Who am I and why am I writing stories about scientists?
Hi, my name is Florian and I am from Austria. It’s a small country in the middle of Europe that looks like a chicken wing, or a key, if you are vegan. Once I learned how to read and write, I developed terrible handwriting that I am still unable to shake.
In academic research, I focused on Immunology and Hematology. Something that I learned during this time was that people outside of academia had no idea what on earth I was doing. I am not referring to the research. This is about the sophisticated rituals that are part of academia. It is about the question: What kind of people are scientists and what do they do all day?
I published this article originally on Substack on (28-August-2026).
Challenging the Stereotypes
In popular culture, the tropes are always the same: the ‘awkward nerd’, the ‘misunderstood genius’ or the ‘mad scientist’ (also known as the PhD student who lost their mind during grad school and became a supervillain).
Once I decided that I wanted to transition from academic research to other pastures, I was confronted with stereotypes and misunderstandings that might sound familiar to other scientists:
- “Scientists don’t work in teams.”
- “Scientists are hyperspecialized and can’t survive in the real world.”
- “They will just give up and go back to academia once they find out how hard it is ‘out there’.”
- “Scientists are bored with so-called ‘unsophisticated’ work.” If only they knew how much fun it was to label one thousand test tubes.
- “But you invested so much time into this, you will surely want to continue with this forever, and ever… and ever, ever.”
I could now fall back into my old scientist habits and write a point-by-point response letter … instead, I decided to do something different: write stories portraying scientists as three-dimensional human beings inside and outside of academia.
Exchanging the Lab Coat for a Fundraiser’s Vest
In the real world, I changed from academia to face-to-face fundraising for the NGO Doctors Without Borders. I wanted to prove that I could deal with rejection and strangers. Also, I really needed a job, the rent doesn’t pay itself.
Being a doctor (even if only a Ph.D.) working in the high-rejection world of fundraising for almost a year was strangely one of the best experiences I’ve had. I met and interacted with probably thousands of people, many of whom are still donating to a good cause today. While I have moved on from this, I still don’t feel the need to return to basic research. No backsies now, okay?
My first steps in fiction writing: Overqualified – Lab Bench to Street Side.
That year fundraising on the streets of Vienna inspired my debut contemporary satirical novel: Overqualified – Lab Bench to Street Side. It is a “fish out of water” story about a scientist trying to survive the so-called real world.
Because a scientist always does something for a reason, I intend to write about my writing process, my choices … in other words my method and rationale here on Substack.
Also, check out my fiction projects or my past scientific publications on my homepage.
Overqualified: Lab Bench to Street Side (Check it out here)
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