Success Stories: Agnese Loda, how winning the L’Oreal fellowship for women in science changed my career.
My name is Agnese, and I am a biologist working at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) where I study X-chromosome inactivation, the epigenetic process that allows female mammals to survive through embryonic development. I was born in Italy and lived in The Netherlands and France before moving to Germany in 2019, where I found myself at a crossroads.
When I applied for the L’Oréal fellowship I was at the beginning of my Postdoc at Institut Curie, in Paris, and on maternity leave. The lab where I was working would relocate to Germany just after my leave. I was concerned about how my scientific life would change as a baby girl’s mother. In Germany, the L’Oréal Fellowship for Women in Science is awarded by the Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard (CNV) Foundation. The fellowship aims to facilitate the progress of highly qualified young women whose scientific careers are threatened by the difficulties of balancing science and family life. While reading the mission statement of the CNV Foundation, I realised this was the kind of support I would be needing soon.
The interview took place a few months after I applied and I was in a rather tricky phase. Our lab had just moved to EMBL Heidelberg, and I struggled to get started in the new environment without much of a network. I had done this already, but this time it was much harder. I felt terribly slow with my experiments, and being the only parent in the lab, I also felt quite lonely.
Nevertheless, the interview was the best thing that happened to me in that period. As I started to introduce my project, its aims and strengths (but also the many difficulties I was facing) brought back all the energy and motivation that had kept me going until that point. Somehow I thought, ‘OK — this is too cool to give up — I will find a way to make it work’.
After successfully being awarded with this fellowship, I often get asked what it means for me to be a woman in science. I take this very seriously. Not doing it would mean not recognising all the efforts of the many women whose fights allowed me to become a scientist. I am grateful. I also learned to speak up when I see things I dislike — if I feel something is unfair, stereotyped or discriminatory. I think it is important to raise your hand and just say it out loud. In many cases, people do realise that something is wrong and adjust. And if they don’t, it’s even more important to keep speaking up.
I am a woman in science. But I’m also a parent in science. Becoming a parent did change the way I function as a scientist too. I have less time, less flexibility, and I sleep less — but I also have a much broader perspective on things. I had to accept that at least for specific tasks, ‘done’ can be as good as ‘perfectly done’, and my agenda is way more organised than it used to be. I am also fortunate as I have support — both in the lab and at home, and I know this is not always the case. My supervisor, Edith Heard, EMBL Director-General, arranged to work closely with one of our technicians (Christel Picard) after I returned from maternity leave. The help she gave me has been fundamental to keep things going. At home with my partner we share all household responsibilities, and this allows me to have longer evenings in the lab when I need to. Thanks to the L’Oréal fellowship, I had support for extra child care in case of need, and I could attend conferences and courses I would not have access to otherwise. I am very much aware of how vital this support is. It is discouraging to see many brilliant early-career scientists not having the institutional support that would help them juggle science and family life.
So far throughout my career I was often inspired by role models, both inside and outside the lab. My biology teacher at high school was the one who inspired me to become a scientist. My supervisor is a role model for many different aspects that certainly go far beyond science. I find models in my family and amongst my friends and peers too. I often reach out to some of them, and I also look at others feeling simply motivated by their achievements, choices, or change of plans, hoping to be able to reach what they did.
Becoming a Native Scientist coordinator had a major impact on my career too. It gave me the opportunity to engage others in something I believe is meaningful. To create the Native Scientist Italian community, first in Paris and then in Heidelberg, I reached out to scientists, parents, teachers and cultural organisations and managed to get them on board. Native Scientist also helped me become more aware of the impact we as scientists can have on young generations . Kids simply love our workshops, the experiments we do together, but also our stories as bilinguals and expats. On top of the general enthusiasm that always accompanies our workshops, talking about my work and ideas in completely different contexts from what I am used to is enriching and very motivating.
A year into my fellowship, I now realise how much the support I received was needed. I think things would have been more challenging without it, and I am not sure if I would have been able to continue with my career path. In particular, what I believe made the difference is the network of peers that I could build thanks to this fellowship. Sharing ideas and career goals, together with the uncertainties and doubts that come along, does continue to help me enormously.
About Native Scientist: Native Scientist is an award-winning European-wide non-profit organisation that promotes cultural diversity in science, education and society. Native Scientist provides science and language workshops, science communication training, and bespoke projects for various institutions, including schools, universities and embassies. The work developed connects pupils with scientists to foster science and language literacy through role modelling and science and language integrated learning. Founded in 2013, their work reaches over 1,200 pupils a year and they count with a network of over 1,000 international scientists.
About L’Oreal-UNESCO For Women in Science Fellowship: The Foundation L’Oréal and UNESCO have worked together for more than 20 years to help empower more women scientists to achieve scientific excellence and participate equally in solving the great challenges facing humanity. Each year, the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science programmes also support more than 250 talented young women researchers. Through its 52 regional and national programmes, the Foundation L’Oréal and UNESCO support them at a crucial period in their careers, during their thesis or post-doctoral studies.
