What do academics actually do? What motivates them to get out of bed each morning and to deliver what is — or in many cases what isn't - expected of them?

For a student setting out, the life of senior academics may seem very mysterious, particularly as many may end up taking on responsibilities and activities far removed from where an individual started. The trajectory from student to senior academic is rarely a straight line, with twists, setbacks, time out and/or opportunities (taken or declined) all to be combined with a personal life.

This series of conversations aims to explore the individual paths of some eminent academics who have made it to the top in their own particular ways. How have they found their own solutions to 'life', what tips do they wish they'd been given earlier on, and what might they view, retrospectively, with most pleasure or regret?

This event in the series of conversations is with Professor Melanie Welham — Executive Chair of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council who served on the advisory committee for the UK National Stem Cell Network from 2009–11.

This event was filmed on the 9th May 2019.