Illustration Stijn Schreven
A botched experiment, a rejected paper: such things are soon labelled as failures in academia. As for talking about them, not the done thing! But that is just what WUR scientists do in this column. Because failure has its uses. This time it’s Affif Grazette, research manager at Bioprocess Engineering.
‘Four months after starting my PhD, another research group published exactly the protein structure that I wanted to determine. That was a bummer, but I pulled myself together. I came up with a new project, this time on a protein involved in DNA repair. Towards the end of my PhD, I had found the structure, although it was not quite complete. After having been scooped before, I wanted nothing more than to publish these results.
I had failed. Not because the research wasn’t good, but because I hadn’t used my voice. I should have fought for that publication
I worked out all the data for my thesis and marked parts that together would form a proper publication. I took this to my supervisor, but she thought it was still too weak. She said it would be better to wait for a high-impact article. I started to doubt myself. Was my work not valid or good enough after all? As a PhD student, I didn’t feel confident enough to challenge someone who had been a professor for years.
‘Two weeks before my defence, a Nature paper appeared featuring my protein structure. I couldn’t believe it. Scooped again. I had failed. Not because the research wasn’t good — the other group had done about the same as me — but because I hadn’t used my voice. I should have fought for that publication. I did get my PhD, but in science your publication record is crucial. Without any publications, my chances of a postdoc and tenure track were gone. If I could have my time again, I’d definitely publish the paper. It’s not common, but it is possible without your supervisor’s approval. That article might have taken my career in a completely different direction.
‘Now, I actively encourage PhD candidates in our group to follow up on promising data. See something interesting? Pursue it. Finish it. Even if it’s “just” a method or a negative result. My message is: publish, and get your name out there.’
