The Academinist

What happens when art, neuroscience and neurodiversity meet? Sounds like the set up for a bad punchline, but this month Rebecca chats to the brilliant team behind NEUROART to find out exactly that! Bethan Burnside, Keshvi Shah and Dr. Shaakir Salam are a multi-talented team coming from different backgrounds of science communication, research and research funding management. They tell us the story...

This month Rebecca enters a temporary solo era and sits down to chat to Emma Francis & Hannah Franklin, two (newly minted!) PhD students who lead the national campaign to increase UKRI-funded PhD stipends…and won! In this second part of an ongoing discussion on how the cost of living crisis is affecting PhD students, Emma and Hannah share their inspiring experiences of organising the successfu...

This month The Academinist contemplates all the odd places we’ve recorded episodes, and reflects on the end of another year. We’re also joined by Dr. Sam Terry, a cancer biologist at King’s College London, to discuss challenges and current barriers in academia which specifically affect mothers in STEM. Sam shares her experiences of going on maternity leave twice as an early career researcher, incl...

Ahh the million-dollar question (but only on International Women’s Day). Do men talk about gender equality when we’re not leading the discussion? What does male privilege look & feel like in STEM? How should men engage with gender equality discussions and why do so many find it so difficult? This month Jodi & Rebecca are joined by not one, not two but FOUR men to discuss all this and more,...

This month Rebecca has a run in with a T-Rex and Jodi contemplates whether laughing is an acceptable response to ‘how are you’ towards the end of your PhD. We’re also joined by Dr. Srishti Baid, a microbiologist who shares her experiences of moving from India to the USA for her research career. Srishti shares helpful tips and insight on the unexpected challenges of making an international move for...

Is something burning? This month Rebecca and Jodi unpack their experiences of burnout, both recent and current. We’re also joined by Megan Kwok, an incredible high school student, aspiring neuroscientist, youth mental health activist and co-founder of ‘Because Mental Health’: an education platform for mental health, psychology and psychiatry. Megan shares her experiences of being a young person in...

The Academinist is BACK! Settle down for story time as Rebecca and Jodi fill you in on all the juicy details of where they’ve been and what they’ve been up to. Plus we hop in our time machine and take a trip back to July 2022 to chat to Professor Emily Sena about ‘Integrity’. Emily shares her expertise on research integrity as a meta researcher and all-round champion of open science. She also chat...

This month the office plants are thriving more than the PhD students, and Rebecca and Jodi have been taking their own advice. We also chat to Mal Ahmed, a PhD researcher at Goldsmiths University working on neuropsychology . Mal shares with us her experiences as a practicing Muslim woman in STEM, busting some myths and misconceptions about Islam and also chatting to us about being both religious an...

This month Jodi’s broadcasting from her duvet and Rebecca’s got a thesis in the oven. We’re also joined by Sophie Langdon, Cancer Research UK PhD student, to chat about ‘The Cost of PhDing’. This is an honest, open conversation sharing experiences and discussing the challenges of financial stress and living on a PhD stipend during a cost of living crisis. Sophie also dishes the dirt on both sides...

Welcome to the terrible two’s…it’s our birthday and we’ll cry if we want to. The Academinist is 2 years old! This month Rebecca & Jodi reflect on growing, learning and throw the podcasting equivalent of a party,  as we invite our friends from past episodes to join us. The road to  equality in STEM is long and slow, so to celebrate two years of episodes our present from us to you is an episode...

This month Jodi’s very quiet, plus we’re joined by Laura Sichlinger, neuroscience PhD student and co-president of Women of the Wohl, to talk ‘Partners in Crime’. Laura chats to us about allies, women in STEM looking out for each other, co-conspiring to dismantle the patriarchy and while we’re on it where are all the men and how do we get them involved?  Follow Laura: @LSichlinger (Twitter) Women o...

This month Jodi and Rebecca ponder taking a nap for the entirety of April after a busy Women’s History Month, discuss PayGapApp: the rebellious Twitter bot sticking it to the patriarchy on International Women’s Day. Plus we’re joined by the fabulous Dr. Clara Barker, an engineer and materials scientist, and Manager of the Centre for Applied Superconductivity at the University of Oxford. Clara chat...

Cats and dogs and hats (oh my!) This month brings abundant animal guests, while Rebecca and Jodi contemplate the passage of time. Plus we’re joined by Professor Tara Spires-Jones, Professor of Neurodegeneration at the University of Edinburgh and Founding Editor of Brain Communications (just 2 of her many ‘hats’!) We chat about how research group leaders can lead by example when it comes to running...

New year, more of The Academinist! We kick off 2022 contemplating who’s really the ‘evil half’ of The Academinist, first jobs and what Beyoncé gets done in 24 hours. Plus we’re joined by Ciara Kenneally, PhD researcher studying antibiotic resistance at Munster Technological Institute, talking about the challenges faced when you need to work on the side to make ends meet while studying, or working...

As 2021 draws to a close, we get cosy and have an honest chat about loneliness in research life with Dr. Molly Williams, who has just completed her PhD research at Dublin City University. We talk about mental health, building support networks, moving away to do research, plus how it can feel particularly isolating trying to navigate your career as a woman in science.  Follow Molly: @_dr_molly (Ins...

September brings an unexpected abundance of jazz hands and...a vanishing plant?! Plus, we’re joined by Claire Saunders, a PhD researcher in applied physics and materials science at California Institute of Technology. Amongst many things, we chat about: the challenges of working on a PhD whilst managing a chronic autoimmune illness, the effect of gender when it comes to being ‘taken seriously’, and...

This month Jodi returns and The Academinist unites as two tired PhDs talk work/life balance and setting boundaries to look after yourself AND your experiments (who knew?!) Plus we’re joined by Tomi Akingbade, research technician and founder of Black Women in Science Network. We have an honest chat about the times when things aren’t so balanced, tips and advice, plus the additional challenges when...

July brings you - for one night only - the Rebecca Monologues, plus we are joined by Christine Madla (@sexinscience), PhD researcher and founder of Sex In Science. We chat about the data gap in research when it comes to both sex and gender, how this affects our day to day lives, plus how YOU can fight the data gap with your own research!  Follow Christine and the campaign: @sexinscience (Twitter,...

June brings summer lab meltdowns of the temperature kind and the emotional kind as we talk crying in toilets and putting imposter syndrome in the bin, with NHS Medical Laboratory Assistant, Laura Taylor. We chat about dealing with your inner saboteur and lifting up others, as Laura shares her perspective being LGBTQ+ in STEM.  Follow Laura on Instagram (@techingonscience) and Twitter (@techingonsc...

The Academinist is 1 year old! To celebrate, Rebecca and Jodi reflect on a year of laughs, learning and lemons - and bring you some bloopers from the archives which never made the final cut (for obvious reasons!) Thanks to every guest who has taken part and shared their time, energy and experiences with The Academinist - and to all of you who have listened along and stuck with us for a whole year!...

April is a messy month as Rebecca and Jodi dodge banana explosions and a case of the ‘Zoom sweats’. Also, we’re joined by PhD researchers and co-founders of Visibility STEM Africa : Nathasia Mudiwa Muwanigwa and Natasa Lazarevic to talk about building communities, the highs and the lows of grassroots activism and organising for change in STEM (whilst also being busy doing a PhD!)   Check out the V...

March brings Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day, and - despite the ‘misogyny sandwiches’ we’ve been handed this month - what better way to mark it than talking about ‘Making a Difference’. This month we’re joined by Allie Folcik and Rachelle Pedersen from Texas A&M University, PhD researchers and organisers of the ‘Zoom a WISE Woman’ programme which gets researchers virtually...

Half-peppers wrapped in cling-film, leaving small towns and the power of stubbornness. This month we’re talking about the ‘class ceiling’ with Professor Selina Wray, a Professor of Molecular Neuroscience at UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology. She shares with us her experiences of food poverty, growing up working class and the barriers she faced navigating a career in science.  Follow Selina (...

This month we press Ctrl + Alt + Doritos on the year-that-shall-not-be-named and dip our toes into 2021. Also, we’re joined by mitochondria biology PhD researcher & science communicator Maria O’Hanlon ( @abioblog ) to chat about fresh starts and how to hit life’s refresh button when things aren’t working out. Check out Maria’s blog ‘A Bio Blog’: www.abioblog.wordpress.com .  Follow Maria’s res...

As we cross the finish line of 2020 we’re joined by retired anaesthetist and academic anaesthesiologist Dr. Marie-Louise Sprenkels, talking to us about resilience whilst sharing her wisdom & stories from her career on the wards of Cape Town’s biggest major trauma centre. There also seems to be some jingly interference on the airwaves…  While Marie-Louise is not on social media for you to follo...