where researchers thrive in a healthy work environment

You are home to many curious minds, a quite special world I must say. From the outside, you are the fascination of the unknown, the place where researchers daydream about how everything functions, waiting for the Eureka moment. On the inside, the reality hurts. Over the years, you have become a business, a place where curious minds are valued for producing results that bring a return on investments, measured by papers and citations, in competition with each other, running after funding to stay in the game. 

I played this game a bit too hard during my PhD. I got caught in the downward spiral of long working hours and high expectations. You became the focus of my life, before health, friends and family. My fun for science disappeared, I was feeling like an impostor and I was too stressed to perform. Burnout almost knocked on my door. 

During my recovery, I had a wake-up call. I realized that stress was infused in academia, spread across all levels, too spread to be the problem of isolated individuals. You are broken my dear academia. The race to deliver discoveries on demand has a high cost, a human cost. And it doesn’t make sense. You are the home for curious minds who need a safe place to flourish and be creative. I want to see you foster wellbeing, camaraderie and peer-to-peer support. A place where researchers feel balanced, equipped to manage their stress, and grow into their highest potential. 

After years of working in academia, I decided to change course to help you – my fellow researchers. I became a wellbeing and career coach, dedicated to supporting you in your journey so you can thrive with your beautiful mind. Through 1-to-1 coaching, seminars and workshops, I offer tools for stress management, mental clarity, and career navigation. 

Together, let’s make academia a healthy environment for you to thrive. 

Déborah Rupert, PhD, wellbeing and career coach

I love science. I love new discoveries. I love the journey of mystery solving. I love asking those impossible questions. I don’t like how many terrific scientists with the same passion as me, are struggling with stress, mental health issues , and unhealthy working environment. I don’t like how many excellent scientists leave academia because of unsustainable conditions. I don’t like how many of my fellows scientists have completely lost their passion along the way.

I defended my thesis on sleep and memory at Uppsala University in 2019. Struggling my way through the ups and downs of the PhD life, I still feel like a recovering PhD student, happy to be on the other side.

So here I stand today, left with the feeling: we need to do something. We need to make sure that we increase the scientific quality. We need to make sure that researchers can flourish and grow, not fade.

With my background  in sleep science, I know that there is a tight link between how we feel and perform and how we sleep, going both ways. I know what impacts how we sleep, what’s going on while we’re sleeping, at least as far as our current scientific knowledge goes. I know what we can do to help us get the snooze we need. 

My support to you, my fellow researchers, is sharing my knowledge about sleep and healthy habits, to help us feel better and be better researchers. 

Together we can make academia a healthy workplace.

Frida Rångtell, PhD, Sleep educator

You have given so much, and I am so happy to be in a relationship with you. Among the factors I highly appreciate are your capacity for grand thinking, enlightening discussions, and the many quests you facilitate to make the world a better place.

But – we need to sort out a few things: certain traits of your behavior are harmful as well. For example, the obsessive focus on measurable accomplishments, competitive grant-systems that lead to year-long job-insecurities, your twisted perceptions of internal power hierarchies…. In short; you are quite a mouthful. Since I appreciate our relationship so much and want it to continue, I find it meaningful to contribute to making you a better partner.

I do that by facilitating individual personal and professional development for humans, who want to continue contributing to you. Specifically, what I offer is:

• Individual coaching for professionals at all levels in academia
• Training / learning for teams and groups regarding e.g. career planning, (self)leadership, competence mapping and leadership. 

Mette Sjöberg Anthonsen, PhD, coach