Image credit: Wellcome Sanger Institute
This week (20th-24th September) is Postdoc Appreciation Week – a time to celebrate the fantastic contribution postdoctoral scientists make towards research and academic life in general. At the Sanger Institute there are 120 postdoctoral researchers – colloquially known as ‘postdocs’. These PhD-qualified individuals undertake research across the Institute. They are at the heart of delivering our mission and are the driving force behind much of our science.
We spoke to staff at the Institute who wanted to share their appreciation for postdocs.
“Postdocs are absolutely vital to the functioning and productivity of the Teichmann lab. They help supervise PhD students, initiate and lead meetings within the group, form key points of collaboration with other labs, help write papers and do external presentations at conferences – all this on top of being the motors of research and discovery! I’d like to thank all of our postdocs, past and present, for their stellar contributions to science.”
Head of Cellular Genetics Programme
“I worked with Kylie James – now a group leader in Australia – hand in hand since the beginning of my PhD, and saw her develop into the young leader she is today. Kylie is always curious, fun and down to Earth, but also strong, determined and willing to take risks. She pursued challenging projects, detoured to an industry environment, and took up leadership roles, all while staying true to herself and enjoying life outside of work. It was especially inspiring to see her talents outside of academia, including her passion for drawing, arts and sports. In whatever she did, she would involve other people. Seeing her progression and learning the thought process behind her personal and career decisions has been an inspiration for my own career. I am certain she will continue to be an inspiring role model for many early career scientists to come in her own lab.”
PhD Student
“As part of postdoc appreciation week, I would like to say a huge thank you to all the postdocs in the Teichmann team, who make fantastic contributions to our group by leading projects, staying late to make experiments work, digging into the literature to interpret our findings, generating data, analysing data, wrangling data, and so much more! But maybe more importantly: helping each other and working together to deliver scientific insights. Thank you!”
Principal Staff Scientist
“I am a PhD student and I would like to show my appreciation for the efforts of a postdoc in my lab, Patrick Pett. We have been working together since July, and we meet nearly every day on zoom. We discuss my project, and he has helped me progress my work – which I have struggled with over the past two years. He always gives me constructive advice based on my thoughts. I really appreciate his help and his time!"
Zhihan Xu
PhD Student
