Question: If you were to live and experiment in any other country what country would you pick?

Eddie Cano Gamez answered on 11 Jan 2022: last edited 11 Jan 2022 1:44 pm

I had to make this exact decision five years ago, and I chose the UK (yay!). I’m Mexican, by the way. Why the UK? Several reasons:

1. I study genetics, and the UK is where genetics was born. The structure of DNA was discovered here, the laws of inheritance (discovered by Mendel in Austria) were rediscovered and confirmed here using plant crops, the techniques for “reading” DNA were created here, a large proportion of the human genome was mapped here, some of the most important mutations that predispose to cancer were discovered here, etc… the list goes on. The point is, there is a long tradition of genetics which continues until this day and I wanted to be part of it.

2. I am interested in understanding human diseases, and the UK has a national healthcare system (the NHS). Why does this matter? The UK is amongst the very few countries where data from patients, such as their health care records, is gathered in a centralised way. In contrast, most other countries in the world have tons of different hospitals and institutions, and each of them owns the data for their patients. Because this data is so sensitive, it becomes very difficult to share it with others. Having so much data available for research purposes makes a huge difference!

3. There are lots of funding opportunities available for international students wanting to come and do a PhD in the UK. I was lucky to be sponsored by one of them (the Gates Cambridge scholarship), but there are many more. In fact the UK is one of the countries best known for attracting foreign talent (although let’s hope this doesn’t change with Brexit). This is key, because science is perhaps the most international and multicultural job in the world. We need the best people to make science progress, and these people are often from far away countries.

4. I have been lucky enough to find incredible mentors in the UK, and people who care not only about my work but also my wellbeing and mental health. In general, I find the work-life balance in the UK to be very good.

I hope this makes you realise the incredible advantages you have in your own country. You are very lucky!

Having said that, this doesn’t mean there aren’t other places which do amazing research too. The US, Germany, Switzerland, Australia, Singapore, and many others have world-leading science as well. I’ve been lucky to witness this with my own eyes. In fact, I think you can do research anywhere in the world because science is universal (or it should be). So if you ever have the chance of going abroad, I would 100% recommend you do so. It will change your life completely.