[Women in Science] Dora Matzakou, PhD, Science Communication Specialist, EURECOM
- What is your career path in science?
DM. When I was very little, I wanted to be an astrophysicist, being always fascinated by stars and galaxies; so, I studied Physics. However, somewhere in the way, although I really liked the subject, I really felt the need to work on topics that would have a more direct impact for society. Hence, astrophysics became my hobby and I chose to be specialised in Medical Physics, designing new medical imaging devices especially for cancer diagnosis.
After that, I did a master degree on Biomedical Engineering reinforcing my skills and knowledge for Medical applications. I was very excited that I earned a state scholarship to pursue a PhD in Neuroscience, on modelling the formation of the visual system during development, with possible extensions to therapy for blind people. I spent 3,5 years working on the topic and I can certainly say that I came out of this experience a completely transformed person. During your PhD you become the ultimate expert in the question you address; for me it was the biophysical mechanism that shapes the retina during development, eventually allowing us to actually see the wonders of the world.
Apart from scientific expertise, I developed my analytical thinking, presentation and writing skills, problem formulation, asking meaningful questions while trying to understand an unknown area; and most importantly I stopped having fear for the unknown. Because research is a huge dive into the unknown and while working on open problems you have to be ready to fail more times than you succeed. Overall, the process of being trained as a researcher was profoundly rich both in a technical and personal level.
2. What obstacles did you have to overcome to achieve your dream?
DM. After my PhD, I was following the default path in academia towards finding a permanent researcher position by doing a postdoc and obtaining teaching qualifications for French Universities. Voices from supervisors, colleagues and friends were giving me the same message; since you are good you have to chase your academic career to the maximum. But it was while approaching the end of my postdoc, that I felt more and more that my calling was not inside academia. I was slowly realising that although I really loved research, I was not thrilled with the actual life and job description of a researcher.
So, I would say, that the biggest obstacle I had to overcome was to ignore norms and stereotypes well built in me and decide to leave academia, in order to achieve my dream.
3. What is the next step in your career after your PhD?
DM. For almost two years now, I work as a Science Communicator for EURECOM. It was certainly not a job description I had come across in job fairs for young PhDs nor did any of my mentors knew that this career path existed. Communicating science is something you have to do every day as a researcher and it is a hard task, especially while trying to explain complex concepts even to the fellow experts. The key to a successful communication is to take a step back and try to go into your audience shoes; ask yourself what elements do they need in order to be able to follow you? I remember several times in conferences the disaster when people were trying to explain their topic, diving directly into technical details without any context.
I really like being the interface between scientists and society. I strongly believe that one of the roles of a scientist is to educate society, establishing trust and a direct communication with the public. Misinformation is one of our largest problems nowadays with deep consequences and there is a huge potential for scientist worldwide to help fight it. So, I am glad to have a job that can help scientists even a little bit with this important cause!
4. What is the message you would like to give to young girls for following a PhD in science and engineering?
DM. Don’t follow predefined routes! For the younger ones, the jobs you will end up doing probably don’t even exist right now, so dare and create them!
Follow your instincts and always ask yourselves what you really enjoy doing and how you could include this in a career.
Just draw your own paths and ignore anything else. Gender stereotypes are long due to be broken; the world has to realise it, catch up and do something about it!
