“I Get to Travel a Lot and Talk to Many Really Smart and Thoughtful People”

Abstract

In the interview with Eiko Fried, we discuss his career so far. Eiko shares with us some of the insights he has gained into how academia and expectations differ between countries. We also discuss the myriad of skills that are ‘useful’ in academia but cannot be mastered by a single individual, thus providing some motivation towards working in large-scale collaborations with a range of experts. Academia has many benefits including talking with brilliant people, analysing data, traveling, and teaching—but it can be difficult to treat academia as ‘just a job’ given its high workload and difficulty in securing a permanent position. Finally, remember to be kind, despite the international nature of academia; it can also seem smaller than you think.