Sean O'Neill, contributor
Jenny Rohn is a cell biologist at University College London. She is the author of two "lab lit" novels inspired by her scientific experiences, and is founder of the Science is Vital organisation, which successfully campaigned against UK science funding cuts in 2010.
Are you a happy scientist?
Yes, very happy, because it's a wonderful life to live. There are great opportunities to travel the world and experience different laboratory cultures. There's a great buzz to it, particularly when you are young. The downside is that it's quite an insecure job - you never know where the next contract will come from. So it's a love/hate thing - love the job, hate the insecurity.
This job insecurity is something you are trying to change, as part of the Science is Vital movement...
Yes. Science is fuelled by young researchers. PhDs and postdocs do the vast majority of the actual "wet work" involved in science, yet there is only a tiny number of places for them at the top and very few middle positions. In other professions you have the top person, but then you have middle layers - it's like a pyramid. Science isn't like that. You have the lab head and then all these apprentices and trainees on short-term contracts. Science is Vital and other interested groups are involved in round-table discussions at the Royal Society to try to come up with a way to make science a more secure career.
Research isn't the only option for science graduates, though.
No, there are lots of great jobs out there that you can use your science degree or PhD for. You can take it to the private sector, make lots of money and do really interesting things.
?Which you did...
Yes, I had a great time working at a biotech start-up in the Netherlands before I came to University College London. At university we were always told: "Industry is the Dark Side! You can't go over there, you'll never come back." But that's not true at all. You can go over to the dark side and enjoy it, and you can come back.
You based your second book, The Honest Look, on your experiences in industry. What's so interesting about scientific life that you want to immortalise it through "lab lit"?
I think people have no idea what scientists do. They envision us as boffins in white coats, stroking fluffy white cats and laughing maniacally. They don't realise that it is a modern profession full of interesting, fun, creative, smart people, just like any other industry. "Lab lit" is a chance to show what it's like.
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