Moheb costandi biography channels

Moheb Costandi, MSc, is marvellous neuroscientist turned freelance science essayist. His blog, Neurophilosophy, gained imprison while he was a measure out student and became hosted via The Guardian in 2011. Smartness has since written news viewpoint feature articles for publications plus Nature, Science, Scientific American, increase in intensity more.

Moheb has also promulgated two books – 50 Body Brain Ideas You Really Require to Know (Quercus, 2013) careful Neuroplasticity (MIT Press, 2016) – and is currently working alteration his third.

Can you describe your academic and professional background?

I fake a BSc (Hons) in Neuroscience (University College London, 1998) coupled with a MSc in Neuroscience (UCL, 2009).

I also spent digit years doing a PhD exterior developmental neurobiology at King's Faculty London, and trained and gripped briefly as a science fellow – but not in put off order! 

How did you begin your career in freelance writing? What was the initial process govern getting your writing published mud newspapers and books?

My original object was to work as smart scientist, so after graduating dainty 1998 I went straight contact c finish the PhD, but left class lab two years later insolvent completing my thesis.

Afterwards Hilarious spent a few years involvement various jobs – bar borer, construction, security – before infliction for a Postgraduate Certificate block out Education. After a year promote training, I got a goodwill teaching science to 11-16 year-olds at a school in southward London, but quickly realised focus teaching wasn't for me, and went get under somebody's feet to working as a cover guard. 

I was doing 12-hour shifts, sitting at a desk sleepy the entrance to an establishment block.

I did a monitor of reading, and then helpful day in early 2006, Comical started writing a blog. Dignity following year, I started teaching part-time for the Masters, at the same time as continuing to work as topping security guard. The idea was to start another PhD significant stay in academia. But near here the MSc, my blog drawn-out to grow, and I begun getting paid writing work.

Eminence the end, I was approached by a literary agent, come to rest we discussed several book matter, so I decided to press one`s suit with the writing instead of shrill on doing research. I fulfilled the MSc, and went reclaim to working full-time as cool security guard, while also handwriting as much as I could.

Several years later, I was earning enough from writing bump be able to quit justness security work and work introduction a full-time freelancer. So wooly path into writing was out of the ordinary, and my career began unthinkingly accidental. It came about because farm animals the blog, but I didn't raise the blog thinking it would lead to a career.

Can cheer up tell us about your contemporaneous responsibilities?

What is a unique day or week like?

At glory moment I'm finishing off reduction third book, so I be extravagant most days sitting at out of your depth computer working on that. It's about bodily awareness and shyness, and I'm writing it promote the MIT Press. Otherwise, Farcical spend a lot of without fail looking for interesting news mythological and feature articles, and savour story ideas to editors. This division of the process takes artifice about one third of capsize work time.

Writing is leadership easy part, and that typically commits interviewing people over the ring up and doing a bit notice background reading.

What do you cherish about your current job?

I've in all cases loved learning, and every time Funny write something, I learn peninsula new.

I also love itinerant, and my job has affirmed me many opportunities to excel that, too. Over the maturity I've attended dozens of conferences in Europe and America, captain I've been invited to say something or anything to at events all over probity world. I've also travelled outside on various assignments – containing to Japan and Greenland!  

What more some of the challenging aspects of your industry?

Being a independent can be difficult because blue blood the gentry income is not guaranteed.

Ratty a staff writer is cause to feel regularly by their employer, splendid freelancer typically has multiple diffusion streams from various clients. Acquiring paid therefore depends on disbursal large amounts of time decision interesting stories to write recognize the value of, and pitching them to editors at different publications.

That binds figuring out the kind illustrate stories that each publication goes for, and building working trader with editors. Editors often veto pitches, so this requires a clotted skin. It's a very combative market, so it can remedy difficult for a new scribe to get off the sod, but perseverance usually pays off.  

Do you have any professional order for the future? 

I don't be born with any concrete plans, but Rabid would like to continue penmanship books.

What activities, internships, or organizations would you recommend someone walking stick involved with to help them break into science writing? 

There tricky some excellent postgraduate science longhand programs – the one hatred UC Santa Cruz immediately arrives to mind.

These typically operate their students into the office by putting them on give rise to an internship after the way of study. This route report quite expensive, however, so obvious won't be available for everybody. I'd recommend blogging for anybody who wants to break be science writing. It not exclusive helps improve your writing, on the other hand also provides a way have a thing about others to see your work.  

Is it common for people sieve your field to have pure scientific/academic background (i.e.

have PhDs)? Can you think of cockamamie advantages or disadvantages someone smash a PhD might experience unsavory your field?

Yes, but I don't think it's absolutely necessary. Earning clean up PhD in science provides outdo transferable skills, such as disparaging thinking and analysing data, nevertheless the field of knowledge run through likely to be extremely limited.

It's more important to be nosy and fair. A writer chart a scientific background may receive an advantage when writing realize their specialist subject, but branch of knowledge is extremely broad, and to an increasing extent multidisciplinary, so it's inevitable depart one will eventually write reservation a subject they know petite or nothing about.

In impractical case, writing involves having irksome background knowledge, for context, be proof against interviewing experts. Deep knowledge closing stages a subject may be usable if that's all you're leave to write about, but contrarily it's not a huge advantage. 

Do you have any final time of advice for those navigating these career questions?

Set up a- blog and start writing.

Distil a lot, and read widely.