Interactive book brings to life career pathways in science

A Fellow of St Catharine’s has co-authored a new interactive book that enables readers to trace the twists and turns of different career pathways in science. ‘The Professor, the Pipette & the Path Not Taken: Choose Your Science Career’  is a new spin on the branching narrative-style adventure genre written by Professor Adrian Liston (2023) and Professor James Dooley, with illustrations by Yulia Lapko. 

Intended for students at high schools or colleges making university choices and undergraduate science students starting on the path to a career in science, ‘The Professor, the Pipette & the Path Not Taken’ explores the setbacks, breakthroughs, friendships, ethical dilemmas, lucky breaks and spectacular mistakes that shape scientific lives. Readers can choose 277 different pathways through the book and arrive at one of ten different endings, all inspired by real careers in biomedical science today.

Professor Liston, who is Professor of Pathology at the University of Cambridge, explained:

“Science careers can lead to world-changing discoveries, but every scientist experiences bumps in the road before finding success. We want readers to experience the agency they have over their own lives, and by replaying their career multiple times learn that things don’t have to go perfectly from the start in order to have an impact in science. With each choice they make as they turn the pages, readers can discover the many different types of success that can emerge from starting a career in science, with dishonesty the only true barrier to progression.”

Professor Liston and Dr Dooley set up a research laboratory together in 2009. The Liston-Dooley lab is now based at Cambridge’s Department of Pathology and has grown to a team of 20 scientists. 

Professor Liston described the rationale behind the book, saying:

"Many students feel enormous pressure to get everything right from day one: the right exams, the right degree, the right internship, the perfect CV. But science does not really work like that. Careers are rarely linear and failure is not usually the end of the story. In our lab, we have trained more than 200 scientists, and we have seen people build brilliant careers through routes they never expected. We wanted this book to show students that there are many ways to build a life in science, and that the hard path can still lead somewhere meaningful. We thought a branching adventure book exploring these pathways would introduce young people to what it means to build a life in science." 

Professor Dooley added, “Those who know us well might spot the quirks of our own career choices among the scenarios that we’ve included. I was certainly one of those who took a more unconventional route into science, with career delays and detours that meant I had to take the hard path to success. We have also been inspired by some of the pathways taken by team members whom we’ve had the pleasure to teach, supervise or work with over the years. We hope the book is a fun way to show the next generation that science is not just about perfect choices, but about curiosity, resilience, and finding your own route forward.”

Beyond his research and teaching in Pathology at St Catharine’s, Professor Liston works extensively on communicating science to children, with the online game VirusFighter and the illustrated children’s books ‘All about Coronavirus’ (2020), ‘Battle Robots of the Blood’ (2020) and ‘Maya’s Marvellous Medicine’ (2021). He previously joined forces with Yulia Lapko on 'Becoming a Scientist: The Graphic Novel' (2024) which tells the story of the twelve scientists in his biomedical research laboratory to inspire readers between 12 and 18 years of age. Their latest collaboration is intended to be a companion project for the graphic novel. 

Yulia is Project & Communications Coordinator (Higher Education) for the Gatsby Plant Science Education Programme at the University of Cambridge’s Sainsbury Laboratory.

Read ‘The Professor, the Pipette & the Path Not Taken: Choose Your Science Career’.