Agathe Chaigne
"It’s up to me to decide what I do and when. And that makes all the difference"
As a cell biologist, I’m passionate about understanding how cells, especially stem cells, divide. When I started my research group, we focused on a specific stage of cell division, understanding why it's regulated the way it is and how that works mechanistically. Now we are busy understanding the consequences for the life of the cell. We are also broadening the scope to understand how different cells use the same building blocks to generate all the different kinds of divisions.
Team science
I'm a fairly sociable person. I meet people anywhere, and we talk about all sorts of things, which keeps me thinking about what I want to study. And I'm probably very weird, but one of my favourite parts is writing grant applications, something that I think is very stressful for a lot of people. I enjoy this part of the job because I get to sit down, read, think and imagine. By earning funding in the past few years, I have now built up a solid research group.
My group is super dynamic and it’s also just the right size for me: large enough to ensure diversity of views and interactions, and small enough to always stay in sync with them. Science can be quite frustrating sometimes, but we also have a lot of fun together – people often stop by my office to chat. On Fridays, the department gets together for drinks, the perfect way to keep up my social network with a wide range of colleagues.
I shifted my focus from establishing my research group to taking on broader responsibilities
Professional growth and development
I have developed from a new faculty member to an established group leader and feel that both my feet are now firmly on the ground. I do have a much better understanding of how the university as a whole works. Stimulated to do things in my own way, I shifted my focus from establishing my research group to taking on broader responsibilities. Now I manage weekly departmental meetings and oversee technological transitions with tenders for new equipment. I couldn’t have done this when I started my job in Utrecht. I have also taken on a more coordinating role, serving as an informal mentor for younger academics. I get many questions from students and young academics about things such as working part-time. Many women in academia are very concerned that having children is going to cost them their careers. I think the reason that people ask me such things is because I am very open about this topic. I've become one of those annoying people who talks about their kids all the time.
Sharing Science
Because my role is evolving, I’m spending less time in the lab, but I am still very involved in the research. My group now consists of three PhD candidates, a postdoc, and three Master’s students who are all very smart and dedicated. Working with them has helped me improve my research. My first PhD candidate will be graduating soon!
I was worried that I would fall behind, but that didn’t happen. I actually feel a lot more relaxed
Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
I have quite a bit of freedom to decide what I want to do, both in terms of my research topics as well as broader issues. I chose to join the Faculty’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) committee and working groups. It’s important to have somebody in the department who takes on these kinds of issues and it fits in very well with my interests. I really value the fact that the Netherlands in general, and the Utrecht University community in particular, is very welcoming. I don't think the EDI issues that I'm interested in are specifically Dutch or European. Minorities having a harder time with pretty much everything and not enough women holding positions of power are an issue everywhere.
Work-life balance
I really value the work-life balance. It’s just not the same as in other places. Here, it’s totally normal for colleagues, no matter their gender, to take parental leave or adjust their schedules. As a mom of two young kids, it’s fantastic to have some flexibility. I get to organise my own time. When my daughter turned four and began doing sports, I started to take a weekly afternoon off. Now, I often use this time for myself to play ice hockey.
It took a while to actually feel okay about using this flexibility. I was worried that I would fall behind, but that didn’t happen. I actually feel a lot more relaxed. Of course, for teaching, there's not a ton of flexibility because of the academic calendar, and that's fine. But for everything else, I make my own schedule. Nobody's breathing down my neck. I don't feel that sort of pressure at all.
That said, I think in academia you always feel some kind of pressure - not from people or management, but just from the system itself. You're always competing for publications and funding. You could always be writing one more grant or reading another paper. But at the end of the day, it’s up to me to decide what I do and when. And that makes all the difference.
dr. Agathe Chaigne
Assistant Professor