How to deal with failure

It’s commonly said that scientific advances are built on a foundation of previous failures – only through testing ideas do we eventually get it right. But in a competitive ‘publish or perish’ academic environment there seems to be little tolerance for failure. Chemists in industry also need to demonstrate success for career progression. So how can you develop a career where you are open to experimentation and risk, but resilient to the failures that will come your way?

Chemist Mark Reid, a UKRI Future Leaders Fellow at the University of Strathclyde, says he did not always handle failures well earlier in his career, particularly rejections from fellowship and job applications; ‘I felt that I had worked very hard, [and was] almost somewhat entitled … it was an entirely new experience and I didn’t have the toolkit to deal with it.’ Now he has developed those skills he is keen to share them with others.