Curiosity, creativity and a drive to understand how the brain learns have shaped Dr Rachel Swanson’s path through art, biology and neuroscience. Now working at the Sainsbury Wellcome Centre as a Senior Research Fellow, she combines experimental and computational approaches to explore how we learn and how sleep reshapes knowledge. In this article, Rachel reflects on the challenges and rewards of life in science.

Dr Volkan Uzungil investigates one of the brain’s greatest mysteries: sleep. Everyone needs sleep, but most of what happens in the brain during slumber remains unknown. How do our dreams shape our memories? Why do we sometimes wake with sudden clarity? In this interview, Volkan reflects on his journey into science, the challenges of research, and where the next discoveries in neuroscience might come from.