38- Stephen Aderinto- Aspiring to promote science in the African context

Stephen Aderinto is an early-career scientist working in the Chemistry Department at the University of Sheffield. He is not scared of challenges having left Nigeria for his undergraduate studies in China and a PhD in the UK. Now, he works on a multidisciplinary project to develop DNA probes to be used in cancer R&D.

Find out a bit more about Stephen:
 https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Stephen-Aderinto

https://chemistrycommunity.nature.com/posts/global-statements-on-diversity-stephen-o-aderinto

Things to reflect on prompted by the discussion with Stephen:

For PIs:

·      How are your biases contributing to how you are considering PhD applicants from overseas?

·      How do you engage with your PhD students from the Global South to explore their context and see how you could best support them?

·      Have you considered how maintaining collaborative links with your PhD alumni from the Global South may be essential in their ability to continue to engage in their research endeavours?

For early career researchers:

·      Can you engage more often with your colleagues from the Global South to build your own understanding of research contexts in different countries?

·      What are you learning about different ways of working from interacting with colleagues from multicultural backgrounds?

·      Can you challenge your own biases through engaging with research colleagues who have very different experiences of the research environments?

For early career researchers from the Global South:

·      Are you building strong collaborations during your PhD that you could maintain once you go back to your country?

·      Do you feel that you are open enough with your supervisor to share what the research context is like in your home country, so they can understand your context?

·      What are you doing to build your leadership skills broadly beyond the scope of your research project?