The Inspiring Journey of a Woman in and out of Science

Interview with Dr. Valeska Russo, science coach, trainer and focus finder

On a rainy afternoon at a local café in Copenhagen, I had the pleasure to sit down with Dr. Valeska Russo. Valeska is a science coach and trainer based in Berlin and dedicates her time to equipping early-career scientists with the skills to help them thrive as they go through their studies. She opened up about her fascinating career trajectory in and out of science, sharing her past struggles as she journeyed through her PhD studies, juggled work and family duties and reflected on how the skills she collected along the way have landed her in the position to support young scientists today.

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Conchita Fraguas (CF): What was your first contact with science, had you always known that science was a career you wanted to pursue?

Valeska Russo (VR): I was born into science, my father is a scientist and both of my grandfathers were scientists. My father is an Italian physicist, and when I was born, he had just finished his PhD. And when I was three months old, we moved to the United States of America from Italy so he would conduct his first post-doctoral research.

My father got a permanent position when I was five, at the Max Planck Institute in Berlin, and so we stayed in Germany. He always took us into the lab, as the Institute was only 200 metres across the park, and we lived in a house provided also by the Institute. So everyone we knew, our community where we lived was always connected to science. My mother was the first woman in her family and generation to study, she did Psychology. My father is now 80 years old and he is really a scientist [in every sense of the word], and he always wanted us to go into science.

"I was born into science, my father is a scientist and both of my grandfathers were scientists. … My father always took us into the lab, as the Institute was only 200 metres across the park…, so everyone we knew, our community where we lived was always connected to science."

Pictured, Dr. Valeska Russo. Photography by Ines Borchart

In my last year in school, I heard of a study called Nutritional Science, the science of alimentation/home economics and I really wanted to do this. I discussed this with my parents, and my father very strictly said no, but then he suggested I start with basic science and then move from there. Then I thought… Chemistry. I didn’t have much of an idea about Chemistry, I did a little in school but it wasn’t something I was very familiar with. I did not want to study in Berlin, I literally took the map of Germany and the farthest point was Freiburg, so I applied there, in the south. I didn’t get the place there so then the next farthest place from Berlin was Aachen, which was very close to Belgium and to the Netherlands.

"I had no idea about Chemistry, and on the first day we had laboratory work. I came into the lab, and I realised from the first week that this was not my topic. And I don’t know why I didn’t stop in this instance… I was so stubborn and chose to do the first three years and then move into Food Chemistry."

I moved there in 1986. I had no idea about Chemistry, and on the first day we had laboratory work, I came into the lab, and I realised from the first week that this was not my topic. And I don’t know why I didn’t stop in this instance, in these first two-three months. I am not a person for details, so when I went to the lab and it was 150mg of this, to me it was like 150, 152… it didn’t matter, but yes, it mattered! And I didn’t realise this.

Valeska's academic journey across Germany from Berlin to Aachen and Freiburg.

But I was so stubborn, and I said okay I will do the first three years doing my pre-diploma and then I will move into Food Chemistry, which is very interesting. After these years I moved from Aachen where I wasn’t so happy, to Freiburg. I chose the university (and again the topic Chemistry) because I wanted to be with a bunch of like-minded people. Luckily it worked out and quickly I found a group of close friends and was very happy there- but still I went into the lab and felt this same way.

CF: What made you choose to follow up your studies with a PhD?

VR: When I started my Chemistry degree in 1986 it was like “this is a very secure field”, “you will get a job for sure”. But when I finished my degree in ’92, and the Berlin Wall had come down in 1989, the chemical industry in Germany completely sank, so there were no jobs in Germany.

At that stage, wanting to earn money, I decided to start a PhD. My father recommended I undertake my studies at the Max Planck Institute. I started the PhD with some of my neighbours, because again this was my network. We wrote the first grant for my PhD, and I had this feeling like “this is not mine”. But still, I was so stubborn because I wanted to have the job. During this time, I also found a group of people who were into feministic ecological environment science, who I still keep in touch with. And so I spent most of my time with them, and we would get up to all of these discussions about gender biases in science.

CF: To think that at this time, discussing these topics must have been quite revolutionary. Nowadays, topics such as gender bias in science are more widely discussed or accepted as topics of discussion, even though there is still a long way to go. But back then, I imagine it must have started as mere chatter…

VR: Yes. It was really the beginning, and we were reading literature related to this, and meeting up to discuss whether feministic science was feasible, and how to change the world even as a scientist.

CF: As you dived deeper in your PhD studies, how was your experience?

In my PhD time I was very lucky because I had a supervisor who was very kind. I think if he hadn’t and had been pushy instead, I would have stopped. He was like, okay, I see her as she is - I’m still thinking of writing him a thank you letter, even now 25 years later.

He was a driven scientist. He came from the East of Germany, we met in 1994, five years after the Wall had come down, and he was moving from Eastern Germany to several places in Western Europe. His name is Dr. Klaus Köhler, currently a professor at the Technical University of Munich, very successful in what he is doing. He was on tenure track and his boss, Head of Department in superficial Chemistry at the Fritz-Haber Institute, was a bit tougher on us and “pushier”, so my supervisor almost acted as a buffer against this external pressure during my studies. I was really lucky, otherwise this would have been a much different experience.

However, the feeling was still as though I was in the wrong place, of doing the wrong thing. I went there to do really the “minimum” of my scientific duties, and yet still I finished my studies in exactly the three years they gave me funding for. I obtained a publication, and defended my PhD with very good notion, graduating with high distinction.

"In my PhD time I was very lucky because I had a supervisor who was very kind... However, the feeling was still as though I was in the wrong place, of doing the wrong thing. I went there to do really the minimum of my scientific duties, and yet still I finished my studies in exactly the three years they gave me funding for… graduating with high distinction."

As I felt myself stepping out of Academia, I told myself “I will never go back”. And it took a gap year where I travelled to Brazil, and in Brazil I was thinking, so what is it that I really like to do? And when I came back from Brazil I decided to cook. It was an opportunity, a friend of mine had her 30th birthday and she asked me if I would like to do the catering and I accepted and started with this. I got recommendations, the biggest event that I cooked for was for over 200 people, and I loved every minute of this.

It was challenging for sure, as I was working odd and long hours, standing all the time on my feet, but I did exactly what I wished I could do in the lab- put some ingredients together… and I was good at this, it came very naturally to me. I am also fascinated by the different textures, and had lots of books about cooking and Chemistry, and I loved to talk also about this, but I was happy to not be in the lab.

CF: What made you move on from your catering business?

VR: I decided with my partner, an Israeli woman, that it was time to start a family. But this was a bit difficult, working long hours under stress and with unstable income. And so, I was again with some neighbours and I talked with the head of HR at a very big company, Siemens, and they had an open position as Project Manager in IT. I didn’t have much idea of IT, but I applied nonetheless, and four weeks later I got the job, mainly because I had a PhD. So this was the first time that my title helped me to get a job. I started with someone who was a really good boss, I really liked him. On my first day on the job, my girlfriend became pregnant, so it was like everything happening all at once. I stayed with Siemens, and we had three kids, I had one pregnancy and my now-wife had two pregnancies.

The first pregnancy of my wife was very difficult, during the birth of our son he suffered a long period of oxygen loss. This resulted in him living with severe disabilities. He is now 21, a lovely and kind young man, who is in a wheelchair and can’t speak, and has no control over his movements. I was then in a situation where I supported my partner with our son, and had a very demanding job at Siemens. I asked for some time reduction, and I got it. I became pregnant one and half years after he was born and gave birth to a healthy daughter.

During my wife’s second pregnancy she needed a lot of care, and I had to take care of her and the new baby, my son demanded a lot of care and also my daughter. And during this time, on top of my exigent job, they offered me a leader position which involved more responsibilities. I was 37 at the time, and I didn’t know what I know now, I was still quite young. I was determined to turn it down, but they said they didn’t have anyone else. I said okay, I am good at leading, and if Siemens provides me with conditions that I can do it part-time I will accept. They promised, but it did not work out, I stayed long hours, more than a full-time job, and took care of the family at the same time.

CF: How were you able to deal with your responsibilities and find a good work/life balance?

VR: The first three months were really crazy. I had to lead this group and juggle my family duties and it was too much. I decided to step down, I went to my boss at the time who was a different one, I told him I couldn’t do this with my current family situation, and he degraded me really. He gave me a boss who had no idea what we were talking about, he had no project management knowledge. And on the first day he said “Valeska, I will be your new boss but you are going to do all the work”. And I refused and said I need this job to be a part-time job, I cannot work more than 20 hours a week because I have family duties. He said it would not happen.

I relied on my women’s network at Siemens, and I asked one of the women, who was also a group leader, if I could work for her. I said “I’m a really good project manager, you know who I am and how I work, I am not great at IT but I can help out and I’m ready to learn”. And she said “yes, why not”.

I started the first day and they put me in coding, and I said “coding!”, “I have no idea about coding!” A very good programmer was sitting next to me, and he had to do project management and he was very bad at project management, and I said “I’m very bad at coding, why don’t we teach each other”. I spent three months learning coding, and I didn’t learn anything, and it was an experience kind of like my PhD of myself asking what I am doing here. And then my old boss, he offered me a job. It was also at Siemens but he was now somewhere else, and so I accepted.

CF: How did you move from Project Management to Science coaching?

In 2007, Siemens had to let a number of people go and they offered me a 2-year compensation if I left, so I took it. The moment I signed the contract, I completely broke down. I didn’t do anything for half a year, apart from basic family management duties. And from 2008 onwards, I really understood that I could not continue like before. And I started to think about myself and what I wanted, I thought about what I could do, how I could be healthy enough to provide money for my family, and be fulfilled with what I’m doing.

"At the end of 2010-ish, I had three different jobs, and something like 20-25 clients. This was a time when I finally knew what I was doing... I went to schools to make cooking projects and teach kids cooking, but I also went into academia to teach project management for young scientists, and I did freelance quality assurance as well."

It took me two years to get out of this, I started meditation, and I was thinking about starting a lot of things. It was really good that I had a good network, and once I started to feel better, I went back to the idea of cooking, I started a course in Berlin on how to teach children how to cook. At the same time, a chemist friend reached out and said, “I’m starting a company, I want you as a teacher, why don’t we do project management courses for young scientists". Another friend said, “I’m working in the automotive industry, we need someone like you, you have experience in quality assurance, would you like to do some freelance work?” I said yes.

So at the end of 2010-ish, I had three different jobs, and something like 20-25 clients. This was a time when I finally knew what I was doing even though my friends and family stopped understanding exactly what I did. I went to schools to make cooking projects and teach kids cooking, but I also went into academia to teach courses, project management for young scientists, and I did freelance quality assurance as well.

CF: I find that what is amazing about your story, and what you are doing now is that you can take your own experience during your PhD, where you perhaps didn’t feel very supported, and now you are offering young scientists the chance to acquire these basic skills. What do you focus on teaching?

VR: I really think that I went full-circle, I am happy with working as a science coach, and what I love, jumping now to 2021, at this online time, with lockdowns and so on… I connected with so many different people in different work environments, not only in Academia, and learned new ways of teaching and facilitating.

I mix methods of project and time management tools, and focus on agile project thinking, facilitation, how to organise meetings, how to empower people, how to find the purpose in what you are doing, all these methods… I have worked with them, learned them and bring them to all of these courses with PhD students. I have also been involved in a round of courses for supervisors called skillfull communication in a scientific team and offer this to universities. You can really bring people together online, and focus on peer discussion, which is actually one of my favourite tools.

CF: As your current role as a science coach, how do think these new generations of young scientists differ from past ones? Do you feel they struggle with the same things?

VR: When we first started with these courses 10 years ago, I realised how stressed people were. With my colleague we gave more input, like teaching how to do soft skills. Now, we do more of this facilitation training. The feeling is that it’s too much. And it’s also important to discuss the ways to support PhD and post-doc students when it comes to mental health and other things, to talk about for example what can supervisors do, and the resources offered by the faculties and universities.

What I’ve also realised is that there is this whole world out there of people doing PhD careering coming from their PhD experiences and looking at the bright side. We recently did an exercise on the values that are important to young scientists in work, and what they would like to change for their next job.

"What I’ve also realised is that there is this whole world out there of people doing PhD careering coming from their own experiences and looking at the bright side. [Doing your PhD] can be a really good time to be in, where [students] have flexibility, they are challenged,...they are part of a community, can have an impact… this is fulfilling."

And some people were surprised to realise, that all their values are fulfilled during their PhD studies. I think it’s also important to reflect that this can be a really good time that they are in, where they have flexibility, they are challenged, and so many other different things, such as being part of a community, having an impact… this is fulfilling. I definitely think this is something to focus on, this is a journey where you learn a lot, and from then on you can decide what you do.

CF: Lastly, if you could talk to young Valeska finishing her PhD, what would you say?

VR: I think I would tell myself that it was not a lost time. You learned a lot and you are going to use all these skills to build yourself up professionally but also to understand yourself better.

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It isn’t often that we hear about the different careers that one can have in science, especially if those roles don’t fit into the well-established boxes that read “academia” or “industry”. However, many of these less-known roles can contribute so much to the scientific community, and help uplift it in innumerable ways. It was really inspiring to follow along Valeska's journey and listen to her experiences through work and personal life, and how all of these experiences have led her to where she is today.

Dr. Valeska Russo currently focuses on delivering courses and coaching scientists in carefully designed and engaging trainings. You can find more information at http://valeskarusso.de/

Interview by Conchita Fraguas

The Earth Youth Project