Shape a better future of work in science 

Verena is a neuroimmunologist and postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Translational and Computational Neurimmunology at Columbia University in New York City. Her research focuses on heterogeneity of human microglia in health and in the context of neurodegenerative diseases. Verena has a strong interest in promoting research sustainability and worked on several aspects of sustainability in science, including a study assessing conference traveling behavior of scientists as well as the social aspects of research sustainability by focusing on and advocating for the importance of leadership and mentorship in academia. She is a co-founder of the Sustainable Leadership for Science initiative and leading author of a study assessing the state of leadership in academia in Germany. Since 2022 she is an active eLife ambassador with the goal to advocate and drive for the inclusion of leadership and mentorship in research assessment. 

Diana Alatriste González is a biomedical and neuroscience researcher. Born and raised in Mexico City, she moved to Amsterdam to complete her Master’s in Biomedical Sciences in the University of Amsterdam. Afterwards, she moved to Berlin, Germany where she completed a PhD in Biology from the Freie Universität Berlin. 
After concluding her PhD, Diana joined the tech start-up world where has recently fallen in love with the field of User Experience Research as it represents her two biggest passions: research and empowering people. 
She is an enthusiast of science education and has participated in different science communication initiatives where she likes to explain and discuss the main findings of her doctoral research. Her experience and struggles during her PhD  are the main drivers of Diana’s goal of advocating for better leadership practices that allow graduates students to thrive and be their best selves. 

Ferdinand Fandrei is a trained pharmacist who completed his studies in Leipzig, Germany. As part of his state examination, he undertook a six-month internship in the US at UF Health Shands Hospital in Gainesville, Florida, gaining valuable international experience in clinical pharmacy.
He returned to Leipzig for his PhD in biophysics, where he focused on investigating skin lipid models using solid-state NMR to better understand skin diseases and transdermal drug delivery. Alongside his research, Ferdinand has been actively involved in teaching. With a passion for education, he worked as a private lecturer in pharmaceutics and biopharmacy, helping pharmacy students prepare for their final exams.
Currently he is working as a postdoctoral researcher in the Physical Chemistry Division of Lund University, where he successfully received an AMBER Postdoc Fellowship (cofunded by Marie Curie Actions Program and COMMONS Center of Excellence). Throughout his academic journey, Ferdinand became increasingly aware that the barriers to doing science often originate not from a lack of interest, but from limited time, inadequate support, and a lack of effective science communication. This insight has shaped his broader mission: to help create an academic environment where people from diverse backgrounds feel inspired, supported, educated and empowered to pursue science – and have fun while doing so.

Linn Voß is a toxicologist and biochemist who studied in Berlin, Heidelberg, Copenhagen and Zurich. During her Bachelor and Master degree, she investigated various topics like protein degradation, protein production, protein-protein interaction and protein oxidation. This did not directly lead to her PhD in nanotoxicology, but Linn loves to leave the known terrain and explore something new. 
During her time in academia, she experienced its light and dark sides: Linn dropped out of two Master and one PhD programme before finding the right fit (and getting that title in the end). But while her relationship with academia was never easy, she is a big advocate for science. Even though she does not stand in the lab anymore, she wants to enhance the working conditions of researchers in all disciplines. Using her experience as a project manager, process facilitator and scientists, she builds bridges wherever possible. 

Daniela Nguyen had the vision of a community in which scientists can develop their leadership skills and freely exchange their work culture situations and learning experiences. During her biochemistry studies she spend 1,5 years in research internships in Norway, Singapore and Germany. Following her own experiences in science she founded SciLead with three fellow academics who share her vision.

She is a trained workshop facilitator focusing on leadership and change facilitation and has worked as an analytics & transformation consultant as well as a founder's associate in a start-up environment. Currently she is facilitating change processes while drawing best practices in leading & following from her passion as a competitive ballroom dancer.