Women in Chromatography: Redefining a Successful Career

“Success is doing work that energizes me, allows me to contribute meaningfully, create lasting impact.”

— Kinjal Bhatt, Senior Scientist, Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine

“It's more like doing like good science, doing science in my best way, with all my passion and with all my efforts.”

— Ina Varfaj, Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Perugia

Closing the discussion on a reflective note, Kinjal Bhatt and Ina Varfaj both described a definition of career success that has moved away from a fixed checklist and toward something more personal, flexible, and closely connected to purpose. Bhatt says her early idea of success was shaped by looking at people she admired and measuring herself against a version of what was possible. At that stage, achievement could feel like something visible and external: a role, a title, a publication, or a milestone someone else might recognize. Over time, however, she has landed on a definition centred on work that energises her, allows her to contribute meaningfully, and creates lasting impact. That impact, for her, also includes helping build opportunities for others to grow, particularly by opening doors, sharing knowledge, and making scientific spaces feel more possible for the people coming next. Bhatt is also deliberate about not being apologetic about ambition, which she notes can carry a different connotation when it comes from a woman. Rather than presenting success as something already solved, she describes it as an evolving idea, one that changes as priorities, confidence, and responsibilities change. Varfaj traces a similar arc. Earlier in her career, success was easier to define through tangible markers such as publications, promotions, conference talks, and evidence of progress. Now, while those achievements still matter, she also gives space to balance between her private and professional life, and to the satisfaction of doing good science with passion, care, and effort. Success in science is not only about outcomes, but also about the way the work is done and the kind of life it supports. Both close by connecting the lesson back to the discipline itself: science teaches you to expect setbacks, test assumptions, and change your approach when something is not working. For Bhatt and Varfaj, that lesson applies as much to careers and lives as it does to a method on the bench.

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