Justin Zoppe: From Grants to Leadership at the UPC

Justin Zoppe is an R4-level researcher in Materials Science and Engineering at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC). With an international career spanning academia and industry, he has built a strong track record in competitive research funding, scientific leadership, and team development. In this interview, he reflects on evaluating research performance, setting professional goals, and evolving from individual researcher to research group leader and mentor.

How do you evaluate your research performance and progress?

Often through number and amount of awarded competitive grants, scientific publications, citations, awards and other researcher metrics.

Can you describe the tools or strategies you use for self-assessment in your research?

Web of Science and Google Scholar metrics, such as h-index, number of publications per year, citations per year and author impact beamplots.

What challenges have you faced in objectively evaluating your work, and how have you addressed them?

Evaluating my work during years of lower scientific productivity due to relocations to new countries and academic career breaks in industry. I have addressed them by keeping a record of other unpublished achievements, such as previous responsibilities in industrial positions, project management milestones and learning languages.

Reflecting on your career so far, what accomplishments are you most proud of?

Obtaining an ERC Consolidator Grant.

How have your motivations changed as your career has progressed?

My motivations for doing research have slowly changed from my individual progression to the progression of each member of my research group and team management.

How do you identify and set professional goals for yourself?

By observing my role models, mentors, peers and defining research problems with high societal impact potential.

Do you use any specific frameworks or models (e.g., SMART goals) for setting your goals? If so, how have they helped?

Yes, the Project Management Professional (PMP) framework, which include SMART objectives. They have helped me to define measurable goals, define their relevance and set realistic deadlines.

What factors do you consider when setting short-term versus long-term goals?

Factors related to their feasibility in terms of professional and personal circumstances, such as personal obligations, current and expected workload.

Once you have set a goal, what steps do you take to ensure you will meet it?

Planning and setting intermediate deadlines with milestones towards achieving the main goal.

How do you break down your goals into manageable tasks or milestones?

Using Work breakdown structures (WBS) and Gantt charts.

How do you monitor and adjust your action plan to stay on track toward your goals?

By regularly following my progress and comparing to the Gantt chart.

How have you worked towards establishing your independence as a researcher?

By applying for research grants directed towards consolidating independence and establishing a research group.

Can you describe a project where you took the lead and what the outcome was?

While working as a researcher in Switzerland, I obtained a 3.5-year Ambizione Grant from the Swiss National Science Foundation, which allowed me to independently manage a research project and hire my first doctoral student. The doctoral student successfully graduated and we published 6 scientific articles related to the project and presented at multiple international conferences. The results of this project became the basis for my ERC Consolidator Grant.

What strategies do you use to enhance your research output?

Developing national and international collaborations to combine expertise on multidisciplinary projects.

Have you considered career paths outside of academia? If so, what areas are you interested in?

Yes, I have worked as a Research Scientist and Research Project Manager in industry.

What skills do you believe you have gained from your academic experience that are transferable to other industries?

Research project management and administration, lab management and critical thinking, problem-solving, communication, teamwork and time management.

What competency areas do you think researchers need to develop, and therefore, universities should offer more training in?

Occupational health and safety, project management, time management and applying for competitive research funding.

Have you participated in any professional development programs, and how have they influenced your career growth?

Grant funding workshops have influenced my abilities to obtain competitive funding.

What qualities and skills do you think a good mentor should have?

Openness, kindness, patience and knowledegable.

How can mentoring be improved to better support early-career researchers?

By offering trainings directed towards mentors and assigning mentors (not their direct supervisors) to early-career researchers shortly after arriving at the institution.

Can you give an example from your university where coming from another country has been a favorable factor for your hiring?

Being hired as a Serra Húnter Lecturer required international research experience.

How do you think foreign researchers can be motivated to integrate linguistically and socially?

It depends on the length of their postdoctoral work at the hiring university. I find that it would be challenging to manage full-time research work and personal obligations while participating in intensive language classes in cases of 2-year postdoctoral contracts.

What initiatives can universities implement to better support multicultural integration among researchers?

By offering practical trainings, such as occupational health and safety, for new arrivals and encouraging integration through introduction to local cultures and customs in before language courses.

What role does cultural competence play in international collaborations?

Being knowledgeable of local customs is important for international collaborations to understand different working environments.

What do you think about knowledge of the local language being a requirement for promotion in your academic career?

I agree with the requirement, however academic researchers need ample time to dedicate to developing their research and teaching profiles at the same time.

How have language skills impacted your professional development and career opportunities?

It has allowed me to better integrate at my university and be promoted from Lecturer to Associate to Full Professor.

What resources have you used to develop your language skills for professional communication?

Language learning software provided by the local government, speaking with colleagues and developing through written communications, such as email etc.