Geopolitical unrest, rising costs of living, research funding cuts and a widespread sense of decreasing trust in science have put early-career scientists everywhere on edge. World events have added to the uncertain job security of up-and-coming researchers and graduate students, many of whom face defining choices that will shape their career trajectories. Among them are Generation Z scholars: those born after 1997 who are now in their 20s and in the scientific workplace.

Nature’s Careers team asked four Gen Z researchers why they joined the scientific ranks and what motivates them to stay. Here, they describe the lessons they have learnt and the strategies they use to stay positive and move forwards in the face of hard circumstances and anxiety-inducing current affairs worldwide.

TATIANA UAMAN SVETIKOVA: Seek a good research environment

Postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Ion Beam Physics and Materials Research at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf in Dresden, Germany.

I am involved in two physics research projects. The first focuses on non-linear terahertz effects in quantum materials. In simple terms, I study what happens when materials that have unusual quantum properties are exposed to intense, ultrafast far-infrared pulses of light. This work can contribute to ultrafast electronic devices, terahertz emitters and detectors and technologies in future wireless communication systems, including 6G. The second project, DiaQNOS, uses magnetic detection for medical purposes, such as monitoring brain activity during surgery. My speciality is condensed-matter physics, but I joined DiaQNOS to use my programming skills and to help with data processing.

I definitely want to stay in academia and research: there’s pleasure in studying something at the edge of what is known and in thinking that your work can help to move that boundary, even if just a little. But during my bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Moscow, I thought I would not be able to pursue an academic career because it was extremely difficult to treat science as a full-time profession while earning enough to cover basic living expenses, particularly rent and food in such an expensive city. I came to Dresden in Germany to pursue my doctoral degree, because it was a way to stay in science.

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In Germany, postdocs earn roughly the average German salary, which covers rent and living expenses. Geopolitics is affecting funding and support for science here, too: global armed conflicts, the energy crisis, climate change, inflation and concerns about food and economic security all place pressure on public budgets. When governments have to address urgent and immediate needs, long-term investment in research can become more difficult to prioritize — we have already felt the effect of these cuts in the past few years. Even so, I’m happy that Germany has social security, such as unemployment benefits covering up to 67% of a previous salary for up to a year — which allows you to find another job or pivot to another field. I would leave academia only if I had no other choice. I love the intellectual independence of science, and I love feeling that I’m doing something that can be useful to the world.

It is not easy to stay motivated in the face of the current global scenario. But there are some rules of thumb I follow to keep going. One is to take your motivation seriously and protect it: passion is not an endless resource, so we have to protect it by making career choices that support it.

If you are an overseas or immigrant researcher, you should also beware of intolerance and prejudice. Personally, I have not experienced open or veiled hostility in Germany because of my nationality, including at work. I know others who have, but I can speak only from my own experience. At the same time, academia still shows strong structural gender inequality, as reflected in the well-documented leaky career pipeline for women. However, I have not personally encountered any open confrontation or explicitly sexist treatment. But that is why, when trying to find a good team to work in, it is so important to ask previous or current students about their experiences so that you can minimize the possibility of discrimination.

When you choose a field, prioritize the research environment over trendy topics. Know who your principal investigator and colleagues will be, and how well the laboratory will be financed. In practical terms, find out how communication works in the group and if it fits with your communication style. And investigate how much independence people have, how conflicts are handled and if there are conflicts now.

It’s also important to normalize confusion and ‘feeling stupid’. Many PhD students interpret difficulty as proof that they are not smart enough. In that situation, I would remind myself that confusion is part of the job. Feeling lost during a PhD is not a sign that you do not belong; it means that you are learning how to navigate questions that do not yet have clear answers. That uncertainty is a natural part of doing science.

MAYA DIXON: Develop The capacity to bounce back

PhD student in biomedical engineering investigating pancreatic cancer at Columbia University in New York City.

I’m a second-year PhD student investigating how pancreatic tumours cause cachexia — the severe, involuntary wasting of fat and muscle seen in many people with pancreatic cancer. I want to understand how the tumour ‘talks’ to fat tissue to trigger this systemic metabolic dysfunction.

I earned my bachelor’s degree in biotechnology in Canada, where I studied invasive plant genetics. Then I worked for a small company developing genetically engineered crops for drought resistance and yield optimization, but I wanted to expand my research skills. I stumbled on a lab technician position at Columbia University’s Institute for Cancer Genetics in New York City and applied even though I had no experience in medical sciences or cancer research. I moved there without ever having visited the city, and after six months as a technician, I decided to pursue a PhD with geneticist Christine Chio.

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I’m a first-generation university graduate — my father is a weapons technician in the Canadian Navy and my mother is a seamstress from Japan. Growing up, I always loved mathematics and science and wanted to pursue a doctorate, either medical or academic. I really fell in love with science at secondary school, where I took an advanced biology class and did a class project about viruses and bacteria. I was fascinated by how something so small could devastate the human body.

In my work as a researcher, curiosity keeps me going, but so does the possibility of asking questions and finding the next thing and that exciting piece of data. This is a euphoria that I didn’t experience before coming to New York, and it’s addictive. It mixes with the bigger picture of how I could affect things and leave a piece of me in the world. But one thing I’d say to young people willing to do science is: you need to be prepared to fail.

In science, it feels like you fail 95% of the time and if you’re lucky, the 5% that is successful ends up in a paper. Even the ‘failed’ experiments can give you clues on how to improve for next time. Also, even if you fail and have poor grades — I struggled as an undergraduate — it’s about how you respond that matters the most. If you really want it, you can bounce back and make it work. At university, I surrounded myself with people who were doing well, and they all helped me get my grades back up by studying together and motivating each other. Creating a support system — especially when far from home — is crucial. My parents never let me quit very easily growing up, which I think contributed to my desire to keep pushing even when things get hard. If things are difficult for you, my tip is: lean on people who can support you and incentivize you, it helps a lot.

JASPER CLAYTON: Stay and fight to improve the system

Postbaccalaureate fellow in anthropology at the Spatial Archaeometry Lab at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, USA.

Fieldwork excavations made me fall in love with archaeology. Then there’s the technological aspect: I work in a remote-sensing and geophysics laboratory as well as in a palaeobotany lab. I just came back from fieldwork at a large Roman site in northern Croatia that produced olive oil. I’m trying to understand the labour, production and long‑term human–environmental interactions that occurred there between the first century and the mid‑ to late second century. The mix of studying interesting theory and working in the field clinched it for me: this is something I could easily do for the rest of my life and be ecstatic about it.

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