A typical day

A typical day for me involves a lot of planning. This means that when I get to work, I know exactly what to do, or at least the essential matters to take care of. In particular, since my job is largely laboratory-based, and instruments need to be booked in advance, I need to spend some of my time scheduling my experiments.

Challenging times

Being a woman in engineering or science (my background is in Chemistry and later Chemical Engineering) is, as a matter of fact, quite challenging. Competition is high, against both other female and male scientists. To this day, I have found very few people that consider women as “b-series” scientists, however I can still remember a postdoctoral researcher that was more inclined to find me a husband instead of helping me with my experimental work!

I am an extremely determined person, quite competitive and slightly perfectionistic. I like to have plans and organise my work on a monthly, weekly and daily basis. This helps me get results and keep up with my targets.

My role models

I have looked up to other female scientists my whole career. Especially in the early years when I was studying back in my home country. I encountered male professors who considered women as “not able”, so having positive and successful female role models helped me to get through that period. My PhD supervisor set quite high standards for me too and, to this day, I am glad that we had a strong relationship, and that she has supported me throughout the difficult times I had during my PhD and beyond.

Looking back

I should have chosen my research topics more wisely, and specialised earlier in my career. I know that I can easily jump from one topic to another however, I think this reflects poorly on my CV, which is fundamental, for a first impression, when applying for jobs.

Work life balance

Starting work four months after giving birth, although part-time, has been extremely challenging. On the one hand, it was difficult to be separated from my baby, while on the other hand it was difficult to accept that I was putting my career on hold. A good support network, including my husband and Nursery, has been essential to help the balance. It also helps to have supportive line managers who have allowed flexible working hours enabling me to have a really early start and then finish early.

Dr Chiara Busa

Process Technician