For National Postdoc Appreciation week, some of our postdocs share their journey into research and advice for those thinking of a career in academia. Gurpreet is a Research Associate in the group of Professor Luc Vandeperre.
What led you to postdoc research?
My journey to postdoc research is fuelled by my passion for science and my religion. I want to establish myself as a ‘Sikh Scientist’, since the world is yet to get familiar with scientists from unnoticed ethnic backgrounds, especially from Sikhism. Therefore, as opposed to my fellow Sikhs commonly excelling in the army or business sector, I decided to pursue science and travelled to the UK to complete my Masters and PhD in inorganic chemistry.
Then, one job led to another, and finally, after 5 years of struggle, I secured a job at Imperial as a postdoc to pursue my passion of synthesising nanoparticles and achieve excellence in this field. I believe this is my pathway to establishing my research group in the future and fulfil my dream to represent my community in science.
What do you enjoy about your current research?
My current research is about inorganic nanoparticles, particularly magnetic composites. I really enjoy syntheses and characterisation, as I feel my strengths reside in experimentation. A normal day at work for me is to synthesise nanoparticles with a magnetic property, and then functionalise these with different chemical groups. This is quite an exciting task as I get complete freedom to explore many chemicals that I foresee to be compatible in the structure and useful towards my application.
Therefore, I enjoy designing new protocols and then testing my samples using both simple techniques such as a bar magnet, and advanced tools like magnetometers and spectroscopies. This sort of freedom is quite rare for a postdoc project, but I consider myself lucky that apart from the niche field of application, I get to explore new inorganic synthetic reactions every day.
What has been the highlight of your academic journey so far?
Apart from being the 1st and only Sikh male so far to have graduated with a PhD in chemistry from my Alma mater (in the north-west UK), I have also achieved recognition from the Royal Society of Chemistry as an ‘Emerging Leader’ in inorganic chemistry. I believe this to be the highlight of my academic journey so far, which of course was a fruit of my previous efforts in industry, which was no less of a feat.
I am proud to have led a start-up from inception and successfully carried it through 2 clinical trials. It was a great learning experience to translate lab research to a commercial product and get involved in all areas of a start-up, whether it is product design, syntheses, scale-up, budgeting, troubleshooting, tester-mechanic roles, or even as a trainer, spokesperson and point of contact in clinics.
What advice would you give to those who are considering a career in academia?
My general advice to all students who are considering a career in academia is to focus on excellence. It is not about money or fame, but it is about having a reason to teach or research, and how much you love what you do. Academia, for me, is about progressing and building on what you had learnt in the past. It is about learning and perfecting to then demonstrate the knowledge in your own unique way.
Secondly, I would also like to take this opportunity to encourage all students from minority groups like me, whether they are Sikhs or any other BAME group members, to come forward and add colour to UK’s academia. No matter who or what had put you off in the past, if you have a vision in life towards academia, then strive for excellence in it. Rest everything will fall into place automatically.