Chief Executive Officer, Royal Society Of Chemistry Rsc
Search every verified Helen Pain interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Dr Helen Pain, Chief Executive Officer of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), has continued to engage with early career researchers and advocate for inclusion and diversity in STEM. In November 2024, she spoke to PhD students at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bengaluru, discussing the changing publishing landscape, the importance of communicating research, and career opportunities outside academia. Pain told the students that publishing during a PhD is not always possible and that this "is not a reflection on the student." She also addressed a comment made during her own PhD that pursuing a doctorate meant choosing not to have a family, calling that notion "absolute nonsense" and noting that she has two sons who studied chemistry. Pain has also highlighted the RSC's work on equity and data-driven change. In a 2024 podcast, she described a turning point when the RSC decided to publish uncomfortable findings about workplace culture in chemistry, saying a colleague told her to "be brave" and that "we've got the evidence, we've got the data therefore we publish." She has credited her school chemistry teacher, Dr Sheila Cousins, with inspiring her career, and noted that her first boss at the RSC, Jane Sutton, gave her the initial opportunity. Pain also chairs the Technician Commitment Steering Board, which she said has secured over 100 signatory institutions and unlocked millions of pounds in investment for technical roles in higher education and research.
“I was once told or a comment was made to me when I was doing my PhD that I had obviously taken a decision not to get married not to have a family because I was doing a PhD that would be wasted and I thought gosh have I made you know a career choice so early just by doing a PhD that's absolute nonsense you know I have a...”
“The world of publishing is changing quite significantly there's a clear shift to publishing Open Access that makes your work more accessible to everybody and that's a really good thing um but equally you know focus on you know the the goes back to the communicating what you do and there is a lot of opportunity and choi...”
“if it hadn't been for Dr cousins when I was at school I don't think I would have chosen a career in chemistry and the real specific thing about Dr cousins was because she was a deputy head teacher and then a head teacher it was her leadership qualities that really inspired me um and from kind of probably from the age o...”
“I was interviewed by a lady called Jane Sutton and she was my very first boss and Jane now works at the Royal Academy of Engineering um and in fact just recently um she was in contact um when I was awarded my my uh MBE and I linked and I thanked Jane for giving my very me my very first role at the RSC and I will always...”
“I think back on that night now gosh imagine if we said okay let's not publish because actually it's just too difficult and that was the night that Jules told me to be brave and go you know what we've done we've got the evidence we've got the data therefore we publish we published of course it felt uncomfortable of cour...”
“I think going back to the experience we had breaking the barriers so thinking about our work that we do is all backed up by policy evidence data and we looked at various aspects of inclusion diversity and it became very clear that we needed to focus in on those in our community you know black chemists and also those fr...”
“the work of technicians in higher education and research is incredible you enable research to be undertaken you enable new technology to be developed and deployed you have the vision and creativity to influence the solutions to local national and global challenges and do you support the next generation of the uk's work...”
“since its inception the technician commitment has secured over 100 signatory and supported institutions we've unlocked the investment in the technical community in the region of several millions of pounds from signatory institutions with many now providing new financial and in-kind support to develop and deliver techni...”
“the work of the rsc continues whether we are going through a global crisis or whether we are benefiting from an upturn in the economy or whether we are being faced by a new challenge in science the rsc is very much about connecting the world of science to advance chemical knowledge for a better future”
“leadership is about setting strategy it's not just about leading people it's also about the strategy of an organization”
As part of her recent trip to India, Royal Society of Chemistry CEO Dr Helen Pain spoke to early career researchers from the Materials Research Centre at IISC, Bengaluru
Helen Pain MBE shares her inspiring story with Harriet of her career journey and her love of chemistry, the lab and the community.
Data and allyship are powerful tools for driving equity in STEM. In this episode, Dr. Helen Pain shares her journey and explores ...
Dr Helen Pain, CEO, Royal Society of Chemistry and Chair of the Technician Commitment Steering Board speaks at the Higher Education Technicians Summit 2021.
... welcome today's evidence speaker dr helen payne acting ceo and acting ceo of royal society of chemistry who will be speaking ...
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