There When Needed

""Don't stress yourself; sh*t happens all the time!" When I started my PhD with Professor Drexel six years ago, I was pretty nervous—like most first-year students are. I made a bunch of mistakes, but Professor Drexel never got mad or frustrated. Instead, he would use the phrase I started this essay with! Throughout my four years of PhD work, he was always supportive and positive, and amazingly, he was available any time of the day. Unlike the all-too-common expectation for PhD students to work all the time, he was the person always answering my panicked late calls when I made mistakes in the lab and never asked me to work outside of my usual hours. Professor Drexel is a really calm person who loves science and doesn't sweat the small stuff. His approach not only inspired me to stay in science after my PhD but also attracts many students to our lab. He doesn't just help with research; he even helps master students financially, which is pretty rare here in Austria. He believes in supporting us completely so we can focus on our science. He might not win the biggest science prizes, but the positive environment he creates and the encouragement he gives us will definitely make a lasting impact, encouraging more people to love science and work together without worrying about competition."

Nominated by Sadegh Rahimi, Institute of Pharmacology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Austria