Nouria Hernandez and Winship Herr, professors, Center for Integrative Genomics, University of Lausanne, Switzerland

If you are a couple who both work in scientific research, you probably know how hard it is to find jobs in proximity as your careers progress, and almost impossible to find such a situation where you have family roots. But Nouria Hernandez and Winship Herr have beaten the odds.

The biologists, who met at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) in New York, last month moved to a new centre in Switzerland, where Hernandez is a citizen and Herr lived as a child. (see CV).

CSHL helped to set them on their path, but they agree that they had reached a point where a move was necessary. CSHL is geared towards helping scientists start a career. “It's not the kind of place you retire,” Hernandez says. “You're always imagining your exit strategy,” agrees Herr.

The couple stayed there longer than most because they found CSHL an exciting place to do science, and because Herr got involved with developing, then running, the Watson School of Biological Sciences, CSHL's graduate school.

Realizing that Lausanne would help them focus on their family as well as their science required a certain amount of introspection. Herr recommends that all scientists apply that to their career trajectory.

Students and postdocs should always be thinking about where they want to be in five years' time, Herr says. Mid-career scientists need to be equally forward-looking. Scientists need to realize that opportunities arise when things go well experimentally and when good publications come their way – but such moments aren't always guaranteed.

Both emphasize the importance of good mentors. Herr also notes the importance of factors beyond science in making a career decision. He gets recharged by doing science “in beautiful places”. At Lausanne, he can stroll along Lake Geneva or hike in the Alps. And when he or Hernandez hit a snag, they can find each other on the same floor and commiserate, before returning to their respective labs.