Hannah Chance was accompanied by a special guest during her career talk.Credit: David Tett
Last November, I found myself with Aidan, my 6-month-old son, in one hand and a microphone in the other, giving a careers talk to postdoctoral scholars at a conference in London. I was on parental leave from my work as a policy officer at the Academy of Medical Sciences, headquartered in London. The Academy’s policy work covers a range of topics, from climate change and health inequities to the funding and regulation of research. My focus before taking leave in April was the impact of early-childhood health on long-term health and well-being, and how this influences national productivity, innovation and prosperity.
I moved into policy work in March 2022, starting with a 10-month position at the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, a trade association based in London. But my first experience of policymaking was during a three-month internship in 2021 at the Initiative for Science in Europe, an umbrella body for learned societies and research institutes, based in Strasbourg, France.
I joined the Academy of Medical Sciences after completing a PhD in cell biology at King’s College London and the Francis Crick Institute, also in London. I was invited to speak about my career at a conference for early-career researchers, run by King’s College London’s Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine.
A conference with a baby
On the day of my talk, held at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in London, Aidan and I set ourselves up in the speaker ‘green room’, a repurposed seminar room, which had plenty of space for him to crawl around and feed before the session began. We then moved to the main hall for a panel of speaker flash talks introducing our journeys in science, before switching again to roundtable discussions, during which attendees asked more detailed questions about specific career areas.
I was pleasantly surprised by how well the day went. There wasn’t great deal of prep required for the talk or the discussions, but I realized I was out of practice speaking to an audience. However, I took inspiration from the other panel members. Some of the audience questions went beyond the practicalities of my career move, instead tackling the nuances of how the policy sector works as well as the challenges of working with different stakeholders and conflicting interests. These definitely challenged me to switch on my professional brain, but it was a positive experience — I enjoyed reconnecting with my work, and I was reminded of why I care so much about my job.
Things that helped the day go successfully
An accessible and inclusive conference venue. The location had a room for breast-feeding and expressing milk, baby-changing facilities and step-free access so I could bring along a buggy easily, which made the practical side of the day as smooth as possible.
An enthusiastic and positive environment. At the conference, people told me that they’d love to see more scientists attending events while on parental leave. Two conference attendees kindly offered me extra help if needed. The conference organizers were adaptable and practical in their planning, and excellent at ensuring that we were accommodated.
A supportive manager. My manager followed my lead on how I wanted to engage with work while on leave — I asked to be updated during check-in days about progress on the projects I was involved in, and I planned to think about career development once I returned to work. The reminders of my professional strengths during these conversations, at a time when I was disconnected from work and out of practice with public speaking, helped to give me the confidence to accept the invitation to speak at a conference.
