Maria Garcia Parajo – Laureate of the Winter 2020 EPS Emmy Noether Distinction / photo: Maria Garcia Parajo

Maria Garcia Parajo is the laureate of the Winter 2020 EPS Emmy Noether Distinction. On behalf of e-EPS, Kees van der Beek, chair of the EPS Equal Opportunities Committee, spoke with her on the application of physics to cell biology, inspirational figures in physics, and empowerment of women physicists. COVID-19 restrictions oblige, the interview was carried out remotely.

Kees van der Beek (KvdB): Maria, again, my warmest congratulations on the occasion of the Winter 2020 EPS Emmy Noether Distinction. Can you shortly describe what you are currently working on, and why you feel that it is important?

Maria Garcia Parajo (MGP): For the last ten years, my team and I have been working on how the internal organisation, in space and in time, of biomolecules inside living cells regulate cellular functions.  We develop optical techniques and instrumentation that have the necessary ultrahigh spatio-temporal resolution and sensitivity to detect individual molecules and the events relevant for cellular functions. Our research thus truly has two sides: the development of sophisticated optical and biophysical tools, and then, there is their application in the physiological context of living cells.

In the first, we have the development of different far-field and near-field techniques for super-resolved imaging of individual molecules (on scales much smaller than those imposed by the diffraction limit of light). Far-field methods typically use stimulated emission, which was the object of the Nobel prize in 2014, as well as single molecule localisation methods in which the center of mass of a given molecule is pinpointed. A near-field imaging technique that we use a lot in our group exploits plasmonic modes in nano-antenna.

The second side concerns applications. I wish to cite two examples, in which high spatio-temporal resolution is particularly important. The first is related to the pandemic. We all know that the COVID-19 virus has specific receptors on its outer shell; both the virus and the host cell membranes can be seen as ligands to these receptors. The manner in which the receptors organise themselves in space and time determines how strong the virus attaches to host cells. The spatio-temporal organisation of the receptors is therefore important to regulate the affinity of the virus to the host cells. Another example is the organisation of DNA or of chromatin inside the nucleus. This determines the basic mechanisms of the cell functions. We are particularly interested to the immune system and pathogen binding. Finally, there is the issue of cancer, which is intimately related to the migration and adhesion of rogue cells in sites where they do not belong. It is the deep and constant interplay of physics, physical binding mechanisms, and biology that fascinates me.

KvdB: Can you tell us how you arrived in this exciting field?

MGP: I followed a long trajectory, starting from electronic engineering. I quickly realised that the courses that fascinated me most were those that had to do with physics, including electromagnetism and solid-state physics. I therefore enrolled in a Physic Masters programme at my Alma Mater. All the while, I was looking for opportunities to study solid-state physics, and chose a Master programme in semiconductor physics at Imperial College. For my PhD, I fabricated semiconducting quantum dots in III-V semiconductor heterostructures. One of the bottlenecks was that our fabrication process rendered these structures highly inhomogeneous. It was therefore very difficult to study their optical properties, e.g. through photoluminescence (PL), since these were averaged out by material heterogeneity. This is why I searched for new approaches to study the PL of individual structures, and had the opportunity to pursue such during my post-doctoral appointments in Paris and in Twente in the Netherlands. The challenge in the latter group was to measure the fluorescence of individual (bio-) molecules at room temperature. A major breakthrough occurred through my interactions with Carl Figdor, an immunology professor at Nijmegen university. Together, we realised that my ultra-sensitive optical technique could be applied in living cells. For the first time, I could see the signal coming from bio-molecules, in vivo! This was something really new – a signal from a living, moving entity! From that initial thrill, I became truly fascinated with the field that I have never left since.

KvdB: Have you ever considered any of your colleagues as role models? Do you consider yourself to be a role model? 

MGP: I do not really know whether the people who have influenced me in my career choices, starting with my father, are actually role models or rather, inspirational figures. Unfortunately, having evolved in a very masculine academic environment, I find no female figures among them. When I did my Ph.D. in London, there were only two women Ph.D candidates in the whole ten-story building! As for me giving inspiration to young scientists, this is a great and continuous source of pride for me. It is so extremely satisfactory to see students grow into scientific maturity, and to be able to create the environment and the conditions that have enabled them to do so, to modulate their inner capacities to this end! There are many facets to this route to scientific maturity, and I endeavour to accompany my students in every way, not only the scientific aspects. It is important to also address things such as emotions, fears, uncertainty, insecurity and self-confidence, to be in dialogue with ones students. My relation with the members of my group is thus very open. I am particularly proud of being a role model to young female scientists.

KvdB: Did you know that you were nominated for the Emmy Noether distinction?

MGP: A couple of my colleagues had actually suggested that I would be a good candidate. However, from there, I was conscientiously kept out of the loop, and to be laureate was a very happy surprise.

KvdB: You have been recognized through many prizes and awards. Is the Emmy Noether Distinction still special for you?

MGP: Yes it is, because it does not only recognise one’s scientific career, but also all the extra effort that one has put into promoting and empowering women to excel in science. Through it, the European Physical Society recognises the specific importance of empowering women and promoting gender equity and that is very important to me.

KvdB: Have you yourself encountered any difficulties rooted in gender roles or inequity?

MGP: Definitely, women are much more aware of their position than we were in the day. They are much more aware of the things that they need not accept or take for granted. When I was a student, I took the fact that I evolved in a mainly male environment as a sort of “default” situation. I started to feel the resistance against my career progression at the point where I became a post-doc and then wanted to establish myself as a young professor, and I found myself competing for grants, for papers, for last authorship, for students. That was a tough part of my career – unfortunately, many young women researchers still find a particular resistance at that stage of their career today.

KvdB: What actions do you think are most useful to help women in physics? Which one of your actions do you see as having been the most successful?

MGP: The problem of the position and career progression of women in physics is a very complicated one because it has a great man inputs. You therefore have to target many factors in parallel, something that will probably take generations. Yet, one of the most important things is that everyone, women and men, in the field is aware, is conscious of the implicit gender bias that still pervades our communities today and affects the working environment. It is the accumulation of many little things on a daily basis that causes women to snap and leave science. I really do believe that explicit bias is no longer the problem today. I also think that specific training courses in secondary and soft skills for women scientist are very important. Science is a highly competitive business and women have to acquire the necessary assertiveness, and the assurance to speak in public and put themselves on the front of the stage. Mentoring is also a very important point. Like I do with my students, it is necessary for more senior scientists to advise young women physicists how to handle uncertain, difficult or uncomfortable situations. On the other hand, I do not believe in positive discrimination or quota. To me, all discrimination is negative. Rather, as a way to avoid discrimination, I would like to recommend the creation of specific calls for women scientists (physicists), in the same way as calls can be targeted towards age groups, e.g. early career researchers. In any case, one will always have to make that extra effort, that extra little thought, to ensure that women get equal chances at all levels, be it employment, conferences, or other.

KvdB: COVID-19 has aggravated all that is not well in the world. What are the difficulties related to the COVID pandemic that you or your students encounter?

MGP: Of course. The pandemic is a major distraction from all points of view. We have had to stop all experiments. When we resumed, it was not the entire group that could return. Worse, in our case we are dealing with biological reagents, to obtain them afresh comes with major delays. 2020, however, has proved productive as far as data analysis and paper writing is concerned. I am afraid that the reduction of scientific productivity will be felt in 2021. More generally, we are all human so the pandemic affects us all. I have spent much more time giving emotional support to members of our group. Our group is very international, and many of its members went back to their home country, without always having the possibility to come back. To remain close to, and help our younger colleagues of the next generation is an extremely important part of our responsibility.

Read about the EPS Emmy Noether Distinction