Laus Broersen – Principal Scientist Danone Nutricia Research

What does your job detail?

I am a principal scientist in industry where I do scientific research that focuses on nutrition and what that can do for the brain. My job has a lot of different aspects. For example, I do desk research but also organize scientific collaborations (both internally and externally). Mainly, I spend a lot of my time reading and writing.

What is your study background?

I studied Psychology and graduated in psychopharmacology. That is where my interest in behavior and the brain initiated. I did my PhD at the Netherlands Institute for Brain Research (NIBR) in Amsterdam, studying the role of prefrontal dopamine in behavior. Thus, I switched from a psychopharmacology to a more neuropsychopharmacology direction. After my PhD, I worked at several labs located in different countries. I continued doing research in academia, focusing on behavioral models and brain functions. The main goal of my research was how you can measure and improve brain functions in case of brain damage or particular diseases.

What is the difference in doing research in academia and industry?

Everyone's experience is different, but my experience is that the way that research is done in academia is quite similar to industry. With the exception that the aim and broadness is often different.

In academia, we were more looking at or trying to discover how particular processes work. How does the brain work? What happens if the system is damaged? What can the effect of specific medication be on the functioning of a system? It was just to gain more general knowledge about processes, how the world and our brain works. My focus was more on writing articles to share our knowledge with the scientific community.

In industry, you are more focused on research to support specific products. You also try to gain knowledge about systems and function, but you apply that to create new concepts or to create interventions that can support these processes. It is more applied science. In addition, there is more focus on filing patent applications on your new inventions and newly gained knowledge. You want to capture your inventions and get intellectual property rights before others can make use of that knowledge. That's part of the business model. In industry, you have to sell your products or services in order to raise budget to do more research. As a company, you have to make some profit to be able to reinvest it in your research. You can only do that if you have your inventions secured by filing patents. That is quite different from academia,

Nowadays, there is more focus on patenting new inventions in academia too. However, in industry, this is a regular part of your work. At least when I was in academia, it was nice if someone ever filed a patent application, while in industry this is a very common phenomenon.

How did you find this position?

I was looking for a new position and this one was vacant. I applied, got an invitation for an interview and was hired. This process was quite standard. Having done a PhD was necessary for this position and was part of the job description. Also, the level of functioning would require a PhD. Although, it is not that you always need to have a PhD to be able to work in a company. For example, in our company we have all kinds of people working in research and I think by now, many of them have a PhD degree or are even professors, but we also rely heavily on the skills of technicians and research assistants. In addition, we also have junior researchers who sometimes do a PhD in collaboration with a university, or sometimes write their PhD thesis later on, based on their work in the company. We don't have the standard four-year PhD projects, but once you have enough scientific publications of your research findings, you can also find a promoter and bundle your manuscripts in a thesis in the end. Thus, you can also obtain your PhD in that way.

Is it easy for a neuroscience graduate student to get into industry?

I think so! At least, in my case it was not so difficult. But times are changing. The area is extremely broad so it depends on your specialism, what you are looking for and the experiences you might already have in that particular field. Whether this is a PhD position in academia or in a company, that does not make a big difference. Both will require certain experiences and knowledge. Having a bit of a network also helps.

As a principal scientist, do you hire people?

I would say no. I work in a team and when we have vacancies in the team, I may be part of the interview committee. Our HR department hires people. We indicate to our bosses if it is possible to do all the work that is required from us or if we need additional knowledge or experience. If we cannot find it within our research organization, we have to look elsewhere. We can either collaborate with experts in the field or look for somebody who can work for us in the company. That's also the same for academia. If you want to do specific research, but you do not have the techniques or equipment, you are going to look for it. This can be via collaborations or invest in your own equipment and skills. That is a choice that really depends on the importance of the subject.

What is the working climate like in industry?

In my experience, research in academia is more individualistic than in a company. You are more often a specialist in your field. Of course, you can work together with other people with the same specialties or complementary knowledge. However, in a company, you are often working in much broader teams. It is not only the science, which already can be quite complicated, but you also work with people who do product development. I can have a theoretical idea about a new concept, but somebody else with a technical product development background has to turn that idea into a product. Then, we need other experts who will take a look at the quality, taste and packaging, etc. Since you are doing your research for a specific purpose, you are also part of the entire process: from getting an idea to a product on the market. That is what makes it more interesting for me than working as an expert in academia. There, the end product is often just an article in a good scientific journal.

How are the working hours?

Very similar to academia. We have a contract of a maximum of 40 hours a week. There are no additional hours overpay. You try to do all your work in those 40 hours. Sometimes, it fits, but other times it doesn't. My experience is the same in academia. Sometimes you need to finish something or are really enthusiastic and then you work a bit more. But you also have another life besides working! We try to stick to a well-balanced and healthy lifestyle.

How did your expectations about the job match reality?

Very much a match! I started my work in industry as a collaboration with the university. From there on, I developed more into the company. I was more familiar with the processes and the work of colleagues. You develop from researcher to senior researcher to principal scientist. With that, you change your work and what you are doing on a daily basis. With every step that I took in my career, I had a good idea of ​​what was coming up. There were no big surprises.

Do you have any recommendations for people trying to get into industry research?

I think you have to do the best you can. However, that's a general recommendation. If you are studying, you should try to make the best of your teaching and get good grades. Acquire as much relevant experience in the area that you like most. In the end, it is very important that you like the work that you do. That you are enthusiastic about it and want to make it a part of your life. It is good to have a broad network, because you are more likely to hear about vacancies. Of course, you also have social media and LinkedIn to find all that information.

You have more than twenty years of working experience. Do you think there are possibilities of growing in industry?

Growing is not always reflected in your job title. Within our company, a principal scientist as a research expert is the highest you can get. But of course, development never stops with continuing projects, collaborations and research. You learn and grow every day. Personally, that is more important than a title or a job description.

Do you feel like you made the right decision in switching from academia to industry?

 For me, it works really well in industry. I had fun in academia, had nice projects in nice places. But in the end, I got the feeling that I was only doing research for writing manuscripts and articles. I wanted to do something more. I found that in industry with applied science. Still doing the same, or very similar research, but working on creating products that other people might benefit from. That was an element that added to my appreciation of my own work. Not only doing things to write my own articles, but also helping other people with products that were not there before.

Contact info: laus.broersen@danone.com