Interview Prof. Mihovilovic

Part 1: Career history and personal experience

FemChem: Could you give us some brief information about your family/life situation, education and career?
Prof. Mihovilovic: I obtained my Diploma and PhD degrees from TU Wien in the classical area of heterocyclic synthetic chemistry. I then embarked on an adventure to expand my scientific profile in the direction of biocatalysis, actually coming back to an old “dream” of mine when starting to study at TUW, as I initially wanted to specialize in biochemistry (but then “ended up” in organic chemistry). I conducted postdoc stays in Canada and Florida in order to acquire experiences in the utilization of enzymes in chiral synthesis and transferred the know-how back to Vienna after returning to TUW.
After finally obtaining a full position at TUW (I had returned to a part time position after my postdocs overseas), I quickly acquired several FWF grant to initiate my independent research program. Exploitation of recombinant whole-cell systems for biotransformations was a particular USP at that time (despite substantial activities of the Graz cluster in the area of biocatalysis) and allowed me to quickly receive recognition in the field of redox-biocatalysis, ultimately culminating with my Habilitation on this topic in 2003.
I then moved “through the ranks” by being appointed as associate professor in 2004 and becoming full professor in 2014 representing the chair in bioorganic synthetic chemistry. With the retirement of my former mentor Peter Stanetty, I repositioned the research activities in heterocyclic synthesis towards medicinal chemistry. This put us into a position as a leading cooperation partner for small molecule design in Austria. During most recent years, I again shifted my scientific interests into utilizing photochemistry for both driving redox-biotransformations as well as designing molecules bearing photo-triggers for turning biological activity on/off or incorporating organic molecules into biopolymers.
With my appointment as Head of Institute in 2013 I got increasingly immersed in university administration. This certainly resulted in gradually re-positioning my activities from science to management, and the most recent appointment to become Dean of the Faculty completed this development. I consider this re-focusing on management tasks not necessarily as burden (although I miss closer contact with “my pet projects”), but especially as opportunity to inspire with my own curiosity and dedication for science a much larger group of interested people and, consequently, promote the momentum that was indicative for the past 2 decades of my own scientific career.
On a personal note, I am happily married to a former study colleague of mine (although it required a trans-Atlantic separation period to realize that the two of us belonged together). My wife works for a global pharmaceutical company and this enables a lot of insights into the “other side” of the job market. And since 2003 I am facing the everyday challenge of raising two sons…

FemChem: What helped you to obtain a leadership position and what are the specific challenges associated with it?
Prof. Mihovilovic: I am absolutely convinced that the secret to success (also to obtain a leadership position) is associated with identifying first your own aims and, secondly, drafting out a clear roadmap on how to get there. I like to compare this with sailing a boat (and I am an enthusiastic amateur sailor): first you need to know your target harbor, and then you have to plot a course for it. In case winds change, you eventually have to adjust your course; but this can only be successful when you do not lose sight of your ultimate aim.
I recognize very often that a lot of people I come into contact exploit their individual potential only partially. And this is very often a result that they do not really know what they want, or at least they did not take the time to deeply reflect on this. As a consequence, I perceive many people “drifting around” in their careers (and studies).
I am naturally attracted by problems and develop the surge to solve them. Transferring this into my current business in management (a “leadership position” as indicated in the question): I aim to identify weaknesses in ongoing processes and try to optimize systems. This clearly requires the ability to make decisions, but also to identify relevant parameters, and this requires close interaction with the people who finally have to implement the decisions. So, in management there is the core triad of (i) analysis of the situation, (ii) development of a solution and (iii) taking proper decisions to implement this solution – and this last part is the most challenging, as it clearly involves to convince your coworkers of the validity of your decisions.
And there is one more important aspect: one has to accept, that there is no perfect decision. Circumstances may vary, during implementation of a decision the outcome may miss the initial intention, etc.etc. (the past 10 months during the Covid pandemic were full of such situations for me).
If you identify errors in your decisions, this is not the end of the world, as long as you manage to adjust your decisions and get back on track to meet your targets. Regrettably, we do not have a strong culture of failing in continental Europe – but only when we make mistakes and realize this, we are able to perceive the better solutions; the important point is, to then correct such imperfect decisions.

FemChem: In your opinion, what are the characteristics and/or qualities that have been the most beneficial to you in your professional career?
Prof. Mihovilovic: I always try to have a vision when embarking on a new challenge. And such challenges can never be mastered alone, so I early-on try to convince a strong group of followers to join me. It took me more than 2 weeks of consideration when I was first approached and asked about eventually running for the appointment as Dean; and I took the decision only when I had received convincing feedback by people, whose opinion I very much value, to individually contribute to the plans that had materialized in my mind.

Part 2: Women in science and research // Advancement of women // Career opportunities for women

FemChem: What do you think of measures to advance women (e.g. gender parity)?
Prof. Mihovilovic: It is clear that equal opportunities independent of gender are not yet implemented. As a consequence, we are not fully exploiting the potential of our society, and in particular of the scientific community. Since entering the age of enlightenment it has become apparent that research flourishes most when a maximum diversity of approaches is entertained for answering complex scientific questions.
I consider it of utmost importance to allow such diversity and remove any obstacles en route to obtaining knowledge. Due to an “uneven playing field” in the past decades, we have to provide special support so female scientists can successfully develop their career plans.
Along this line, I consider it justified to put in place specific openings and career opportunities for females. However, any such activities can only represent a proper framework to finally enable scientific excellence (as exemplified by the opening of a tenure track position for females at the faculty in November 2020).
Already in my position as Head of Institute I identified a major hurdle in such endeavors to achieve compatibility of career perspectives and family planning. I think we have come along quite some way and TUW offers certain programs in support, but we still need some substantial opinion building in our society and even at our university. I am fully aware that this should not be an exclusive topic for female scientists, however, I am confronted with the fact, that it very often still is. Hence, I would like to put special attention to this aspect in the coming years and invite interested individuals to join, so we can make a difference.

FemChem: Which measures should be taken to increase the number of women in leadership positions at the Faculty of Technical Chemistry?
Prof. Mihovilovic: I am convinced that we are already in the middle of such a transient development when looking at the trend substantiated during the past 2-3 years. It seems particularly important to me to demonstrate best-practice experiences and to provide successful role-models as testimonials and mentors for the next generations. This will further support a momentum we have already gathered within the Faculty.
Based on some of the conclusions of the gender surveys presented in the Fall 2020, it became evident that female scientists at TCH obtain the impression of fewer career support by their superiors. Consequently, I will also emphasize on career development activities both within FemChem and also in context of the new campaign of setting up a Young Investigator Academy.
In view of my own experiences within an FWF graduate school program, I also have the vision to provide a more structured PhD education within our faculty; critical decisions of career planning for scientists are taken during the PhD phase, and we need to make sure that we provide the best support there for our next generation researchers.

FemChem: Which characteristics do you think are valuable for people in science, and more specifically, in leadership positions? Do you think there is a difference for women and men?
Prof. Mihovilovic: A successful career in science requires above all curiosity in nature, open mindedness to reflect on allegedly ordinary things from a different viewpoint in order to discover new aspects, and dedication to obtain answers to the critical research question of the field. It is always remarkable how we scientists cope with the fact, that 90% of all our time usually does not generate the results hoped for, and we take all the motivation to go on from those sparse moments when suddenly we recognize a new finding.
Leadership to me means to expand your own field of activity and move beyond your individual experiences. When becoming a principal investigator, one accepts the responsibility to supervise coworkers, which represents a profoundly different level. And this usually requires not only self-organization, but also the capacity to lead a team.
There are so many different approaches to lead a team, which in part I have experienced personally as team-member and also supervisor at various levels, that I would be very surprised if there was a genuine difference between women and men. So far, I have only identified one universal property for a good team leader: she/he must be inspirational!

FemChem: Did the situation of women in a scientific working environment change or have the structures stayed the same since you started your career?
Prof. Mihovilovic: When looking at the career of my wife and myself over the years, I can only conclude that circumstances have changed substantially, at least in our core discipline of chemistry (admittedly from a rather unfavorable level). Let alone the awareness of providing (or at least aiming at) equal opportunities represents a major game-changer.
I remember being exposed to this aspect for the first time (and unprecedented at that time) during my postdoctoral stay in the US (with an even higher complexity including aspects of ethnical origin) more than 20 years ago – since then, the attitude towards females in chemistry in general and females in leadership positions in particular has definitely evolved (and needs further evolution).

Part 3: About FemChem

FemChem: How did you perceive the FemChem initiative and its development so far?
Prof. Mihovilovic: FemChem is a remarkable activity of the Faculty for Technical Chemistry at TUW; several of the other faculties are currently taking the initiative as best-practice example initiating similar programs in their environment. In my own perception, FemChem has matured from a loose network to a strong interaction platform providing also important services in support of the Female Scientist Development Plan of TCH.

FemChem: In your opinion, what is crucial for the sustainability of this initiative?
Prof. Mihovilovic: Such networking activities largely depend on active protagonists and their dedication for the greater cause. It is good to see that FemChem attracts an increasing number of motivated females to contribute to the diverse activities of the initiative.
FemChem is a well-established core program of the faculty by now; during the past years valuable infrastructure and web-presence has been established to ensure visibility also for the years to come. With the 3 gender surveys completed in 2020, a major project with clear deliverables was also completed successfully. Hence, I would consider it important for the initiative to now reflect on where to move next.
Needless to say, that I had hoped for (and aimed at) a clearer pathway to institutionalize the program; but this did not proceed as initially envisaged. So, my proposed roadmap towards a sustainable track was obviously a minority opinion within FemChem and the initiative has to provide an answer to this question by itself.

FemChem: Where do you see FemChem in 10 years?
Prof. Mihovilovic: Currently, I understand FemChem to continue as network in support of female scientists to close the gap towards gender equality. I am convinced that the aggregated expertise over all thematic areas of the faculty represents a high potential to become a competitive “think-tank” providing input for fine-tuning the Female Scientist Career Plan of the faculty. Moreover, a critical number of role-models and mentors for the next generations of female scientists in chemistry has been gathered to unfold its effect in fostering career development.