The Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Postdoctoral Fellowships and ERA Fellowships are prestigious European Union funding programs that support talented researchers in advancing their careers through international, interdisciplinary and intersectoral research and training. Žiga Tkalec and Kapil Mandrah, two postdoctoral fellows at the RECETOX Centre of Masaryk University, have just completed their MSCA projects, and in this article they share their experiences, insights and the impact the fellowships had on their professional journeys.
Žiga Tkalec is a chemist from Slovenia. His project FRANKIE was funded by the ERA Fellowship and aimed to link chemical exposure to the onset and progression of neurodegenerative diseases, particularly Parkinson’s disease. His broader research interests include uncovering the molecular mechanisms underlying neurodegeneration and identifying novel prodromal and clinical biomarkers to support early detection. Kapil Mandrah comes from India, where he earned his PhD in Analytical Chemistry at the Indian Institute of Toxicology Research. Currently, he focuses on setting up and developing targeted methods to analyse metabolic markers of disease and chemical exposure. His MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowship project, named RENAISSANCE, focused on exploring metabolomic and proteomic biomarkers related to onset and progression of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), a type of chronic liver disease commonly associated with diabetes and obesity.
What inspired you to become a scientist?
Žiga: I was always interested in chemistry and how the natural world behaves. So, I continued to learn about it as much as possible. Furthermore, I wanted to dedicate my time to something that benefits the nature and its inhabitants, so I focused on study of the environment and its effect on human health.
Kapil: I have always been fascinated by science and technology, and how everything we see in our surroundings are either created or evolved with it. In fact, “wonders of science” was my favourite topic to write an essay on in my school exams. Since my school education I got inspired to getting insights of scientific discoveries and knowledge, that is why I think it was a straight choice for me to be a part of scientific community.
Can you tell us about your path to the postdoctoral fellowship at RECETOX MUNI?
Žiga: I applied for a postdoctoral position at Human Exposome Group at Recetox, because I wanted to continue my work in exposome research, and the group is very good, so it seemed like a very good position. Shortly after arriving, I got an opportunity to apply to MSCA call, so I did.
Kapil: I did my PhD in analytical chemistry with a focus on the environment and human health. So, right after finishing my PhD I was looking for a postdoc position where I got an opportunity at RECETOX MUNI. As the mass spectrometry-based research and application has been the core of my research career, RECETOX with its state-of-the-art infrastructure and research scope, was the best option for me for my postdoctoral studies so I took it. Eventually, I got a chance to apply for the MSCA PF right after joining here, hence I applied for it and fortunately became successful.
How did you feel when you received this prestigious Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant?
Žiga: Excited – to be able to fund my own research and to direct the work done in the project. Furthermore, it is a good starting point for application for other, bigger projects.
Kapil: It was very exciting to get this grant, especially it is the best opportunity that brings you the chance to learn the process of being an independent researcher and managing a project.
What does a typical day look like for you as a scientist?
Žiga: Coffee first – this is non-negotiable. After that, there is no „typical“ day for a scientist, because science is dynamic. You may lay down a plan, but science has its own trajectory. Either lab work presents new challenge you need to solve, or the analytical instrument decides it is not feeling it today. Sometimes you decide to write a paragraph of a paper, but you’ve got nothing, so it is better to go and prepare the lab for the work the next day, and resume writing on a different day. Then you decide to process the data, and you realise the data is slightly different than anticipated – so you have to search the literature on different methodologies and so on. But in my opinion, that’s a good thing, it doesn’t get repetitive and boring.
Kapil: Honestly speaking, it is quite engaging but can also be overwhelming sometimes. In a usual day as a scientist, there is always something going on in your mind which requires planning, strategy and its execution. Being a scientist, there are so many things involved, but I think lab work is the most exciting part for me, then comes the actual challenge “digging in the vast array of results and data”, and sometimes things don’t go as expected. But yeah, it is exciting and thoughtful.
What do you enjoy doing in your free time? How do you recharge after intense scientific work?
Žiga: Mostly sport, like climbing and gym and spending the time outdoors. And hanging out with friends, laughing about things is the best way to de-stress.
Kapil: I am used to so much scientific work, so definitely it can be intense sometimes. I enjoy my free time getting engaged in so many activities like playing sports, watching action movies, exploring nature, cooking or just hanging out with friends. It is very easy to get recharged for me, breathing, and just taking a moment.
How does the Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellowship change your career opportunities and future plans? Do you have new goals?
Žiga: I guess we will have to see how it changes the future opportunities. I think being successful at a such competitive call gives some confidence in grant writing, so it is not that unfamiliar when applying for future grants. And hopefully, the evidence of successfully completed project weighs in for evaluation for bigger grants.
Kapil: The Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellowship is very good in terms of providing path for advance career opportunities, insights and competency to develop the research career. It helps understanding the nature of well-structured grant writings and finding further scientific questions out of your ongoing project. In future, I would like to get an independent academic position and apply for bigger grants.
What challenges have you faced in your career path, and how did you overcome them?
Žiga: Like I said before, science is dynamic. Apart from being engaging, continuous challenges and problem solving can also prove exhausting and sometimes frustrating – never ending line-up of „how do I solve that?“. However, the reward of solving the problem and getting answer to something you really wanted to know is very rewarding, all of the challenges are worth it. So, I’d say just by continuously following-up, progressing step by step and not taking setbacks too seriously.
Kapil: Scientific field has many challenges and my mantra to overcome is to keep going, trying and get evolved with what’s needed to meet your goals.
Is there any event or research that you are most proud of?
Žiga: Well, the research on Parkinson’s disease that is being conducted in the project. I believe it can produce valuable insight and potentially provide new biomarkers.
Kapil: When it comes to my project, I think this whole process was something I learned a lot from, grant writing to getting it and finally implementing the set objectives. Especially, the capability of mass spectrometry research to get molecular level information for disease diagnosis seems so astonishing. I feel proud to be engaged in this kind of research.
What advice would you give to junior scientists considering similar opportunities?
Žiga: To take every chance and every opportunity and making the most out of it. It pays off to try, even if it seems a bit overwhelming at first. And above all, not taking it too seriously. We should try our best when writing the grant but what happens next, is out of our hands. If funded, great, if not, at least we know how it looks to write a project proposal now. So, in any way it is beneficial to try.
Kapil: It is worth trying for, getting these kinds of grants gives a lot of confidence to set out a career path. Even working on small research ideas, you are interested in can be very useful to develop good scientific projects, especially don’t hesitate to ask opinions from your mentors. The process of grant applications can sometimes give unexpected results, but you can learn a lot from them to improve.
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