Hi, great to have you here at simplified-science!

I'm Alexandra, a trained molecular biology scientist with a Dr. sc. ETH Zurich. Beyond my scientific background, I’m also a late-diagnosed AuDHD (autism & ADHD). Receiving this diagnosis only after finisihing my studies gave me a deep understanding of the struggles ambitious young women in academia may face - often silently. Through trial and error, I learned early on how to set healthy work-life boundaries and structure my days in a way that is both efficient and energy-conserving. Those strategies helped me graduate within just 3.5 years.

Today, I’m passionate about three core pillars:

  • Making science accessible to all. Through my blog, and offerings in scientific writing and editing, I aim to strengthen the dialogue between science and the people curious about it. Discover below more about this mission below!

  • Empowering PhD students in molecular biology - especially AuDHD women - by sharing tips on lab organization, finding mentors, and setting boundaries. (I’m also working on online courses to support you even further! If you have specific requests, don’t hesitate to reach out here.)

  • Protecting mental wellbeing in academia and beyond. A healthy mind is the foundation to good science and a fulfilling life. For science-based resources, you’ll find plenty here. For mindful lifestyle resources, feel free to visit my other platform Lexie’s Choices!

Times of crisis reveal the weaknesses of science communication. Scientists often speak their own language and can't convey their great findings understandably, leading to misunderstandings and possibly mistrust - even though we all have the same goal: new knowledge and thus progress.

I've been told that as a scientist, it's my duty to make my results accessible to other scientists - by publishing them in scientific journals, for example. While I fully agree with this, I also believe that our duty goes further: we need to make science comprehensible and accessible to everyone. Since 2016, we have been adhering to the FAIR principles: Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (Wilkinson et al., Nature, 2016, https://www.nature.com/articles/sdata201618). However, it's not so easy to figure out where and how to find the correct scientific articles, how to interpret the statistics and figures correctly, and what all this scientific jargon and technical terms mean.

With simplified-science, I want to close these gaps. Here, basic concepts, the latest scientific findings, and backgrounds on scientific work in the field of biology and health are explained in an understandable way.

In my posts, I place great importance on presenting the information in an absolutely neutral and clear manner. This is super important because I want you to have everything you need to form your own informed opinion.

But I also add my personal interpretations - openly and honestly. That's what makes it really exciting, right? I think it's great when we can engage in a dialogue together, and you might even feel challenged to think about your own views.

So, let's dive into science together and find out what's behind the facts! I'm really looking forward to sharing all this knowledge with you and am very excited to hear your thoughts about it.

Yours, Alexandra