Dr Caroline Gauchotte-Lindsay speaks at the Analytical Research Forum 2021

The Analytical Research Forum (ARF) is the RSC’s Analytical Division’s flagship event. It's a unique event that allows PhD students and Early Career Researchers (ECRs) to present their work alongside world-class analytical scientist. This year’s event, held on 15-16 June 2021, included talks from across the UK and Ireland, as well as Environment, Sustainability and Energy Division (ESED) Council member Dr Caroline Gauchotte-Lindsay.

The event showcases cutting-edge analytical chemistry and applications to stimulate new research, collaboration and engagement between academia and industry. With the challenges faced by ECRs due to the COVID-19 pandemic in mind, the event also provided a careers panel discussion to enable participants to consider their careers in the face of a changing workplace.

Dr Caroline Gauchotte-Lindsay is a Senior Lecturer in Environmental Engineering at the University of Glasgow. She works at the boundary between science and engineering to tackle some of the World’s most pressing environmental challenges such as pollution and water scarcity. She has a particular interest in environmental biotechnologies. She believes that developing and deploying tools to help rational design of low-energy, low-resource bioprocesses for environmental engineering will have long-term impact on climate change mitigation and the circular economy agenda.

We spoke with Caroline to hear her thoughts on why the ARF is a valuable opportunity for ECRs.

Why did you agree to speak at the ARF?

Although I work in an environmental engineering group and have done so since my PhD, I very much define myself as an analytical chemist. I think if you speak to analytical chemists, many will tell you that they went into it because they liked applied chemistry. There is something very forensic/investigative, problem-solving about the field, which can be of service in many other sciences. Therefore, I am keen to be a voice for “embedded” analytical chemists!

How can events like the ARF be useful for ECRs?

When doing your PhD or a postdoc, I think it is always wise to keep an eye on the “after”. It is fine to not be sure of your project; keeping your mind and options open is actually a good thing but you do need to know what is out there and what are the things you need to achieve to open the doors you want to open. I feel strongly that it is our role as more established scientists to share our experiences with ECRs and offer mentorships to help them in their career transitions.

What advice would you give to ECRs as they consider the next steps in their careers?

As I just mentioned, I think what is important is to pay attention to what is out there. I think there is a big focus on academic careers but, especially in analytical chemistry, there are extremely exciting and challenging careers in industry or the civil service. I would recommend to ECRs to not close doors for themselves just based on corridor hearsay and make their own mind up! Be active and start thinking about your next move at least 6 months before you contract runs out.

How did you consider your own career path?

I did not set out to become an academic. I wanted to be a practicing forensic scientist. I consider all options at the end of my PhD and went with my guts when I was offered jobs. I love most aspects of my work, but I also realise that I might have become a little complacent and it might be time to challenge myself again.

How do you network and create connections in your scientific community?

Ooh good question! This is something I always found hard, possibly complicated by the fact that I work at the boundary of so many fields. I don’t have a defined community; but that’s also a chance because the world is my oyster. For me, what works best is to be part of organising committees for meetings as I have an excuse/justification for talking to everyone. Putting myself forward for RSC elections to division councils and interest group committees has also allowed me to expend my connections. I have done some work with an EPSRC funded project, visNET, that I co-directed, on barriers to networking for ECRs (especially women). What we have found is that postdocs tend to only value “knowledge-sharing” networking and what we have coined “networking up”, which is connecting with people more senior than them. However, networking with people at your career stage is also very valuable, you are building connections that might last decades and who knows where these people will end up. You also need to leave serendipity a chance, maybe someone’s expertise is more relevant than you first think.

To learn more about the ARF, visit the event website or the RSC’s Analytical Division webpages.