When I was in university, I had no idea working in science would have meant exploring the world. I was in my last year of university and I was looking for what to do next. Options were many. The world was my oyster. Literally, but I did not know that yet.
I had just been confirmed my future PhD student position at the Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology, at UCL, in London (UK), and truth is that I had never been to UK before the job interview. I had primarily chosen this institute for the offered science projects and how they actually matched my bio-interests.
When I moved to UK, I packed in the bag my personal vision of what a science project was: the investigation of one person in one particular field. I guess at that time, while studying other’s scientific works I was blindly focused on the message, and that I completely ignored the actual people who contributed to that discovery. If only I had seen that research papers are nowadays the joint effort of several labs, I could have predicted that science implies the movement of scientist across the globe!
Today, I can loudly say to have been very lucky in my scientific journey. Wonderfully, I have had the chance to live and work in 6 different countries. 4 of those actually stemmed from the need of expanding my scientific research towards new horizons.
Collaborations are exciting; they broaden knowledge and create new ideas. Moreover, they allow the traveller to get a truly authentic “local” experience of a society, by immerging in it to the full, adopting its typical routine, embracing its customs, tasting cuisine and practicing its language.
There is a vast number of travel grants for collaborations. These collaborative funds aims to bring together research lines of two pre-existing projects. Moreover, in my opinion, they are quite frequent due to their relatively inexpensive nature. Let’s imagine for a moment that one scientist wants to help another one by performing an experiment which he/she is very well experienced in. The only thing necessary at this point is to bring Scientist A to Scientist B (or vice versa), to allow them to perform the experiment together. In this sense, travel grants are cheap: they sponsor the shuttling of scientists from a country to another, with the additional –in the best of cases- coverage of minimal costs for specific reagents and materials.
In my 10 years scientific experience, I profited a few time of these grants: the MRC Centenary award allowed me to perform experiments on DNA errors during cell division in Portugal; EMBO short-term fellowship brought me from France to UK to generate specific DNA probes; and Campus France paid for my second visit to Portugal, to explore the role of mechanical forces in cell division.
I want to point-out here the great initiatives of Campus France, who, by intertwining its actions with the ones in other countries, runs country-specific programs to bring France-based researchers into an international lab, or to welcome outstanding minds in France. My experience with Campus France has been spotless, and I would certainly recommend anyone to screen for similar initiatives, bridging two countries: extra points for Campus France, since it did not only allow me to visit Portugal, but also to recruit Portugal-based scientists in France.
Though, this is not the same case as for collaborative grants, which sponsor the establishment of a completely brand new line of research among two or more labs. These grants need in fact to hire more scientists, and often to buy dedicated instruments. One example is HFSP (Human Frontier Science Program), which runs grant calls for principal investigations proposing novel research lines in collaboration among 2-to-4 international laboratories.
Now, independently on the project you have in mind, I would like to share 5 tips “to establish a great collaboration” I wish someone had told me at the beginning of my career:
1. If you see something in someone else’s research you would like to explore in your project, do not hesitate approaching that person! You can either email them or go and talk to them right after a presentation. Despite of how famous or well-recognised the researcher is, you can always bring value to their work, as much as they can help you! So man up, and initiate the contact. It was one question I posed during his seminar, that made me meet Dr Helder Maiato, from the university of Porto (Portugal). Helder is a successful and inspiring researcher with whom I collaborate –who would have said??- even after 6 years.
2. Hunt for travel grant: there are a lot around. Scavenge every non-profit institutions, companies or journals, either in your own country or in the location of destination. You would be surprised how often reagent producers, societies or editorial companies are willing to sponsor a trip. Once again, no harm in emailing directly these institutions to enquire about possible travel grants.
3. Do not forget to ask the visited laboratory about rules in their institution. You do not want to cross the line of unexpected customs. What it might be acceptable in your country might not be the way of doing in the other one.
4. Arrange your stay in the other lab, by asking for help on their end. Often local institutions have specific accommodations for visiting researchers. This will make the stay easier, spare you to look for a place where to stay from far, and perhaps make you save one dollar or two.
5. Ask for local tips and enjoy the country after work! Get to know new friends and use all the free time to explore as much as you can! Ultimately, this is a unique opportunity to live in another country!
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