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Michael Coleman, van Geest Professor of Neuroscience in the Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge has a new blog “Science Without Anguish”.
“It’s fair to say the response to Series 1 of Science Without Anguish has greatly exceeded my expectations! I’m extremely pleased with the high number of reads, the level of engagement in social media, discussion in the webinar, and the many enthusiastic comments I’ve received. People I’ve never met before approach me at conferences and start a conversation with “I really like your blog”. I really never expected this to become an ice breaker! And I’m hugely grateful for this feedback.
Writing it has also clarified my own thoughts even more than I expected. The thoughts I wrote about were already there, swirling around in my mind with the everyday noise, but I always find writing a great way to clarify them. And it’s given me more courage to speak openly with other scientists about topics that normally feel off limits, like how many of us feel overwhelmed, the many roles of luck in research life and how we define ‘success’. I hope it’s had the same effects for you too. But there is definitely more to say, and some topics to revisit. So what can you expect in Science Without Anguish Series 2? Overwhelm, Security, Value and Purpose, The Drama Triangle, Psychological safety”
About the Author
It’s not what you are that matters, it’s who, so let’s start there:
Who: I value sincerity, loyalty, reciprocation, and getting the best from myself and others in a culture of psychological safety. I don’t like inappropriate use of the word ‘can’t’, especially about other people, and I believe ‘progress’ at someone else’s expense is not progress at all. I’m driven to understand things by piecing them together into a bigger picture because I don’t have the brain space to hold unconnected fragments, whether it’s molecular and cellular mechanisms, human psychology or the society we live in. And for some reason, I’m driven to spend long hours on a bike!
Why: As a first generation university student and the first from my school to go to Oxbridge, this opened up a whole new world for me, but also a whole new set of challenges. To deal with this, and the further challenges that each new life stage brings, the self-help and personal development trail has been a constant throughout my adult life. I can hardly believe how ‘far’ that’s taken me, but after a certain point it’s not achievement that matters: it’s who you become along the way and what you do with it.
What: I’m a professor of neuroscience at the University of Cambridge and Senior Research Fellow at Churchill College. I run a team of fantastic co-workers studying how nerves (axons) die and how to keep them alive. Crucially, we are identifying the diseases and specific patients where targeting the mechanism we work on is most likely to succeed (the NMNAT-SARM1 pathway, or ‘programmed axon death’) so Pharma can do the best possible clinical trials.
Getting to this point has involved so many ups and downs that I feel compelled to pass on what I’ve learned. Over time I’ve realised that the examples we’re usually given of how to handle them are not necessarily the best for each of us, that we have more choice than we realise in our path through the world of research. So in parallel, I am building coaching skills to help the next generation of scientists navigate academia and improve its culture and effectiveness for the longer term. At home, I’m a husband, and a father to three amazing young adult kids.
