How Nature Portfolio Authors balance life and research

Author: Christabell Ndive

In a turbulent world in need of serious solutions to global issues, science is saving and improving lives. But the scientists themselves face competing pressures, as they fit world-leading research around other demands, such as outside responsibilities and family life. In this new series of blogs, Nature Portfolio authors talk about their work, achieving impact, and juggling life demands with important research.

Scientists might be potentially saving the world, but like everyone else they face the pressures of everyday life, and the intense nature of their work makes it hard to fit in a rounded, healthy routine. In this first post, we speak to four researchers who have published in Nature Portfolio about their hectic daily schedules and ask how they build research into their day while working, looking after children, and staying healthy. We also ask them about the tools they use to ensure their published research works as hard as they do.

One such example is Wenying Shou, Professor of Quantitative and Evolutionary Biology at University College London. In addition to heading up a laboratory and conducting research, she is a single parent who also teaches and often needs to spend time speaking with students – a process which can run late into the evening. Nonetheless, Shou finds time for self-care, squeezing in some exercise early in the morning before making breakfast for her daughter and seeing her off to school.

Carving out time to write is a key theme. Abdel Abdellaoui, a Geneticist in the Department of Psychiatry at Amsterdam UMC (University Medical Center), juggles research and teaching, and opts to write in the morning, when his mind feels fresh. Like Shou, Abdellaoui ensures he includes self-care in his schedule; to clear his mind and break up his working day, he fits in a 5km jog at lunchtime. As with many researchers, Abdellaoui must complete mundane, yet essential, admin tasks each day. He works on these in the afternoon, alongside other jobs like running analyses, visualising results, and teaching.

Other researchers, like Jocelyne Bloch, Professor Neurosurgeon at Lausanne University Hospital and EPFL, must balance demanding day jobs with research roles. Her colleague, Neuroscientist and Professor Grégoire Courtine, says he spends a lot of time travelling between three laboratory platforms – but Bloch does say that he gets a lot of writing done too!

For these four researchers, and many more, finding the best platform for their research is a priority. Not only do they want their research to reach the right people, but they also need the support to ensure they can publish in a timely matter while juggling all their other roles in life. A platform that is easy to use, minimises administrative tasks, and values each and every author – such as Nature Portfolio – is even better.

Watch our published authors share their personal stories in the following video:

The researchers interviewed for this new series of blogs come from all corners of the scientific community, all over the world. We explore their different journeys and common experiences – from professional pressures and work-life balance to publishing barriers and making sure their work is seen.

Some can proudly say that their research has potentially saved lives, such as Anindita Roy, Professor of Paediatric Haematology at the University of Oxford, who published a paper in Nature Communications in 2021 and developed a very accurate model of a specific type of leukemia that affects infants under 12 months of age. Others, such as William Colgan, Senior Researcher at the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, have published papers in Nature that have had a valuable and immediate impact on our understanding of urgent and serious global issues. In Colgan’s case, it was a study on ice loss in Greenland, which went straight to the EU’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

In the next blog, we discuss the game-changing nature of the research published in Nature Portfolio. We ask researchers about the most impactful work they have published to date, the response from the scientific community and the world at large – and how a key piece of research can trigger a chain reaction, resulting in real global impact. We also map the direction their work has taken across their careers, and the challenges they have overcome.

Nature Portfolio offers a wide range of global publishing channels, with space for in-depth and complex thinking. We make publishing research on a proven platform as easy as possible, offering best-in-class editorial teams who ensure important ideas are communicated with clarity, accuracy, and impact. Learn more about how we support researchers at every stage and how you can publish in one of our journals.