Having the chance to inspire and be inspired

Dr Nazira Karodia (who will take up a Professorship in Science Education at the University of Wolverhampton in July 2015).

Beyond the political slogan ‘I can’ lies a deeper belief that we can, despite odds, succeed in our personal lives as well as in careers in chemistry. In an ideal world you should never have to choose between being yourself and being a chemist. The world is not ideal and opportunities such as the Joliot-Curie Conference are practical and social means of supporting the hope that we achieve our hopes both in chemistry careers and in our personal lives.

Opportunities seem to come easily for some, but for most of us, even in the absence of obvious obstacles, building a career is hard work. Often life and work throw up challenges with which we fumble and the path forward seems obscured. As workers and as social beings, we need a society of supporting people. Helping everyone, regardless of who they are, to achieve their career in chemistry is what the Joliot-Curie Conference is all about, and I’m looking forward to taking part for the first time this September.

A career in science demands an extraordinary number of skills – completing your research is only one hurdle. You also need the skills to communicate your results to the rest of the community, secure funding, build collaborations, teach, mentor students and maybe one day manage a team, a group or even a lab. Add to this the fact that you may not have been born into a group traditionally associated with science.

Big challenges

The Joliot-Curie Conference is about sharing problems, but in the context of positive support. Nobody can live your career for you, but there are always people who have had similar experiences, who can teach you some tricks of the trade and encourage you to draw on your own reserves of talent and character. Career challenges are not something you grow out of and Joliot-Curie is a healthy environment to address experiences that might be taboo in your lab.

Those of us who’ve made it through big challenges or are further along that path have a duty to help those coming after us. Because we are communal beings, success routes need to be shared and there is an immense personal reward in bringing others along with you. We also know that chemistry, like science in general, is facing a skills shortage and we can little afford to lose young researchers who have difficulty finding a place – whether that’s because of discrimination, bullying, lack of accessibility, or other individual challenges that stop them fulfilling their potential.

It’s not surprising that as a conference tackling the very roots of how we work, the Joliot-Curie Conference is unlike other academic settings. It’s a conference, but it is also a training ground for how to attend and interact at other conferences. There are still vital opportunities to present posters, and be included in the abstracts book, but in other ways it’s very different. Speakers are not only encouraged to be available in the networking breaks – they are available and breaks are extra-long to allow for interactions to develop. Unlike many important conferences, the registration is free of charge, and the convenors are adamant that finances should not be an obstacle.

Inspiration

This year’s conference will be hosted by Murray Edwards College in Cambridge. The Joliot-Curies provide a great example of inclusion in the chemical sciences. As a daughter of Pierre and Marie Curie, Irène Joliot-Curie was obviously born into science and privilege. However, that didn’t shield her from some of the discrimination that women in science experienced – and that may be sadly familiar to some women in science today. Irène and her husband Frédéric were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1935 for their work on the synthesis of radioactive elements, but they were also keenly interested in political and social issues and were tireless campaigners for women’s education.

Their daughter Professor Hélène Langevin-Joliot also entered a career in the sciences, and gave last year’s keynote address at the conference. As keynote speaker this time around, I bring to the conference my experience of growing up under the fascism of apartheid, the insult of segregated schooling and my career in a world still dominated by the challenge of covert male control.

I’ve already heard some wonderful stories from the first three Joliot-Curie Conferences. I’m looking forward to being a part of this year’s event and sharing my experiences. After all, what could be better than having the chance to inspire and be inspired?

Nazira Karodia is also one of the 175 Faces of Chemistry.