Nicola Bell
Senior Researcher and Group Coordinator at University of Glasgow
Iam an organometallic & catalytic chemist with experience working with f-block metals such as uranium and thorium. I got my PhD at Edinburgh University, won a fellowship with Prof. Polly Arnold and later crossed disciplines, joining an organic chemistry group at St Andrews before taking up my current role at Glasgow where I coordinate a group of 65 researchers. Although summing up my career in four lines may make it sound impressive, I have wrestled with the insecurity of postdoc life and with the effect the limitations of my family life has on my career. Despite this I have always enjoyed mentoring young researchers and they often come to me for advice. Combining their multitude of experiences with my own has given me valuable insight into the challenges of a PhD/PD. I now sit on our Athena Swan committee and the ScotChem advisory panel both of which aim to improve the research environment.