Tony Hyman, Research Group Leader Hometown: Dresden
What are you working on? I am working on how cells organize their biochemistry.
Have you always wanted to be a scientist? I never had much ambition as a child. I used to sit at the back of the class and dream about playing in the woods. As I got older, I dreamed about riding bicycles. I never excelled at school, but as a got more deeply into being a scientist, I came to enjoy it more and more.
Why did you choose science/your discipline? It rather chose me. I had always enjoyed the way things worked, and I liked the way biology used a lot of different machines.
What is science for you? Bringing together diverse ideas. It involves reading widely in both hard science and social sciences, history. It involves chatting with people from all over the world.
What motivates you? I am motivated by long term collaborations with individuals. Just like a marriage, long term interactions bring ideas that would never arise from transient hook ups!
How do you balance life and science? I turn off my email at supper time and don’t check it till after breakfast!!
What was your most important shaping experience/biggest achievement? I think the thing that shaped me the most was being a poor student at school.
Why science is fun? Science is fun because everyday you discover something new. Sometimes you discover something that, before you tell anyone else, you are the only person in the whole history of mankind who ever knew that fact.
You are known for your outstanding intuition when it comes to “the next big thing” in your discipline. Imagine you have just got your PhD in 2017 and you are about to start postdoc. What would you work on now? Organoids. It is early days, but I am sure that when the current students are retiring, we will be growing organs in vitro.
Any advice for future students? Be driven by your curiosity.