Talented BRIC researchers become PIs

BRIC researchers have proven that you should never stop believing in yourself and your dreams.

Constance Alabert, junior group leader, University of Dundee, Scotland

After 7 years working at BRIC in Groth group, Constance Alabert has been awarded a prestigious Career Development Fellowship by Cancer Research UK to start her own lab at the University of Dundee in January 2017.

Throughout the years, Constance has published well and grown a solid network, but becoming a PI was never a dream of hers. After her PhD in France, she had a pretty fixed idea of her career path in science - a path that did not involve becoming a PI. Over time, the idea however grew on her, and especially her group leader Anja Groth has been a key factor in this evolvement. “Anja inspired me to start my own lab, and she has been a role model of mine. Young, female, driven PI and an actual real life example that it is not impossible to start your own lab”, Constance says.

Chris Madsen, junior group leader, University of Lund, Sweden

After 3 years working at BRIC in Erler group, Chris Madsen received a fellowship to start his own research group at Lund University in August 2016. Chris knew early on that his future would be in science, and that he wanted to be a group leader. He came to BRIC to ‘mature’ and grow into an independent researcher, ready to lead his own group. “The intellectual freedom is what is inspiring me. That I can wake up every morning and do ‘exactly’ what I feel like doing. If I dream something one night, then I can test the hypothesis the next day. This kind of freedom is priceless”, Chris says. He has high ambitions for his research group. “I want my research group to think differently and ‘out of the box’. Better To Try And Fail Than Never To Try At All", Chris explains.