Claudia is an astrobiologist working at the Italian Space Agency. She is a biologist by training and focuses on studying fungi resilient to radiation as a proxy for extraterrestrial life.

What made you choose the area of Astrobiology?

Every form of life has the intrinsic need to explore. Even plants, which are not motile, spread their seeds through the wind. If humans stay in their comfort zone and don’t leave Earth to explore, we will miss opportunities, which in this case means vital knowledge to the survival of our species and, eventually, our planet. Also, when I was younger, I wanted to be an astronaut, and I was able to align my passion for biology with space sciences. It’s an inspiring field.

What is the daily life of an astrobiologist working for the space agency?

So, 50% of my time is for research. And those duties involve finding collaborations, supervising projects related to the European Space Agency and the International Space Station, and working on publications. The other part of my time is dedicated to desk work and outreach.

Being an experimental scientist by training, how did you transition to a partially desk job?

The transition was not easy because I started by missing the lab work very much. However, the researchers’ career is like that: we eventually need to progress and leave the lab.

Passion for space, being big-picture oriented, teamwork, ability to work in a multidisciplinary workset, and good communication skills.

Which skills did you have to develop to transit from molecular biology to astrobiology?

It was not simple because astrobiology is a multidisciplinary field and you need to learn about other disciplines, but I overcame that by speaking with specialists to learn more and never saying no to new learning opportunities.

What will be big breakthroughs in space science in the next 20 years?

Finding life! I’m convinced we are very close to finding it.

Curious about the space field? Stay tuned for more... or ask L. in the meantime :)

Gonçalo Costa is a biologist and entrepreneur with a long-time passion for insects and phylogenetics. During his career, he has worked as a consultant and as a researcher both in Portugal, Morocco, Guinea-Bissau, and the Netherlands. He opened a business called Cricket Farming Co with the mission to include bugs in both animal and human diet. At the same time, he visits the most exotic places on Earth searching and identifying new insects, contributing to the expansion of humanity's knowledge.

I remember from when I was little that I already played a lot with spiders, flies and beetles. The turning point was when I was 14, I went to a pet shop and a friend - now deceased - offered me stick-bugs. I started to care for them and identified them (even though my mom didn’t like it much). Then, I was quick to add spiders and butterflies to my room's bug community, and I haven’t stopped until now.

How did the opportunity to go to Wageningen (NL) appear and how important it was to your career path?

During my undergraduate studies, I studied the potato beetle where I met my mentor Conceição Boavida. One of the parts of the work was in the Wageningen University, in the Netherlands. It was one of my first contacts with the insect-based human diet research and that brought me a lot of vital contacts.

How did the consultant opportunity arise and what were your responsibilities/tasks?

During my Master’s thesis, I had the opportunity to work in CoBIG², a phylogenomics and bioinformatics research group at the Faculty of Sciences of Lisbon. During a lab meeting, Filipa Monteiro presented her work in Guinea-Bissau. This presentation opened a lot of opportunities for me including working on her project with cashew crop management. Back then, that location was full of unknown cashew pest species waiting to be identified and I wanted to be part of that. Being there was life-changing because we can’t count on anything and I learned to be more self-sufficient.

I had to register all the pests I observed and report them (to attest to their potential as invasive species). This is because one of the goals is to eliminate pesticide use due to possible ecological disasters. And also educate the population about proper agronomical practices.

At the moment you are a National Geographic Explorer. Was this a dream you had when you were a child while watching nature programs?

How is the current daily life of a National Geographic Explorer and what are your obligations?

It is a very exciting life. For now, my obligations are to coordinate the National Geographic Portuguese hub and to dynamize the work of the 64 Portuguese National Geographic explorers.

You are also an entrepreneur. How did that project appear?

After I finished my master's I was a bit lost because I didn’t feel inclined for a PhD yet. I subscribed to an entrepreneurship program offered by the government for unemployed citizens with an idea to use crickets for the human diet. I got a business partner in the process. And here we are!

How much of your daily time is given to the business part, what are your responsibilities?

It depends on the day. Sometimes I dedicate myself more to science and other days I work more in the administrative part. The administrative part includes talking to potential clients, budgets, and troubleshooting. When I start my PhD I believe this will have to change of course and I will have to delegate more.

Did you take any additional courses to learn how to run a business? If not, are you thinking of doing that? 

The entrepreneurship program I was part of offered some education on how to start and run a business, but I think in the future I would like to explore that a bit deeper.

Is the business the long-term plan you intend to take?

Yes, I believe social entrepreneurship will always be a part of my life, especially after my experience in Guinea-Bissau, I am sure I would like to use entrepreneurship to make a positive impact. My goal is to have my business working at a steady velocity for me to have more free time to explore exotic locations searching for new insects. I don’t see myself depending on the scholarship system that currently Portuguese researchers depend on.

Who is running a business and doing a PhD at the same time? Tell us everything in the comments below :)

Nuno Prego Ramos is the CEO and co-Founder of CellmAbs. Nuno tells us his insights on the pharma industry, tells us what the life and the main responsibilities of a Biotech CEO are, and gives us advice for the future of translational science!

Nuno, which are the main differences between working in Big pharma and a Biotech?

When working in Big pharma, you get to learn the right tools and the best practices. But, in a Biotech, everything is faster, more flexible and a whole more intense. And that is what gives you the agility needed to make last-minute changes without having to go through a complex big chain of decision-makers.  Also, in Biotech the titles at C-level mean very little, therefore you have everyone motivated to contribute. So, I think the differences between Biotech and Big pharma make them quite complementary since Biotech is where we can get fast innovation so that Big pharma can then come onboard later with, but not limited to, the regulatory and commercial skills.

How is the daily life of the CEO of a Biotech?

We do a little bit of everything (without Micromanaging) and fast. A CEO needs to understand the focus of the company and keep everything aligned with that. Also, at the same time, we need to have a 2^nd and 3^rd parallel plan cooking, in case the first does not work. Be available for the team and the stakeholders. We need to think of our projects’ fragilities every day so that we are as prepared as possible for any obstacle that may arise and do this in the leanest way possible. This, of course, means many working hours, but it is like someone said once: you work from 9-6 and to get things done and after that, you work to become rich (laughs).

Why lead a start-up at this point of your career, and not stay in the Big pharma?

First, because I was always moved more by the science part of the business. I always believed that science and research are the key drivers of the pharma industry and always wanted to be very close to it. Second, when you find the right people and the right project, it is hard to say no, even if it means risking your professional comfort in the beginning. For every project, you need investment and depending on the level of maturity of the project, it means risk capital so when asked by investors how confident we were on the viability of the project, I always answered:  “I also invested and took the risk, I have skin in the game”.

Does your law degree help you in your daily activities and do you think an MBA is useful for scientists?

The Law degree provided me with analytical reasoning, business savviness and the importance of understanding the influence of details in a holistic perspective. It also helped with soft skills. Nowadays, I can easily analyze science data with some distance and not be biased with a project just because I co-founded it. Nevertheless, I rarely use my legal skills to assess legal paperwork. We need the best people in each sector of the company. Regarding an MBA or any management education: yes! I do think that if scientists learn management skills, that’s the cherry on top of the pie. Perfect.

What are the key characteristics you search for when adding new members to your team?

They need to be honest/decent, be able to collaborate, be competent, and have a critical view on things.

In your opinion, what will be the next breakthrough in science in the next year?

Being able to use metadata and AI for healthcare.

How do you deal with the pressure of having a corporate job?

Keeping your priorities straight! In fact, it is the weight of the responsibility and the focus on the mission and goals that keeps me aligned and balanced. There are challenges every day that may be of concern, but we need to maintain the stress and pressure at low levels. Some problems are only concerning if we do not find the right/best/only solution to address them. My team and I typically encounter situations that have, by nature the potential to be favorable or unfavorable. We deal with them with the same level of pressure because we work based on the assumption that they will arise eventually. Expect surprises and make them predictable, therefore manageable.

Do you aspire to be the CEO of a biotech startup? Let us know in the comments!

How is the daily life at NASA?

Daily life at NASA demands both hard skills and soft skills. The hard skills in terms of technical skills are important but so are soft skills. You need soft skills of leadership, team building, and negotiation. What I do in technical terms is related to the commercial crew program, SpaceX, and the Moon project. In the commercial crew program, I mostly deal with certification of software and hardware for the SpaceX missions. Regarding the moon program, I am educating potential vendors about the space environment such as the radiation environment. I am also involved with the safety of the commercial crew making sure interfaces between different subsystems are designed to handle hazards.

Which are the skills you search for in your team?

I value team inputs-expertise and opinions (recommendations). At NASA, people need to be critical thinkers. Their observations should be objective and they should challenge opinions and ideas. for NASA, you need to be good at asking questions.

What are the key characteristics of a leader in the space industry?

A leader needs to help you do your job. They have to provide you the right tools and support and also clear the way so the job is done.  A leader needs to build the team in the way that it works and that the problems can be solved with team effort.  At NASA, we praise teamwork, regardless of the project. A leader needs to give credit to the ones that “go the extra mile”.

A leader needs to listen to every opinion, point of view and come up with a consensus that works and stimulates team spirit.

What will be the greatest breakthrough in space in the next decade and what breakthrough do you hope will be achieved still in our life-time?

I think it will be a manned mission to Mars which will at least orbit around Mars, if not landing. For this to be possible we will have to solve a lot of issues first. Graphics processing is a major challenge for preparation to go to Mars as well as radiation protection. Graphics processing is critical for the display of information to the crew as well as providing applications to help keep the crew psychologically healthy such as games. Personally, I will also be very happy when we've accomplished the task of living off the land such as converting Moon soil into water and oxygen as well as filtering the soil so that astronauts can grow plants.

Your passion is sharing knowledge with students (through speaking engagements, tutoring, and mentoring). When does this passion arise and why?

I didn’t like to speak in public and give presentations, so I asked other people that did presentations really well for advice. Someone suggested that I start giving presentations in schools and train my communication skills with students first. And I followed the advice and ended up really enjoying speaking to a younger crowd. And I see two benefits in it: 1) students get to know NASA better and 2) they have a chance to understand better what I personally had a tough time understanding when I was a student myself.

What is your advice for young scientists hoping to pursue a career in the space sector?

My advice comes from my experience. It’s not necessarily important how smart you are. It’s more important what you do with the knowledge you acquire and then what you do with it. It’s a matter of taking what you learn and improve and become a better professional. Never stop learning.  Finally, perseverance and dedication are the key. One only fails when one stops trying, Know who the experts are and ask them questions. That will go a long way in helping you become a better engineer.

Interested in a space-related career? Let us know in the comments!

Cátia Bandeiras is a biomedical engineer and currently, she uses her analytical skills to inform the impact of new therapies at Novartis in Dublin.

Inspired by Cátia´s career path? She made a career mixing science with economics and she is creating value to the society and to the scientific community! Stay tuned for more career paths!

How is the day of a Health Economist?

Every day is different. In my specific case, it involves dealing with multidisciplinary teams, attending many meetings, and discussions in a hospital context. Promoting change is always difficult and complicated, and my job aims to do that every day. For example, in this pandemic situation, one of the first things that I needed to do was create models that could predict how many intensive care unit (ICU) beds would be necessary. However, the bottom line is to improve medical care for patients and enhance the NHS financial sustainability.

Which type of skills and know-how should one develop to be a health economist?

The technical skills are mainly modeling, cost, and cost-effectiveness analyses from the NHS, hospital, and patients’ perspectives. In the hospital context, I would say that being able to communicate effectively with clinicians and other managers alike is the main skill that a health economist should have since clinicians are the ones who deliver care. Our job is to advise them as best as we can.

Could you describe your experience as the CEO of Aligned? What happened with the company afterward?

Overall, it was an enriching experience. I learned a lot and at a very fast pace. Aligned's main differences compared with the big consulting firms were our focus being solely in the healthcare field and the link with an emerging market (Angola). Aligned allowed me to have such individual freedom that would not otherwise be possible in a big firm. Then I had to leave Aligned for personal reasons since I didn’t want to move to Angola, where this project moved to.

Did you leave the entrepreneurship life or just for now?

In the future, it is in my plans to create another company. And to be honest, I never left consulting, I’m still doing it as a freelancer.

Since you were involved in research in the hospital context, in your opinion, what is going to be the next breakthrough in science?

Artificial Intelligence, for sure! The impact that is going to have in the healthcare field will be huge. It will mostly affect the imaging area initially, but then I can see it broadly applied in the clinical setting. It will change completely the way doctors work, it won’t eliminate jobs but adapt them instead.

Which are the main set of skills that you value in a member of your team?

Honesty and transparency. I like “doers”! And also, team members who are curious and proactive.

Ever thought about Health Economy as a career? We will post more career paths that you can pursue with a science degree! Stay tuned!