(Not) Picture Perfect: an IHE careers seminar

Our guest speakers were Professor Kurinchi Gurusamy (Division of Surgery and Interventional Science) and Dr Joseph Jacob (Computer Science and Respiratory Medicine) who each shared their stories of working in academia, and the personal and professional challenges they have overcome.

Joe talked about struggling with motivation during medical school until he found a study method which worked for him. While undertaking an intercalated BSc, Joe got his first taste of working in a lab environment and realised discovery science was something he enjoyed immensely.

Balancing family and work life is a constant priority for Joe, and he shared some of the ways he strives to achieve this, such as “work ends when I get home and at the weekend”.

His tips for researchers:

• Run your own race
• Look after your team
• Understand who is important to your success

Next, Kurinchi spoke about living with autism and the challenges autistic people face in the workplace. In the UK, only a third of autistic adults are in some kind of paid employment. Kurinchi described "winning against the odds” and credited his autism as one of the reasons he has been able to achieve so much. He also gave a special mention to his daughter, his family and friends for their support.

Kurinchi spoke about the personal qualities he feels helped him achieve success, including:

• “I don’t allow others to define what my success should look like”
• “I am prepared to accept failure; this allows me to take more chances”
• “I’m ready to alter my plans when new opportunities arise”
• “I am highly resilient”
• “I am not shy to acknowledge my achievements”

The seminar was organised by our IHE Early-Career Researcher leads, Drs Elze Porte and Diana Marta Cruz De Oliveira and is part of a planned series of events for early-career researchers. Thank you so much to everyone who came and please keep an eye out for future events!