“How a switch between doing science and playing soccer with PhD supervisor motivates my research.”

A switch from the marine biology (my masters degree) to chronobiology (PhD research) resulted in a surprise. My PhD supervisor [1] offered me to join his weekly soccer training 3 years ago. I got excited at the outset. On the other hand I felt a bit nervous. I had never played soccer before. Since I was raised in a country where cricket is a religion, yeah you got it right ! India. However I have always had a desire to make an attempt at soccer. I therefore decided to join him.

Hanspeter, Abhishek and others after soccer practice at an indoor playground in Berlin. copyright: @ Abhishek Upadhyay

He not only introduced me to a new world of fascinating research field-chronobiology but also to a new sport- soccer. We regularly meet to discuss our research projects. Moreover my academic activities precisely peak on Tuesday. I attend the departmental seminar and our group meeting on this day. I have been practicing soccer almost every Tuesday evening after the lab work. A switch-like inhibition of a week full of research activities happens when the soccer starts. And a fresh cycle of research activity resumes next morning. This weekly cycle turned out to be one of the key motivations behind my PhD’s two publications [2, 3]. And this continues to motivate. More than a three years of science-ing and sporting has provided me a new perspective.

My research is essentially to understand “the mechanism of molecular switches in circadian rhythms”. The fundamental necessity for a circadian (circa means about and dian means day in latin) clock to function is a long delay and a negative feedback loop with a switch-like inhibition. Moreover the positive feedbacks promote oscillations.

Metaphorically speaking, my PhD working life consists of a long delay (an academically busy week) and a negative feedback loop with a switch-like inhibition (once in a week soccer). Similarly the positive feedbacks (while discussing science and playing soccer) seem to promote learnings (in research career and at soccer skills).

Institute for Theoretical Biology, Berlin. copyright: @ Abhishek Upadhyay

I am sure that friends and colleagues not only in the biological rhythms community but also widely in academia go through the kind of similar switches. We might agree that such an activity switch is an exhilarating (rhythmic :-) ) experience !

[1] Prof. Hanspeter Herzel, Charite University of Medicine and Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany

[2] Upadhyay, A., Brunner, M. and Herzel, H.,An inactivation switch enables rhythms in a Neurospora clock model. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 20(12), 2985, 2019.

[3] Upadhyay, A., Marzoll, D., Diernfellner, A., Brunner, M. and Herzel, H. (2020). Multiple random phosphorylations in clock proteins provide long delays and switches. Scientific Reports, 10(1), 1–13, 2020.