From master student to assistant professor – the academic journey of Dr. Riccardo Levato
by Emma Witteveen & Max Tak
Until your masters your career path has been pretty clear, but what does an academic career after your masters look like? We sit down with Dr. Riccardo Levato, a young Assistant Professor at the Department of Orthopaedics, to find out.
Dr. Levato knew he wanted to pursue an academic career early on in his life. So, after obtaining his master’s degree in biomedical engineering at Politecnico di Milano in Italy, he started his PhD in Bioengineering.
The biggest difference between his masters and his PhD was the autonomy he experienced. “This autonomy also means that any problems that arise are actually your own, even if your supervisor is there for guidance”. This independence was very new to him, but once embraced, he enjoyed it. The transition from PhD to Postdoc required even more independence, Dr. Levato says. Also, as a Postdoc, his duties included more practical tasks as well as educating students. Taken together this increases the workload, hence efficient time management becomes very important.
Currently, Dr. Riccardo Levato is Assistant Professor of Biofabrication and Regenerative Medicine at the ľϸӰ Medical Center Utrecht. “As a student, I didn’t understand why professors didn’t respond to emails right away” Dr. Levato tells us. Now that he is one himself, he admits: “the sheer amount of paperwork and bureaucracy often leads to postpone such tasks”. However, his position also grants him an abundance of teaching opportunities and intellectual freedom, he says with a smile on his face.
I didn’t understand why professors didn’t respond to emails right away.
Dr. Levato is very happy about his career and ambitious about the future. “From an academic point of view, I aim to be a Professor. From a scientific point of view, I would like to reach the point at which the printed tissues and organs we make in the lab become a clinical reality.”
It’s a job which you have to work hard for.
As advice to any aspiring assistant professor he tells us that you need to be able to embrace the fact that in science things don’t always turn out as you want them to. “It is essential that you are passionate and happy in conducting research, because it’s a job which you have to work hard for. But if you are happy, it will bring you success!”