title: Being at the right place at the right time.
abstract: I am tremendously honored to receive the 2012 Women in Cell Biology Junior Award. In this essay, I recount my career path over the past 15 years. Although many details are specific to my own experiences, I hope that some generalizations can be made to encourage more women to pursue independent scientific careers. Mine is a story of choosing a captivating question, making the most of your opportunities, and finding a balance with life outside the lab.
authors.affiliation: Department of Fundamental Microbiology, Faculty of Biology and Medicine, University of Lausanne, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland. Sophie.Martin@unil.ch
authors.forename: Sophie G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Martin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002321:Career Choice; D003585:Cell Biology / Q000266:history*; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000166:cytology; D049673:History, 20th Century; D007753:Laboratories; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D013557:Switzerland; D014481:United States