BUA Institution

Humboldt Universität

Description of Research

I am investigating how we gather visual information across eye movements to build an internal representation of the world. I am particularly interested in how inner goals (i.e., motivation and task instructions) and objects' features (i.e., colour) help orient our gaze toward specific objects. 

Where in the world has your career been largely based until now?

I'm an early career postdoctoral fellow, so this is my first postdoctoral position. I did my master's in Canada, and I divided my time during my PhD between Canada and France.

Why Berlin?

I did not choose "Berlin" per se. I answered a call for applications for a project that I found really interesting, and it just so happened that it was based in Berlin. I must admit though that coming from North America, I was hoping to find a postdoctoral position in Europe. 

What fascinates you about your research area?

I think we often don't realize how visual our interactions with the world are; vision plays a role in almost everything we do. What first attracted me to the field of vision sciences was this simple realization. During my academic career, I investigated how vision loss and neurological disorders affecting vision or perception influence how people interact with the world. Ultimately, I am fascinated by not only what vision can tell us about the brain, but also how we can optimize quality of life and residual vision when vision declines.

What did you want to be when you grow up?

I always wanted to become a scientist, actually.

If you could have a radical career change for a week, what would it be?

I like art and all sorts of pretty things. With everything I know about vision, I think I could be a decent graphic designer for a week. 

What were some challenging or discouraging moments in your career?

Working in academia means facing a lot of rejection, for example, for grants or articles to publish. One of the first things I have learned in academia was to handle rejection. The first paper I published was rejected four times before it finally got published. When things go wrong, I now tell myself that: "It can't be worse than being rejected four times!"

What do you wish you’d done differently in your career until now?

I think I would have picked up programming earlier if I had know how central it would become to my work. I consider myself a decent programmer, but my skills are not as strong as some of my colleagues.

How does the academic culture in Berlin differ from the academic culture you are used to?

I did all of my graduate studies in small labs, but I now work in a much bigger lab. I would say that the biggest changes I had to adapt to were much more related to "big labs' academic culture", rather than something specific to Berlin. Communication channels, lab meetings, and interactions between people of the lab are very different coming from a smaller lab. For example, all meetings were one-on-one in my old lab in Montreal, and we had no formal lab meetings. In France, "lab meetings" were mostly administrative in nature and were meant for the principal investigators of the research unit.