Prof. Ventsislav Valev: "Thick skin is crucial at all stages of the academic career"

Prof. Ventsislav Valev is a Professor of Physics and Research Fellow of the Royal Society, in the Physics Department of the University of Bath.

What skills and qualities do you find the most important for students, for example, when you’re choosing for them to supervision?

For me the number one quality is enthusiasm. Students have to be willing to learn new things and feel excited about this process. No amount of teaching can make up for enthusiasm. Even expertise is something that is constantly changing and evolving, as students tackle different problems. Students need to be prepared to change with their problems but to keep their enthusiasm throughout.?

How would people find a perfect research lab? How should they apply for a PhD position or lab position and is there a recipe for being accepted?

I think one should really not be afraid to boldly go for their dreams, applying for one’s dream jobs, wherever they might be. People don’t always need to be “ready for the next level”. Starting a job with a clear idea that we need training, then making sure that we get up to speed and level up is a perfectly reasonable career move. To give you an example, when I joined Cambridge, I was quite aware that I was not at the level of my colleagues there, but I was determined that I would reach their level and by the time my contract was over I had progressed a lot.?

Photo: https://www.valev.org/

I think a lot of students are afraid of going to the labs as they feel they are not qualified enough. How not to be afraid of this?

When people are aware of their lack of training then there really isn’t reason to fear at all. Skills and knowledge are not things that anyone is born with. People learn them and a good lab would have a process for teaching new students. A good student is someone who is good at learning, not someone who is very qualified.?

How to deal with the negative feedback in order not to lose self-confidence?

When I became a postdoc, one of my role models told me that the main challenge for any postdoc is to develop a “thick skin”. He meant that postdocs need to learn how to handle failures and rejections. Thick skin is crucial, probably, at all stages of the academic career. Unless we’re able and willing to recognize our own weaknesses, we cannot make changes and improve. We have to be ready to receive negative feedback and to act upon it. As long as the criticising feedback is constructive, this feedback can be crucial in helping us grow and develop.?

Let’s imagine you have an opportunity to talk to yourself ten years earlier. What piece of advice could you give?

I think it’s very important to look for role models, to look at people around us. To talk to them, see what tips they have, how they became successful, and then to adapt these strategies. It really boils down to doing what works rather than trying to constantly reinvent the wheel. Creativity should be focussed where it is needed – on new science and discoveries. That’s one thing I wish I knew earlier in my career.