Ewa ZŁOTEK-ZŁOTKIEWICZ

Cooperative Member, Ouvre-Boites 

NGO Co-founder, Klask ! Docteur·e·s et innovation sociale

WHO AM I

A rather female homo sapiens sapiens (sapiens). I was born in France, moved at six to Poland, where I stayed till my Bachelor's, then moved back to France. After a quick glance into linguistics, design and archeology, I came back to biology and the renowned biotechnology studies at the Jagiellonian University, then two Master's in cancerology and Interdisciplinary Life Sciences. I did my doctorate in Matthieu Piel's team at the Curie Institute and Pierre Gilles de Gennes Institute in Paris. After defending (and a second child), we moved to Nantes, where I experienced what it meant to develop a career "outside" academia. I co-founded Klask ! an interdisciplinary NGO of and for PhDs that want to contribute to projects with high environmental and societal impact. I also develop an engaging entrepreneurial project in a cooperative where I facilitate meetings for higher education and research and workshops for PhDs candidates.

WHAT WILL I TALK ABOUT

Glamourising thinking people.

I left academia by choice, and I knew I would do that before even starting my PhD.  I did my PhD in 36 months, I published well, participated in several programs of science mediation with different publics, taught, had my first son… You might think that my atypical profile is impressive and valued; it is not. After my defence, in my professional projects I often felt alone, unsupported and misunderstood.

And I am far from being alone.

In this talk, I will show you a few examples of PhDs that have disruptive and committed careers, in NGOs, culture or as independent social entrepreneurs. My aim is to widen the view of post-doctorate professional outcomes, share some facts and maybe even inspire some of you to value research skills in projects that matter in social and ecological crises.