A day in the life at the Crick, featuring Dr Jeremy Carlton

When did you begin working at the Crick?

October 2017, which still feels like it was last year!

What was the aim of you working there?

This was a secondment, to move my group over for an extended period.

What drew you to want to work there?

I didn’t think I’d ever get the chance to run a group in a major institute like this, as entry to their core programme is super competitive. When Peter Parker suggested I apply, I was a bit taken aback as I assumed that they would want more senior staff as attachments, but the application went well, and they offered me a slot. I wanted to experience a different scientific environment and a different way of working and get to use some of their core facilities.

What is an average day like for you at the Crick?

It’s a pretty full-on mix of lab work, admin and Zoom/Teams seminars. I try to get to the bench most days, am finalising revisions to a paper and preparing to write a major grant application at the moment, so need to gather preliminary data for that.

What is one thing you will take away from your time there?

How well the scientific process works when there are good levels of support. It’s amazing (and rather luxurious) to have so many things taken care of for you and I realise that we are super lucky. I do not think that I know how to make buffers or agar plates any more…

What is your favourite and least favourite aspect?

Favourite aspect is the environment – the amount of space available is amazing, and I think all my staff and students have really appreciated this. Slightly surprisingly, least favourite aspect might actually be the breadth of science; whilst its amazing to work somewhere with such scientific diversity, I miss my crowd of cytoskeletal and membrane cell biologists to bounce ideas off.

What would you say to someone thinking of applying for a staff attachment at the Crick?

Definitely go for it! Think about what you can offer Crick and what you want to get out of it and make the application. I’m very happy to chat further with anyone who is interested.

Upcoming event:

There is a Crick Attachment Seminar Series starting soon, to discuss work being done by King’s attachments with Crick with the staff and students who are interested, and encourage greater levels of engagement between Crick and HEIs.

These will be 30-minute talks, twice a month. Jeremy will be leading the first talk of the series on April 12, 12:30-13:00. Keep your eyes peeled for more details!