Exploring Ribosome Assembly and RNA Modification: Q&A With Eda Koculi

To Eda Koculi, Ph.D., being a scientist is thrilling and tremendously fun—it allows a person to simultaneously express their creativity, quench their intellectual curiosity, and serve society. She believes this career path is open to everyone, regardless of their background. “To a student that wants to pursue a scientific career but comes from an economically disadvantaged background like I did, I would say to believe in yourself and ask for help. Your advisor and mentors may know about resources that could help you,” she says.

Developing Low-Cost Lab Techniques: Q&A With Abraham Badu-Tawiah

Abraham Badu-Tawiah, Ph.D., encourages students to persevere through whatever challenges life throws at them and to never be discouraged if their journeys look different than they expected. “It bothered me for many years that I worked for two master’s degrees—I believed that I’d wasted my time by not going directly to a Ph.D. program. Now, I realize that those years benefited me. They opened my mind to new experiences, and some of the work I did in my second master’s program is directly related to what I’m doing now,” he says.

Motor Proteins and Microscopy: Q&A With Morgan DeSantis

“Let your curiosity drive you to new scientific fields and questions, because that’s when the coolest findings happen,” says Morgan DeSantis, Ph.D. During our interview with Dr. DeSantis, we learned about how her career in science almost didn’t happen, how happy she is that it did, and how science can sometimes feel like solving a puzzle.

Investigating the Primary Cilium: Q&A With Xuecai Ge

Xuecai Ge, Ph.D., started studying how medicines worked but soon realized she was more interested in learning about the human body—which she now does. Based on her experiences, she says to students looking to kickstart their own scientific careers: “Find a question that you’re truly passionate about and then persevere in pursuing your scientific dream. Scientific careers have ups and downs, so be resilient in the face of setbacks and embrace every challenge as an opportunity to grow stronger.”