Can you explain your topic in a sentence?
My work focuses on understanding the mechanisms behind the production of fungal secondary metabolites, important molecules with many different applications, including into the pharmaceutical field.
What’s something surprising you discovered during your PhD?
During my first years of PhD I discovered how deep and interconnected are the different topics around a single field of study, which in my case is fungal metabolites. It always amazes me how little we actually know even in our little niche of work, and how much is important to collaborate and interact with different people working in different niches.
What’s something you learned the hard way? (Something you wished you knew before starting PhD)
I definitely learned the hard way how important is to be organized if you want to be a researcher. It's not only being precise and rigorous on your work, but also having a well defined plan and be ready to redo all the experiments if necessary. All of this is fundamental to achieve good quality results.
What makes being a part of the MAGic-MOLFUN network special for you?
I think being part of such kind of networks is just an added value to the PhD offer. Is not something that only relates to the doctoral research, but it is an additional experience that enriches you in many ways. Thanks to the network I met so many amazing people and traveled to a so many great places and laboratories, and that wouldn't probably happened with a conventional PhD program, or at least not with such magnitude.
In 5 years, are you in a lab, at a startup, on a mountain with goats, or...?
I would say 99% on a lab, but I always loved the mountain. And the goats.
If your PhD was a movie, what would the title be?
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
