Working environment
As a global publishing company, we offer a number of varied career paths, in locations worldwide. Below, some NPG employees describe what working at NPG is like for them.
Euan Adie, Web Developer. Location: London, UK
I work in the Web Publishing department at NPG, where we handle online properties such as the Nature Podcast, Nature Network, Nature Precedings and Scintilla.
I joined NPG because it has a great reputation for being innovative in this space. Within the Web Publishing department it's OK to take on a certain amount of risk, which means we can constantly try out new ideas quickly and stay on the cutting edge of publishing science on the web.
We use blogs and wikis inside the company to share links, views and upcoming project ideas. It's easy to present new ideas and suggestions so there's a good balance between working on big, important projects that could change the way scientists work and your own experiments.
Tony Bouquet, Associate Director Asia-Pacific. Location: Tokyo, Japan
I joined the NPG Tokyo office in March 2001 after working for a number of other publishers in Asia. Since joining NPG the publishing world has changed enormously, as has the company. One of the great rewards that I have got from being at NPG is to be directly involved in establishing new businesses within the company and watching them flourish.
My role encompasses both a sales function, as head of the site license business unit (SLBU) in Asia, and also a publishing role, as head of NPG's medical communications division in Asia, MMC Asia, as well as NPG's Asian academic society publishing program. The SLBU is responsible for the sale of electronic journals to universities, corporations and government institutes, and from Tokyo we cover the entire Asian region. It's a challenging job as the region includes countries with diverse economies, cultures and languages. We have sales and operations staff based in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Melbourne, with many fluent in several Asian languages!
Asia is also an increasingly important source of publishable material. In 2005 NPG extended the publishing services we offer to academic societies to start a society journal publishing operation in Asia. I work with a team of editors in Tokyo and Melbourne and actively seek out new publishing opportunities, encouraging societies to take advantages of the benefits we can offer them at NPG. It is a highly competitive business, and we are up against the giants in the industry, but it can be very rewarding when a society decides to bring their journal to NPG and we can make a success of it. We are now publishing journals for societies in Australia, Japan and China.
Mirella Bucci, Associate Editor. Location: San Francisco, US
For the past two years, I have been based in the San Francisco office of NPG, working for the Boston-based journal, Nature Chemical Biology. As with the other SF-based NPG editors, Nature Chemical Biology decided that it needed a presence in the San Francisco Bay area because of the vast amount of chemical biology research being done there, and in California in general.
On a daily basis, I spend much of my time reading and assessing manuscripts from research scientists. Once they are through the assessment phase and for the fortunate ones, through peer review, manuscripts may be accepted for publication in an upcoming issue of the journal. At that point, we often commission news-like stories (News and Views) to accompany the papers. The editors will also write synopses of accepted papers for our web site and for the print issue. We also commission Reviews and Commentaries from notable scientists that go through several stages of developmental editing with us before publication.
As an editor for Nature Chemical Biology, I also maintain relationships with scientists through lab visits and by attending international conferences. These contacts are particularly rewarding for me, having 'retired' from the lab bench, as they allow me to stay at the cutting edge of many diverse fields of research (without having to do it myself!). Also, by the nature of selecting the papers that we find most interesting and most appropriate in our definition of chemical biology, the editors make a satisfying contribution to the field by driving the research that is done.
Chris Flammang, Technology Developer. Location: New York, US
The Emerging Technology team identifies and deploys new technologies to meet the current and future needs of NPG. One facet of my job is to enrich the online content of our journals. For example, we added a 3D viewer to Nature Chemical Biology content, enabling readers to view and manipulate the molecules in 3D. This feature provides a true interactive environment for our subscribers.
I also manage the development of all new and existing public blogs for NPG. Blogs allow our readers to give feedback on journal articles and comment on hot topics like climate change, avian flu and stem cell research. We've added over 10 new blogs in the last year, and more are on the way. You can find a list of our current blogs at http://blogs.nature.com.
These are just some of the exciting things I get to be a part of in Emerging Technology. As technology advances, so do our publishing tools and methods of delivering content. Being on the cutting edge and adapting to change keeps things very interesting.
Jonata Giuliani, Senior Sales Executive, Location: London, UK
I am a Senior Sales Executive for the Site License Business Unit (SLBU). I am responsible for devising electronic information solutions for public and private institutional libraries who wish to provide their users with full access to the journal and products on Nature.com.
The SLBU team is responsible for packaging, marketing and licensing NPG's electronic content to institutions around the world. With the continued and global rise in internet usage and the sharp transformation of the scientific information landscape, the SLBU represents a great part of our business and must react quickly and efficiently to changes in a demanding and highly informed market, making my work place one of the most inspiring, innovative and dynamic places to be in.
My day involves being on the phone and chasing leads, sending quotes to individual libraries or cooperating on large multi-year deals and negotiating cross-country contracts. This involves desktop research as well as traveling to great places I wouldn't otherwise have a chance to visit. At the same time I really like the idea of being involved in bringing high quality scientific knowledge to as many scientists as possible, in universities, schools, research centers, hospitals and companies around the world.
Mike Hopkin, News Reporter, Location: London, UK
I am a senior news reporter for Nature and for its news website, Nature News. Besides writing news articles and features, I also report each week for the Nature Podcast.
Nature's news team aims to give its readers authoritative, accurate coverage of the latest science news. But we don't just cover the science you see published in Nature, or reported in the newspapers - we try to go deeper and report on the trends and developments that really affect the scientific community. My days are largely spent making calls, chasing leads and sifting through countless press releases in search of new stories.
Writing news for Nature offers the opportunity to have a direct line to some of the most influential people within the world of science - and in turn, we strive to make our news and features output influential in its own right.
Nils Moeller, Senior European Advertising Executive, Location: London, UK
I'm a Senior European Advertising Executive for Naturejobs, which is the career and recruitment section in the journal Nature and online.
Naturejobs not only lists scientific vacancies at all levels but also offers career advice and related editorial content.
Working for Naturejobs I liaise with a broad variety of clients, ranging from Department Heads, Directors and Senior Scientists to HR Professionals and Advertising Agencies. I also travel regularly for client meetings, exhibitions and conferences around the UK and abroad. Working for a global company is also great – I work in a team of 10 and almost everyone speaks different languages and works with different countries.
Media sales for Naturejobs is exciting because there are so many print titles and online services which lends itself for cross-platform advertising. NPG is not only a well-established publisher but also very innovative as a business which makes it rewarding to work in the advertising department. The online platform is evolving all the time enabling us to be more proactive with what we can offer advertisers.
My role is consultative and I have long established relationships with key clients like the University of Oxford. I offer creative solutions for advertisers to get the best possible response. I spend much time making calls and writing emails as well as meeting with clients and agencies and attending networking events.
Besides print and online advertising I am also involved in staging the Source Event, a large science careers conference and exhibition.
Jaishree Srinivasan, Business Development Head. Location: New Delhi, India
I manage NPG's India operations, where I am responsible for developing the business, by helping with strategies that promote publishing and sales in the region.
The most attractive aspect about my job is that it has great scope for learning varying aspects of the publishing business. Working at NPG is rewarding for people like me with a background in scientific research, as the company truly believes in its values of serving scientists through dissemination of significant scientific advances. I feel proud to be part of a truly global publishing company that is not afraid of taking risks.
My position allows me to be involved in both the financial and publishing aspects of the business. I am really excited about the imminent launch of Nature India, a science portal for the community that is in line with the cutting-edge products offered by NPG. I am confident that this will be just one of the ways in which NPG will help link the Indian science community across the globe in the future.