On Nurturing Doubt and Intuition

When I was 5 growing up in Algiers, my parents took me to the music conservatory and asked me which instrument I wanted to learn to play. I did not know the answer and I said I wanted to sign up for Ballet dancing. Since then, dancing has been central to my life. When they asked me what I wanted to do after high school, I did not know the answer and I chose computer science because I heard my Math teacher say it was the future. When my husband asked me to marry him, I literally answered ''I am hungry, let's get dinner''. Since then, dinner has been a special moment for us. I was in my mid-career transition when I moved from NYC to Barcelona to Doha and then to Grenoble. I love not knowing the answer and yet making great choices. My mid-career advice is: nurture doubt, develop intuition, and learn to make great choices. The biggest change you will experience when entering your mid-career phase is a widening of your choices. That applies to your collaborators, your academic responsibilities, the conferences you will attend, the projects you will get involved in as a leader or as a partner, the people you want to mentor, the life choices you get to make, the grants you will apply for, the topics you want to work on, the services you get to complete for your research community, and the students and collaborators you will interact with on a daily basis. Choice is a blessing and a responsibility.