A biotech scientist moved from the US to Europe: happier and less stressed

I would always be at the next position within a week of leaving the previous role because that was the expectation.

No matter how well you are doing, there is always this drive to do more and be more. That’s not to say that this pressure is everywhere in the US, but that’s been my personal experience.

After Texas, I moved to Europe and have much less stress.

I am a full-time biotechnology research group leader and principal investigator, living and working in Lithuania. Here, people recognize the value of time away from work for well-being – and now I don’t feel guilty when I take time off.

People often ask me, “When are you moving back to the US?”

I just don’t even think about it now. I’ve had great experiences in the US, but I feel like this fits my lifestyle better.

I take my dog ​​to work and I have a guitar in my office that I play almost every morning. Spending time writing and playing music helps me get into a creative space for my research. I appreciate being able to do that here.

I could probably do these things in the US too, but I think the difference is that here, it’s understood as part of maintaining my well-being rather than just being the odd guy out.

Stephen decided to move to Europe during the 2020 US election

When the 2020 US election came around, it made my wife and I think hard about our personal values ​​about how society is set up, how people are valued, and the support structures in place.

Then we started looking at Europe.

We realized that our values ​​aligned better with Europe than the US in terms of society-wide healthcare, food quality, policies aimed at well-being and not necessarily profits, public transport and prioritizing privacy and sharing limits the data.

We settled in Lithuania because the institute I work at is partnered with a very large research organization called the European Molecular Biology Laboratories, which was a name I already knew well due to its reputation for scientific excellence plus decades of productivity in my field research, gene editing. .

Stephen believes the quality of his research is better than it would be in the US

When I was looking at full-time jobs in US academia, they came with very heavy teaching duties, in addition to focusing on scientific research and publishing on a regular basis. Don’t get me wrong, teaching is important, but it’s hard to be great at anything.

One thing that is nice about the academic jobs here is that while many people choose to do both teaching and research, there is the option to focus on just one.

Like me, for example, I’m more focused on research. That’s why I think the quality of my research is better in Lithuania than it could be in the US.

Because I’m less stressed, I have a little more space to make sure my research is going in the right direction and that my researchers have what they need, which helps us take our science to the next level.

This is important to me because ultimately my research is funded by people’s tax dollars and there is an implicit trust that we will do the best we can with the resources we have been given to improve the human condition.

Sometimes getting certain products can be a little more difficult here. The red tape surrounding buying scientific equipment made in other parts of the world can make companies second-guess whether it’s worth the trouble.

I also have a hard time finding corn flour to make tortillas at home and certain vegetarian products like seitan.

I may not be here forever, but at this stage in my life, it’s very good.

Jessica Orwig reports on career activities in the sciences. Are you currently, or were you at one time, on this path? Did you move or change careers because of personal values ​​or something else? If so, I’d like to talk to you. Please email me at [email protected].