Musings from the Chair

I cannot think of any career that I would rather have done. I love the challenge that being a scientist brings. We don't sleep much, and the work is never finished, and getting grant funding is not always easy. But there are some truly beautiful moments:

• the rush that comes from getting a new idea and testing it experimentally or theoretically (especially when it works)

• when you get data/evidence that proves a mechanism that you've proposed and worked hard to understand (sometimes for years)

• when work you are proud of and has taken thousands of hours to complete gets published

• when you can respond with a rationally designed project to a global challenge

• when a grant proposal is accepted and funded, thereby enabling you and your students to venture into the future

• when colleagues or students get excited about your work after you've delivered a decent lecture

• when a student writes a great paper/thesis/dissertation

• seeing the pride and happiness when your graduate students graduate and their families are there to celebrate the occasion - because they know how tough it has been