Ardem Patapoutian, Professor at The Scripps Research Institute, Investigator at The Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2021, shared a The Nobel Prize’s post on LinkedIn, adding:
“I owe so much to my mentors and collaborators who taught me by their words and their actions. Surround yourself with smart, passionate, and most importantly nice people. It is an essential ingredient for success.
And here is a more mundane, much less philosophical, piece of advice: do not get photographed in one of your favorite shirts, because you will then feel self-conscious wearing it when, let us say, you visit Stockholm again for The Nobel Prize ceremony.”
Quoting The Nobel Prize’s post:
“‘When I reflect on my career, I credit my mentors, collaborators, and trainees for much of my success. My time in the Wold and Reichardt labs imparted on me not only my love of science, but examples of how to run collegial, high-achieving, fun lab groups, and I have strived to do the same ever since. I have emphasised the importance to collaborate. Bringing researchers together who have different expertise and backgrounds creates a rich, fun environment and is a more effective way to do science.
I also learned during my years as a trainee that science is very hard, and that if your projects are ambitious, many if not most will fail. As Lou (Louis Reichardt) told me a while back, batting 1 out of 3 in baseball is considered a great feat. Good ideas can come from well-researched experimental plans, but they can also come from something as vague as an informed intuition. So it is crucial at times to trust your training and knowledge, and to take a leap as Bertrand did. In addition, although it is important to have bold ideas, it is equally imperative to know when to let go of the ones that aren’t working out.’
What career advice do you usually share with younger colleagues? In his biography, medicine laureate Ardem Patapoutian highlighted some lessons that he has learnt during his career.”
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