On mentors and mentees
Where should your career path lead you next? When faced with this question, Lucy Nohl, then a doctoral student and later a postdoc at Forschungszentrum Jülich, found support in David Fußhöller, who is responsible for science communication at the ImmunoSensation2 Cluster of Excellence in Bonn. The mentor was referred by the research centre's Career Centre. Today, Lucy Nohl works at the Joint Research Centre (JRC), one of the Directorates-General of the European Commission, in Petten, the Netherlands.
Ms Nohl, how did David Fußhöller come to be your mentor?
Nohl: I worked at Forschungszentrum Jülich for a total of about seven years, at the Institute of Fundamental Electrochemistry. It was a classic career path: master's thesis, doctoral thesis, postdoc. I spent most of my time in the laboratory working on high-temperature electrolysis at 700 to 900 degrees Celsius, i.e. hydrogen production. When the Career Centre offered the mentoring programme, I signed up and found the topic of science communication very exciting. Until then, I had focused on a single topic: electrolysis. However, I am someone with a wide range of interests, and I wanted to integrate this broad interest more strongly into my work. The Career Centre team therefore assigned David as my mentor.
Mr Fusshöller, were you also working at the research centre at the time, or how did the contact come about?
Fusshöller: At the time, I was already working as a science communication and PR officer at a cluster of excellence at the University of Bonn in the field of immunology and was also working freelance as a trainer in the field of science communication. The contact came about through the University of Bonn's human resources development department, for which I had moderated several events at the time. The Career Service team then contacted me to ask if I would like to mentor Lucy. Of course, I was delighted to accept! My understanding was that Lucy might want to switch to science communication in the future.
What issues did you explore during the mentoring?
Fußhöller: As far as I can remember – it was a few years ago now – our conversations often revolved around the question: What career path should Lucy pursue? We discussed how a career in science communication could be achieved, but also discussed specific content, for example for upcoming public events. This involved both the basics of successful communication and working together on Lucy's ideas. Networking and contacts weren't really a topic back then, otherwise I would probably have given Lucy several pages of recommendations to take with her.
Nohl: I was particularly preoccupied with the question: How do you get into science communication? Although there are now degree programmes or elements in other degree programmes, it's not the classic ‘I'm going to be a science communicator now’. In most cases, you're already a scientist when you realise that you want to bring the content closer to a wider audience. To do that, you have to learn: How do I communicate this? How do I break it down? On the other hand, I was already somewhat involved in the field, so I had very specific questions. For example: I have a lecture coming up, how can I approach it? Does David have any tips for a workshop?
What happened after the mentoring programme?
Nohl: I now work at the EU's Joint Research Centre in Petten in the Netherlands. Not only did this fit in with my desire for a broader focus, it also worked out well for me personally, as my husband also found a job in Petten. Thematically, it's still about energy and climate research, but I'm no longer in the laboratory; I'm more involved in data analysis. What are the trends? What materials will we need in the future? This also includes communicating the data collected – in this case, less to the general public and more to policy makers, politicians and decision-makers. So the aspect of science communication has remained to a certain extent, albeit in a slightly different way.
What role did the mentoring programme play for you and your future career?
Nohl: The mentoring programme was a great help, among other things with specific questions where I was able to directly apply the knowledge David had imparted to me. Although I have taken a slightly different path than science communication, the knowledge I gained continues to influence my work.
Fußhöller: Among other things, the mutual feedback was important to me, because Lucy also gave me feedback on my mentoring. I also found it exciting to take a look at another field of science and, of course, how science communication is organised there. So I also gained a lot as a mentor – it was a lot of fun and very enriching.