I was in a funny place in my career
because I had done a long degree
I have done a PhD in the UK
So It takes a ages to finish
So once I was done I came to Switzerland
just to join my husband
and I worked in EPFL up in Lausanne and a bit in Geneva
and then I stopped because I was pregnant
I’ve done several post-doc after my PhD
so first I was in Italy
after I went to work at the terra foundation here at CERN
and after that I did another post-doc at Annecy
at the Laboratoire d'Annecy-le-Vieux de physique des particules
They diagnosed my mum with cancer
and so I tried to support her
and work at the same time
but several years after her health had deteriorated a lot
Also
I became a father
So for both reasons
my kids and my mother
I decided to take a break
I was at a point in my life
I was a stay-at-home mum
a mother of two children under two
I didn’t think any employer would give me a chance
This opportunity gave me a chance
I wouldn’t have got anywhere else
I’m immensely enjoying the work I’m doing
I’m doing hardware
I’m learning new skills
I’m refreshing my old knowledge
It was really like riding a bike
I was really surprised when I started
and I thought how am i going to do it
you know three years without any doing any technical work
But it’s amazing how the brain works
It all came rushing back
So I was very happy
I know that when the fellowship finishes
I’ll be well equipped to look for this type of work in research
cutting edge technology
I’m better placed now lets say than a year ago
After that it will be a very complete profile
CERN gives you the opportunity of a second chance
but on the other side you have to prove to them
that you deserve this chance
so for me it’s a very high responsibility
The post career-break fellowship is just this amazing opportunity
and I’m sure there’s a lot of people out there like me
and not necessarily mums
people stop work for all sorts of personal reasons
and a lot of people are longing to go back to work properly
This fellowship will give them this chance
