talk yourself down! Many of my women colleagues keep apologizing for asking questions, for sending an email, for not knowing something. I have the feeling they learn to signal lack of confidence because otherwise they would be perceived as threatening or bossy. I would like to tell them: you have the right to be where you are. Don’t apologize.

SSM: What can we do to attract more women to STEM fields? 

EJ: I really don’t like this question. Women ARE attracted to STEM fields. They are attracted to the questions science asks. But they are taught from an early age that they are unusual in science, that it’s not a natural role for them to be a scientific leader. And even when they try to establish themselves as scientists, they face bias – often unconscious – from their mentors, colleagues, and even their partners and family. It is a common expectation in the society that women will take up most of the duties outside the job – taking care of children or the elderly family members in addition to their academic work. This expectation is so embedded during their upbringing that many women give up their scientific careers because they feel guilty of not being good mothers, wives, or daughters. To keep women in STEM, it is necessary to de-elitize it. This includes abolishing the myth of the lone, antisocial genius who works nights and weekends, disregards social norms and sacrifices everything for science. This is NOT how science works but I think many men would like to see themselves like this and they perpetuate this stereotype. It is important to support and signal social and intercultural competence, respect for healthy working hours, family life and realistic expectations.

Dr. Bhawana Thakur (@thakurbhawana19), Technical University of Munich, is taking part in Soapbox Science Munich 2019 with the talk:“Catch Me If You Can: Pathogen Detection in Drinking Water“ 

Soapbox Science Munich: Did you choose a scientific career or did the scientific career choose you?

Dr. Bhawana Thakur: Right from my school days I was interested in science. If not research, then I would have definitely chosen a career related to science like being a science educator or an industrial job in R and D sector. The motivation to aim for a research job in academia solely goes to Prof. Lakshmy Ravishankar. I was lucky to have her as a teacher during my bachelor’s course. It was during this time that I finally decided where I wanted to be. Her passion for chemistry is so contagious that it has motivated many of my college mates to take a challenging career path like academia.

SSM: What was the key event that brought you to the place where you are now?

BT: After my marriage, I relocated to Europe. Prior to this I was working as a postdoc in University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, USA. In Europe, I was looking for a research lab to continue my work in the field of biosensors. I was fortunate enough to come across Eurotech Marie Curie Postdoctoral programme and two institutes (TUM, and EPFL) who were willing to host me. Together, we wrote a grant proposal which got accepted for funding.

SSM: What’s your favourite daily scientific superhero power?

BT: Since I belong predominantly to the sensing field my daily superhero power is to catch and detect the tiny notorious pathogens that can be nasty and deadly for mankind.

SSM: What is the most exciting aspect of your research?

BT: Getting data through rigorous experimentation to prove the hypothesis is the most exciting part of my research. Although this does not happen every now and then, the journey which is a big roller coaster ride is riveting in itself.

SSM: What motivates you to give a talk in Soapbox science?

BT: I am interested and committed towards science communication and Soapbox science is therefore an ideal platform. Being in research field for almost 9 years has given me a sense of responsibility towards society. I believe it is my duty to educate my fellow citizens with the knowledge, which I have gained in all these years. This knowledge in turn enables the non-scientific community to appreciate the work of researchers. It is an excellent approach to motivate young students to take science as a career, thereby contributing to the future pool of scientists. Instilling scientific thinking in the public is crucial to have a vibrant and well-functioning society. An added impetus towards this endeavour is that my research work at TUM is funded by European Commission Horizon 2020 (H2020). H2020 and many such EU research and innovation programmes strongly encourage the researchers for an active involvement in science communication.

SSM: Do you have a few words to inspire other female scientists?

BT: Making a career in STEM is more challenging job for women compared to men. Things are changing though, and policies from the EU and Universities are helping female researchers to bridge this divide. Moreover, a deep passion and love for science can provide enough fuel to keep oneself motivated to work hard for achieving this career goal. It is important to surround yourself with the right people who believe in you. Take advantage of social media to learn new things and for networking opportunities. From my experience, I can say that research exposure in international laboratories, especially for aspiring women scientists from developing economies can be very beneficial.

SSM: What can we do to attract more women to STEM fields?

BT: To attract more women towards STEM careers it is important to understand the current demographics of the research field. Women researchers often struggle to maintain work life balance. It is essential to devise policies that will accommodate career breaks and allow effective reintegration. I have seen many women as early career researchers in STEM. However, not many continue their career path in this direction on a longer run. Schemes like the Career Restart (CAR) Panel-Marie-Sklodowska Curie fellowship go a long way in bringing back the talent and the female diaspora in the STEM community. It will be nice to have many more such programmes designed specifically for women.

Prof. Dr. Annette Bussmann-Holder, Max-Planck-Institute for Solid State Research, is taking part in Soapbox Science Munich on 1st June 2019 with the talk: “Why are superconductors super?“ 

Soapbox Science Munich: Did you choose a scientific career or did the scientific career choose you?

Prof. Dr. Annette Bussmann-Holder: Originally I wanted to become an architect. At that time I was, however, advised to consider another profession, since in order to become an architect, a training on a building block was required. For a young woman this meant some challenge since almost exclusively men used to work there. My alternative choice was thus mathematics and physics and ended up in physics only.

SSM: What was the key event that brought you to the place where you are now?

ABH: During my PhD time I participated in a conference at the Max-Planck-Institute in Stuttgart, where I met Prof. Dr. Heinz Bilz, a very intelligent and warm person with a lot of inspiration. He offered me a position as post-doc at the institute which I accepted.

SSM: What’s your favourite daily scientific superhero power?

ABH: Each day means a scientific challenge since I learn something new and routine does not exist. I always hope to have another breakthrough idea which leads to novel inventions with practical applications.

SSM: What is the most exciting aspect of your research?

ABH: The most exciting aspects of my research in theoretical solid state physics are to offer explanations to novel phenomena discovered experimentally and to predict new material properties which are of fundamental interest with respect to research and applications.

SSM: If you are stranded on a desert island: what scientific equipment would you bring?

ABH: In such a situation I could live with paper and a pencil and books.

SSM: What challenges do you encounter in science?

ABH: Interdisciplinary work between, e.g., medicine and physics, chemistry is really rare, but heavily needed. This could lead to novel diagnostic tools, but also inspire physicists and chemists to perform targeted research in supporting medicine.

SSM: What motivates you to give a talk in Soapbox science?

ABH: I love to explain complicated phenomena in a simple way such that even a child can grasp the essential ideas and ask questions. Also, it is a lot of fun to talk to people on the street about for them unknown material aspects and how these could change each days life. The essential experience is to see people understanding and getting interested.

SSM: Do you have a few words to inspire other female scientists?

ABH: Every girl and woman should know that they are able to deal with whatever was believed to be a man’s domain.

SSM: What can we do to attract more women to STEM fields?

ABH: We should educate girls and boys in the same way. This commences with toys and ends with natural sciences. It starts with a construction kit and match cars for girls and reading Karl May and adventure books and continues by mediating the STEM fields as fun disciplines.

Dr. Anna Cabré (@AnnaCabreAlbos), University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia / Institute of Marine Sciences Barcelona, is taking part in Soapbox Science Munich on 1st June 2019 with the talk:“Climate change: Where does all the heat go?“ 

Soapbox Science Munich: Did you choose a scientific career or did the scientific career choose you?

Dr. Anna Cabré: A little bit of both. I first chose to be a physicist because I wanted to know more about the Universe and because I enjoyed playing with mathematics, but it is always random and personal connections that lead me to work on specific topics that allow me to meet other scientists and visit new places where my interests change while my life happens. My scientific career has shifted towards the study of the oceans and climate, but who knows what will happen in the future.

SSM: What was the key event that brought you to the place where you are now?

AC: A talk on climate change that my former supervisor gave. I was a cosmologist looking for a big change in my career, and that talk got me really interested on climate. It was the right time, because my former boss was  looking for physicists at that moment.

SSM: What’s your favourite daily scientific superhero power?

AC: I can follow a water particle circulating anywhere in the world while sitting in front of my computer.

I can also travel to the past and the future climate.

SSM: What is the most exciting aspect of your research?

AC: For me, the beginning of new projects is always exciting. Understanding the problem, and designing a preliminary solution. And then, I really enjoy visualising the final results so that they can be understood easily for other people.

SSM: What challenges do you encounter in science?

AC: Many. For starters, high levels of competition force one to work non-stop, what is called ‘publish or perish’.

The same competition makes it difficult to be multidisciplinary because it rewards specificity. Moreover, it leaves no time for strengthening our communication skills to the broad public outside of academia.

Science-life balance is challenging, especially with children and as a woman.

You may also need to move around the world for science jobs, which is fun and interesting but also hard and isolating.

SSM: What motivates you to give a talk in Soapbox science?  

AC: I want to inspire other future scientists, make it visible that many women are scientists, and tell everyone about how important oceans are to our changing climate.

SSM: Do you have a few words to inspire other female scientists?

AC: If you are a curious person and you love science, just do it. There is still so much to learn. And a tip: Interpersonal relationships are very important in one’s career so make sure to walk along people that you trust and that trust you.

SSM: What can we do to attract more women to STEM fields?

AC: For me, the problem is about retaining the natural curiosity that every child has regardless of gender. I think that small gender biases in our use of language and actions accumulate through everyone’s life and ultimately affect the ratio of women in science. As a society, we need to treat girls and boys interests equally.

Meanwhile, making women visible in science is a powerful way to counteract these prejudices.