“The ups and downs in the life of an international academic"

To develop a career within academia, it has become normal to experience a high degree of mobility. Moving across cities, countries and continents, family and friends are left behind, and it is increasingly difficult to build a support network. This situation can be particularly taxing on demographic groups that are underrepresented in science. Drawing from personal experience as a female scientist and mother of an infant, I will explain some situations in which being an international scholar has fostered my career, and some in which it has hindered it. In a round-table style, I will put forward some questions in the hope that it leads to a discussion about fostering positive work environments that minimize the alienating feeling of changing institutions.