Hard work before rewarding

Past weeks has been hectic due to the fact that we are finalizing several projects and writing the papers at the same time. I assume that we will submit at least 2 original papers before summer, and we are expecting to get feedback from 2 review paper currently under evaluation (revised versions has been already submitted). In addition, there are at least 4 papers that we have already started to write (let's see how long it takes to finalize them...), and there are 7 projects that we could soon start to write the manuscripts... wow, I'm amazed myself how much we have great thing going on at the moment! 😀

In addition to those, 2 grant application write-ups currently on the table (2 great ones pending, let's keep our fingers crossed!), and several abstracts have been submitted lately, since are going to present our results broadly:

- Meet the Experts Transporter Conference, Budapest, in May 2024

- Chemical Solutions for Biological Challenges, Turku, in June 2024

- EFMC International Symposium on Medicinal Chemistry, Rome, in September 2024

- EFMC Young Medicinal Chemists’ Symposium, Rome, in September 2024

- European Symposium on Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship, Barcelona, in September, 2024

Did I forgot something... 😎

Memory Loss of Mine...

I still keep forgetting things due to my traumatic autumn, but I just read the posts from September when new students have started their projects and I promised to take pictures before they leave... guess what happened... I forgot... Anyway, we ended up to have 2 Saras for this semester, one from Italy as an ERASMUS student and one from Finland as a M.Sc. Pharmacy student. Both have finished now their projects relating to Janne's 3rd thesis publication about antioxidants and pancreas-brain axel (more about that in later posts) and I must admit that this whole project has been a rollercoaster itself! Even though both Sara's did a great job in the project, the results were not what we were expecting or our methods required fine-tuning. And that's what we are still doing, but I hope this and up-coming weeks will be successful and that we can soon wrap up this project soon, so Janne can start writing his Ph.D. thesis! 

Our other local M.Sc. Pharmacy students, Mikko and Ville, have also finished their laboratory work and are currently writing their M.Sc. theses. Both gentlemen achieved great results in their projects, so in the best scenario, we will have 2 manuscript to be written soon! But sadly, at the same time it starts to be quiet in the lab... well, we still have 2 ERASMUS students working hard, and this is something that I have also forgot to mention earlier; Judith from Germany since November 2023 working first with metformin prodrugs and their bioanalysis and soon starting another project with extended visiting time, and Amal from Spain since January 2024, working on a new-old project of valproic acid prodrugs and their utilization as an anti-cancer agents. I also see here a good possibilities for 2 distinct manuscripts based on the results they have gained so far. So looking good, and busy times for me in writing in the future! 😎

Amal & Sema in the figure

Working hours of scientists...

Yes, we admit, we scientist do have weird working hours, but not only hours, but places too, since basically you can do your "written work" anywhere these days. I would say that this has improved possibilities for women, as it has been long discussed how women can combine the family life and science. I can't even count the hours how much I have spent in a car and working. Sounds weird, but my husband used to be the one who drove, where ever we were traveling as a family. Today, I have to take of care of driving, so cannot do that much work in a car anymore, but I have found other ways how to merge things. And I know that I'm not the only one, since I quite often meet my university colleagues in children's playgrounds with their computers, and I'm now talking about indoor playgrounds and hobbyplaces, like dressing rooms, waiting areas, and game stands. And I also know that we, scientist are not alone, I also regularly see other parents, most-likely non-scientist, also with computers making the most of the waiting time.

What then motives us to do so, since quite often this also (unfortunately) goes beyond the paid working hours. Well, I guess it depends... in academia, it's all about the results and outcome. The competition is so hard, that to survive you need to give all you got. Today (Sunday), I was thinking what motivated me to work with the grant application that we are about to submit soon and the answer was pretty clear. I want to give a possibility to a young scientist and get a funding for his Ph.D. studies. Let's keep fingers crossed!