Continuing education and growth

“I am proud that during the lockdown I learned single cell RNA sequencing data which resulted in a 1st – author paper for me!” Kiki

“In the middle of the pandemic I graduated with a degree in medical devices and this lead to securing a job for a company that produces medical devices. Feels like a success story! ” Angeliki

“I am proud that I can now treat patients in the emergency department as well as actively participate in surgeries for Head and Neck tumors, trauma head injuries and reconstructive – cosmetic facial surgery!” Katerina B.

“I am proud that I continue learning and that I have designed and taught my first Masters class about data science” Danae

Setting limits especially in relation to personal time

“I am proud that I no longer work in the afternoons and weekends, and because my current job does not entail daily frustration, but immediate reward” Maria B

“It took me a long time to set limits and now my personal life is a priority over my career” Tatiana

“I am proud to say ‘no’ more often every year to protect my mental health and personal time” Georgia

Contribution to a good cause

“That I find time and energy to work together and learn daily from wonderful and strong women who are examples of solidarity and support” Chrysovalantou

” I am proud that through my job I help shape the next generation of engineers while at the same time I get to save our planet” Kelly

“That I am able to share my knowledge with students in the laboratory and offer them a more positive experience in research, avoiding as much as possible what frustrated me when I was in their position” Georgia

Believing in yourself and your ideas

“I insisted on starting a project that no one believed in and no one in my team knew how to do it. I found out and set it up myself, with help from my friends and in the end, I was right about it because it was directly relevant to the disease I am studying” Myrto

“I am proud that I managed to run and optimize the FACS* technique for the first time in my laboratory after 4 months of continuous problems and minimal support from my team. So, I can now proceed with the omics experiments I need! ” Maria K

“That I stepped out of my comfort zone in academia to move to a highly competitive industry environment, being one of the few women in a senior position in a male-dominated area” Katerina Br

As for me “For the first time in my life, for the last 3 months, I do not reply to professional e-mails at the weekend (although I often see them)”. How about we all do this as a homework from time to time and find something worth giving ourselves kudos for?

*Fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) is a technique to purify specific cell populations based on phenotypes detected by flow cytometry.