DECEMBER 2023LIFE SCIENCES REVIEW 9With the fast development, it has become a main challenge for an individual researcher to master all new technologies that are needed to push the scientific frontier forward and to publish in high-impact journals. This has led to an increased need for core facilities and has also been a strong motivation for the creation of additional national research infrastructures that could contribute with their expertise to a broader research community. While the importance and recognition of facilities have increased, the scientists and technical staff working at the facilities need further recognition and opportunities for career development. For a facility ­ local or national - it is key to retain the expertise of dedicated scientists to remain cutting-edge and adopt the latest trends and tools. In industry, the need for experts and multidisciplinary teams have been acknowledged for a long time, and as experts in their field, many staff scientists are offered positions with better employment terms and salary in industry. I am heading an infrastructure unit within spatial biology ­ a rapidly emerging field with high demand for top-notch competence. My colleagues and I have experienced that many of our senior staff has left for industry positions during the last 2 years. Transitions between academia and industry and vice versa is not a bad thing, as it contributes to increased knowledge transfer. In fact, an academic mission is to educate experts for societal needs. However, academia and research infrastructure centres need to offer competitive positions to attract and retain their technology and scientific experts. While it can be hard for a non-profit research organization to offer a competitive salary, other opportunities that make it attractive to remain an expert within the academic setting is an option. For example, increased opportunities for personal development that also strengthen the individual's CV, and possibilities to be involved in internal research projects and implementation of novel methods, are benefits the academic setting can offer. At SciLifelab, 40 infrastructure units that together consist of 600 scientists, where 70 % hold a PhD. While they are all employed and affiliated to any of the host universities with their rules for positions and promotions, a possible career path within the SciLifeLab Infrastructure would be moving from being a unit staff scientist, to become Head of Unit with overall responsibility for the unit operations, and then to become a platform director or co-director, with the responsibility for a group of several units. Finally, the Infrastructure Director is overall responsible for all infrastructures at Scilifelab and part of the entire SciLifeLab management group. While it is important to know of possibilities for promotions within an organization, this route is limited to a few and not necessarily the best career for a highly skilled technology expert. As the Head of Unit and Co-director of the Spatial Biology platform, nurturing the career development and recognition of our infrastructure staff has always been important. I firmly believe that a thriving team is crafted through its individuals, and a leader's primary role is to equip every team member with the ideal conditions for delivering outstanding results. This entails offering recognition, fostering trust, and encouraging individuals to flourish by embracing fresh challenges and assuming greater responsibilities if they so desire.From a conventional perspective, it may seem that working within a research infrastructure primarily involves performing routine tasks, following directives from the academic researcher or companies seeking our service. However, even routine work often demands expert skills and competence, pivotal for generating valuable data essential for our clients. Hence, I believe research infrastructures should be regarded as expert consultancy firms and their staff scientists to be recognized as the technology backbone of life science research.
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