Fail-Safe Science Repository
Studies have shown that graduate students commonly feel as though successful scientists rarely experience challenges or failures. Fail-Safe Science is an initiative designed to normalize experiencing and overcoming challenges in science graduate programs. Below are videos of different scientists discussing the hurdles they encountered during their PhD programs, how they coped with the challenges, and what advice they have for current graduate students.
Search the repository by type of challenge and learn from successful scientists who have overcome obstacles throughout their graduate careers.
Explore our companion podcast.
Welcome to the Fail-Safe Science podcast, a collection of scientists sharing candid stories about challenges they faced in graduate school, how they overcame them, and advice for current students.
Fail-Safe Science Repository
Dr. Mercy Salami
Challenge Type: Dissertation/Thesis defenseDr. Mercy Salami is a senior lecturer in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Farm Management at the University of Ilorin. Her dissertation research focused on the contribution of wild tree species to food security in northwestern Nigeria. Since then, her research has focused on the… Read more
Dr. Xyonane Segovia
Challenge Type: Lab experimentDr. Xyonane Segovia is an Assistant Teaching Professor at Arizona State University. Her dissertation research focused on malaria, specifically looking at resistance evolution of the malaria parasite. Now, she’s in a position where I teach various subjects including evolutionary medicine, global… Read more
Dr. Caren Souza
Challenge Type: Paper rejectionDr. Caren Souza is currently a postdoc at Federal University of São Carlos, Brazil. Her dissertation research focused on Conservation social science as an interdisciplinary approach for understanding socio-psychological factors related to pollinator conservation, and her work now focuses… Read more
Dr. Danna Staaf
Challenge Type: Morality around the use of animals in researchDr. Danna Staaf is an author, science communicator, and marine biologist. Danna’s dissertation topic was the reproduction and early life of Humboldt squid, or as she likes to summarize it, “squid sex and babies.” Now, she writes popular science books for adults and for children, gives public… Read more
Dr. Rianne Stowell
Challenge Type: Grant rejection, Grant writingDr. Rianne Stowell is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Neuroscience (SMD) at the University of Rochester Medical Center in Rochester, New York. Her dissertation research focused on microglial roles in the adolescent visual spectrum, specifically how Noradrenergic signaling… Read more
Dr. Arvind Varsani
Challenge Type: Lab experimentDr. Arvind Varsani is a molecular virologist and a Professor in the School of Life Sciences at Arizona State University. For his PhD, Arvind focused on designing vaccines for human papillomavirus. Currently, his work focuses on the evolution of viruses across ecosystems. In this video, Arvind… Read more
Dr. Kristen Vogt
Challenge Type: Authorship disputeDr. Kristen Vogt is a Scientist at OverT Bio in New York. Kristen’s dissertation research focused on reducing off-tumor toxicities associated with CAR T cell therapy, and her work now focuses on developing universal cellular therapies for solid tumors. In this video, Kristen recounts an… Read more
Dr. Ella Wang
Challenge Type: Transferring labs during graduate schoolDr. Ella Wang is an Instructional Assistant Professor at Chapman University in Orange, California. Ella’s dissertation research focused on investigating the role of Local and Crystallographic Symmetries in Solid-State Coordination Complexes to Target Magnetic and Optical Properties. Currently,… Read more
Dr. Hong Wang
Challenge Type: Not meeting personal expectations, Navigating pregnancy/parenting in grad schoolDr. Hong Wang is a Professor in the Department of Physics at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, NC. Her PhD research focused on atomic force microscope imaging of protein and DNA complexes, and her current work focuses on single molecule studies of DNA repair. In this video, Hong talks… Read more