3: Cultural experiences

Researcher Pilar Ayuda-Durán is this episode’s guest. She tells us about how her adventure in Norway started 10 years ago with a short grant from Spain that got stretched with several funding opportunities. She is now working as a postdoctoral researcher in personalized medicine with projects at the Oslo University Hospital. She is also a founding member and President of the Spanish Researchers Association in Norway. Listen to Pilar talking about her scientific path and get introduced to a broad scope of the outside-research activities. Learn how the association of researchers works, from where it gets its funding and how it  effectively supports associated researchers with a variety of activities, including lobbying on political levels.

Todays guest is biochemist and innovation adviser Beate Rygg Johnsen at UiO Growth House. With experience from innovation and development aspects in biotech companies, the pharmaceutical sector and in a medical device start-up, Beate brings us invaluable in-depth knowledge. Learn about her path, her experiences and how UiO Growth House helps scientists develop their innovative ideas. Scientia Fellows hosts are Andrea Fernandez and Mathias Busek. Enjoy!

Meet Fred-Johan Pettersen, professor at UiO, whose main interest is medical technology and electronics, with a special focus on sensors. With the background in microelectronics and experience in electronic industry, he transitioned to Department of Physics, UiO and Oslo University Hospital. Follow the interesting career path ‘from industry to academia’, learning more about the world of sensors and their applications in medicine. Andrea and Gina are the episode’s hosts.  Enjoy!

Is there anything like a typical research career path? If so, this does not apply to our guest Steven Ray Willson. He is both a musician and a scientist, a professor in analytical chemistry. What is more, he is truly passionate about and active on both fields. In his conversation with podcast hosts Mathias and Gina, Steven explains how these two professional paths complement each other. As a committed educator he also shares practical advice for young researchers. Enjoy!

Gina, our new host of The Scientia Podcast, shares her experiences living and working in labs across Europe, and her Scientia project on using electrochemical sensors to test cells prior to eye transplantation. In this episode you learn also what tongue has to do with electrochemical sensors and the team, with Andrea and Mathias, discusses the challenges and rewards of working in multidisciplinary teams. Listen to this episode to hear Gina's story and learn about the exciting project.

From pipetting to the job market, this episode delves into the transition from academia to industry. Christian and Åsmund share their journeys from academia to industry and discuss with Fellows Mathias and Vandana how they handled the competitive job market. Listen as they discuss recent developments in the pharma and biotech industry and the importance of exploring options to find the right fit. 

The Fellows Vandana and Andrea talk with Mathias Busek and Aleksandra Aizenshtadt who works on the hot-topic Organ-on-a-Chip technology. Their backgrounds are in electrical engineering and biology. In this episode they explain more about their research in Organ-on-a-Chip technology and why they were attracted by Norway; the exciting research topics, the family friendly rules in Norway and the beautiful outdoors. But is it actually possible to choose a good work-life balance in Norway when you compete with international researchers? Tune in and find out!

The Fellows Vandana and Andrea are trying to be diplomatic about their cultural experiences: What do they miss most from their home countries and is it required to learn the language? They also discuss their research interests.

Filipa and Sergio chat with Victor Greiff, Professor of Immunology at UiO, about challenges of establishing a lab and work life balance in Norway. How are they affected by the cold weather and how do they establish a fun and international research environment? 

We introduce the Scientia programme and its most important part, the Fellows. Sergio, Kate and Filipa chat about experiences as international researchers: Which cultures do they identify with, what are the advantages of some of the countries they have lived in, and what do they research?