Meet Dr Ander Movilla Miangolarra, Postdoctoral Researcher at the John Innes Centre.
Please would you provide a very short list of the highlights of your career to date?
I grew up in Spain and did my PhD in Paris, at the Institut Curie. I graduated in 2021 and moved to Norwich (where I currently live) for my postdoctoral research at the John Innes Centre.
Please would you tell us about your research and the area it focuses on? Plus, how you became interested in this?
I work on the application of mathematical models in biology. During my PhD I worked on reaction-diffusion equations, which can be used to describe and understand the localisation of certain molecules/components within biological cells. During my postdoctoral research I have switched the focus of my research to genetic regulation and epigenetics. In a multicellular organism, every cell has roughly the same DNA but the genes that are expressed (transcribed to produce proteins) vary widely between cell types. How this is regulated and how cells maintain their expression profiles are the ultimate questions that my current research aims at answering. In terms of the tools I use, I am still interested in the applications of stochastic models in biology, but now I also spend much of my time trying to extract the maximum amount of information from the experimental quantitative data that our collaborators obtain.
My undergraduate degree was in Physics, but I soon became interested in the interdisciplinary applications that physics-inspired approaches could have in other disciplines. A module I took my third year in statistical physics (a branch of physics that deals with the statistical properties of systems with many particles and is prone to interdisciplinary applications) and a wonderful lecturer first got me interested in this line of research.
You are currently a Postdoctoral Researcher at the John Innes Centre (JIC), an independent centre of excellence in plant science, genetics and microbiology. Please would you tell us about finding this role and your experiences there?
For the past 5-10 years the scientific community has shared a lot of information through social networks (used to be Twitter, then X and now looks like BlueSky). It has been great to keep up to date with news in the field but also to find opportunities, and I actually first saw advertised my current role through Twitter.
JIC is a very lively scientific community and a great place to do science, especially when related to plants or microbes. The computational and systems biology department (to which I belong) is small but there’s a lot of interaction.
You are the Post Doc Voice Representative for the Equality, Diversity & Inclusivity Committee at JIC. What topics have you recently worked on with this role?
The project I have been most involved in has been running a trial for a training on micro-behaviour (small unconscious gestures that can influence how included people around us feel). Depending on the feedback we get from the trial we will explore options to roll it out institute wide. But there are many other topics we treat at the meetings of the EDI committee, such as an ongoing BBSRC-funded project on valuing and celebrating neurodiversity in academia.
What is your typical workday like?
Since my work is entirely computational/mathematical, my typical workday is not very structured (as my main research tasks are flexible, unlike experimental researchers which may have to follow to very precise protocols). Thus, my day is usually structured around any meetings with collaborators or seminars I might want to attend. My core research tasks are mostly computer-based (coding, reading, writing), but there is also some pen-and-paper work at the early stages of projects, when the ideas are still taking form, especially for the projects with more focus on the mathematics.
What do you hope to achieve in the next 5 years?
It is still uncertain to me, but the early stages of some projects I would like to work more on include the influence the DNA as a polymer (its conformation or physical accessibility) can have on whether a gene is expressed or not.
Could you tell us a little about your background, where you are from in Spain, where you have studied, and how this influenced you? Plus, how this led to you researching in the UK?
I was born and raised in San Sebastian, in a region called the Basque Country and I went to university nearby (Bilbao, University of the Basque Country). It was there where I became interested in the interdisciplinary applications of Physics, as I pointed out before.
I came to the UK for my postdoctoral research, mostly due to the research interests and track record of my current supervisor, Martin Howard.
What are the differences you have found in research culture in Spain, France and the UK?
I never carried out research in Spain so cannot comment on that. Between France and the UK, I haven’t seen many differences, perhaps a more PI-centric culture in the UK than in France, where research groups are often larger with more permanent staff, but not always with a hierarchical structure. Another difference is the language. The main scientific language is English, but in France, at research institutes, often French is also used and can cause a bit of friction (some staff members will only know English and others will not be comfortable speaking in English). Finally, EDI commitments seem to be more present in UK research culture, although I expect France (and probably Spain too) to progress in a similar direction in the near future.
What cultural differences have you noticed between Spain and England/UK?
In terms of the wider culture, the major difference I have noticed is how life in neighbourhoods is structured. While in Spain there will be plenty of shops/cafes/eateries in most neighbourhoods, in the UK that seems to happen mostly in town/city centres, which is not very convenient in many cases. Another thing that I found striking was the opening times of shops/cafes: the fact that they often close at 5pm seemed ridiculous to me, but you get used to it.
How do you find living in the city of Norwich?
I like living in Norwich, life is easy and simple and there is plenty of access to nature. That is in stark contrast to Paris, where I lived before, where living was more demanding (financially, longer commuting times…), but there are plenty of things to do.
As an international researcher in the UK, what advice would you give to others considering working or studying outside their home country?
It is a great experience, personally and professionally, that every researcher should at least consider at some point in their career. It can be daunting at first, but it pays off.
You can find out more about Ander and his work using the links below:
Computational and Systems Biology | John Innes Centre
Bluesky: Ander Movilla-Miangolarra
LinkedIn: Ander Movilla-Miangolarra
Photograph credit: Simon Dewhurst
Read about more researchers' experiences in the Meet the Researchers in the UK series