Work Experience with Caroline Chapain, research fellow, Curs

Kate Allen, Regeneration & Renewal, 3 October 2008

What has been your most beneficial career experience to date? Working for the Montreal Metropolitan Planning Organisation in Canada while finishing my PhD. Coming from an academic background, this experience helped me to understand the political dynamics that such an organisation needs to accommodate, as well as the huge gap that exists between academia and practice. I realised that I was more of an academic, but it also taught me to be more flexible and patient when working with policy-makers.

What's the best advice you've ever been given? One of my colleagues, who was like a mentor to me, advised me not to try to achieve perfection with every piece of work I do, but to gauge more reasonably what is a good research output.

What's the best training you've had? I have learned most from working in a team with colleagues. You understand the importance of focusing on other people's strengths as well as your own. It is difficult for someone to have all the skills and competences needed for a project. But by using a team of people, you usually end up with much better research.

What book would you recommend? The City Reader by Richard Le Gates and Frederic Stout. This book summarises all the key texts published on the understanding of cities over the years. It's really fantastic to see how our understanding has evolved.

What do you wish you'd known when you started out? How to recognise potential conflicts with colleagues and not to let them escalate. In those situations, it is important to recognise that something is not working, to focus on the job at hand and to involve another person to keep things neutral if necessary.

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

1994: Leaves France to study for a BSc and then an MSc in economics in Montreal, Canada.

2001: Works as a research adviser at the Montreal Metropolitan Planning Organisation.

2005: Obtains a PhD in urban and regional studies at the University of Quebec, Montreal, and leaves Canada to join Curs as a research fellow.