Nadia Cerminara

Tell us about your childhood - have you always been interested in science?

I used to watch shows like "The Curiosity Show"- the Australian equivalent of Blue Peter. And science was always my favorite subject at school.

Why did you get into science?
I wasn't sure what I wanted to do but enjoyed science at school, so decided on a science degree.

What's been the highlight of your working career so far?
Publishing a paper in Journal of Neuroscience.

What keeps you going through the hard times?
I try to remember how excited I get when experiments do work. Otherwise a pint or two helps!

Why do you work in the area that you do?
During 3rd Year Anatomy we had to write an essay on one of the topics provided. I chose to write about the cerebellum, the part of the brain that coordinates movement. The topic was "Describe the structure and function of the cerebellum".

I only actually chose the topic because very few people opted to write on it and so my thinking was that the lecturers would have fewer people essays to compare mine with! I ended up finding the cerebellum such a fascinating part of the brain that I decided to do my PhD on it!

Are you a scientist 24/7?
It depends what's going on in the lab- sometimes I will have to come in on weekends to finish experiments. If I'm trying to solve a problem or trying to work out how to explain my results I will think about things. If I'm writing papers I end up dreaming about my work. But other times I can completely switch off.