Verena Kohler here! I was appointed as a tenure-track assistant professor by the Faculty of Medicine, and in October 2023, I started my own lab at the Department of Molecular Biology here in Umeå. We are using high-throughput screening in yeast to understand proteostasis over ageing.
Fast forward one year, all major methods of the lab are established, the first undergraduate students have graduated from the lab, I have one PhD student as an employee, recently acquired a high-throughput robotic system through my own funding, and I am a new UCMR member, eager to start collaborations and explore novel grounds in infection biology. This sounds straightforward and easy when focusing only on the visible parts of the process. Was it easy and straightforward? Definitely not. But is it sometimes helpful to focus on tangible, positive things? Yes, definitely.
Starting from the beginning: Why Umeå?
Already during my time as a postdoc at Stockholm University, I enjoyed Sweden a lot. I loved the nature and the possibility to venture into the wilderness. When I returned home to Austria during the homecoming phase of my stipend, I felt out of place and eagerly looked for opportunities in Scandinavia, with a focus on Sweden. When I was invited for my job interview as assistant professor, I came, saw, and felt at home. The snow (back then about 2 meters), the wilderness of the nature, and the city appealed to me, and I could see myself living here. When both my husband and I (originally invited as competitors for the interview – 4 people were interviewed, including the two of us) were each offered a tenure-track position, there was not much to think about before accepting. It felt like winning the lottery.
The day of my interview – incredibly nervous but loving the city!
The journey begins
As soon as I accepted my job offer, I started planning for my own lab. During my homecoming phase in Austria, I was an independent senior postdoc, so I could arrange my own time – I used parts of it to attend courses on teaching, supervision, and lab management. I am very happy that I did that and would do the same again. I also started contacting companies that build the robotic handling systems I needed for my envisioned yeast high-throughput screening. This taught me my first lesson – patience. Although I managed to secure funds within two months of starting my lab (for which I am incredibly grateful), the official procedures, order process, and custom building took a very long time. During this period, it was hard not to lose hope. Finally, one year later, it arrived in its huge box, and the excitement was endless.
In the first months after the official start of my lab, I was busy organizing my new lab space, setting up methods and optimizing protocols. I enjoyed swapping office hours with time at the bench. Doing experiments has been the highlight of my week. Even after the first undergraduate students and the first PhD student joined, I still try to regularly do wet lab work to advance the project and to change perspective.
Arrival of our robotic handling system for screening in its huge box from Canada.
Learning the hard way
Dealing with rejections has been one of the toughest lessons I’ve had to learn, not only this past year but basically since starting in academia. They come for all of us, and while it’s human nature share our successes, the reality is that rejections are a part of the journey too. I’m still trying to learn how not to take them too personally, but instead, use them as opportunities to improve. I remind myself that everyone faces challenges, even if they aren’t always visible.
Building a support network
I am incredibly grateful for our support staff at the department. Their assistance with orders, equipment repairs, and patient support whenever I had questions has made my job significantly easier. Without their help, things would have been much more challenging. I am grateful for experienced colleagues that I can ask for help and advice. I am also very lucky that my husband and I started building our labs at the same time, so we could do a lot of brainstorming together. It was definitely one of the most challenging years of my life. Even though I wanted to become a PI for a long time, there were many situations that I felt not really prepared for. However, there were also many instances that turned out to be easier than I had anticipated!
Starting a lab in Northern Sweden has been an incredible journey filled with highs and lows. I would definitely again focus on building a good lab, establishing solid methods and recruiting good people. For the next four years until tenure, I hope to continue my journey, get my projects going, still work at the bench from time to time and make use of the scientific environment with great collaborations.
Enjoying some time at the bench optimizing protocols and establishing methods.
