Interview with Dr. Francesca Miozzi

Q: What is your research focus?

A. I do high pressure and high temperature, mineralogy andpetrology. So essentially I study how materials interact with each other in terms of chemistry and how the properties of the materials change when they are subject to conditions that would be the same as they are inside planets, not in the surface, but in the deep interior of planets.

Q: What sparkled your journey into this field?

A. My journey into experiments started during my master’s studies. I was offered an internship in an experimental petrology lab and really liked it. After finishing my studies, I found a PhD position doing experiments applied also to exoplanets - planets outside our solar system. I thought it sounded interesting and that it involved learning a new experimental technique. I applied, got the position, and that is how I started doing anvil cell experiments and working on planets outside the solar system.

Q: What really got you interested in the very 1st place in the broadfield of geoscience?

A. I think it was volcanoes that first got me interested in geoscience. In high school, I had a science professor who had a PhD in natural sciences. I was following a science-heavy curriculum, and when we started studying geology, she was able to explain how things worked in a way that really resonated with me. She also organized trips to see volcanoes and those trips gave me a clear vision of what volcanoes are and how they work. That is what first sparked my interest and hooked me on geology.

Q: What's the most awe-inspiring moment in research that you've had and that really inspired you?

A.For me personally, one important moment was seeing my first paper accepted. It was a very nice feeling. But more broadly, what I find awe-inspiring is the principle of science itself: people studying the mechanisms of how planets work. I find it fascinating that even after many years of research on Earth, there are still open questions. That is the beauty of science. There is always space to improve how we study things, to improve our techniques, and to improve our models. With that progress, we can start answering more complex questions, and there is always room for people to keep doing science.

Q: Is there something you wish more people understood about your field?

A. I am always fascinated by how easily people disregard Earth. Everything we have here, including life, is based on processes that happened on this planet. It is a mix of biology, physics, and geology. The fact that we can breathe, live, and have water is a product of Earth’s history. When you think about all the possible outcomes for planets, within the solar system and beyond, Earth is extraordinary. We have water, life, and a planet shaped by long histories of geological and biological evolution.

Volcanoes, for example, are fascinating. They show that deep beneath the surface, there are huge volumes of molten magma moving through the Earth. Mountains are also not “just” mountains, they are the result of processes that involved enormous amounts of rock moving, colliding, and changing over millions of years.

I wish there was more awareness of how amazing Earth is, because maybe then people would also be kinder to it.

Q: What do you think are the ingredients for success in research?

A.For me, the main ingredient is liking what you do and finding good mentors. Research can be the best job, we always have new problems to think about, and it is often very exciting, but it also a hard job. It is often self-driven, uncertain, and not permanent until much later than many other careers. So you need curiosity, passion, and a willingness to keep going. If you really care about the science you are doing and are in a supportive environment, it becomes easier to put in the effort and go the extra mile when needed. I also think a decent amount of stubbornness helps. Things often do not work in science, and you have to be willing to stay with the problem, understand why it is not working, and find a way to make it work.

Q: Do you have any advice that you would give to younger scientists in the field or people starting out in the field that you think might help them eventually reach these levels of success?

A.I don’t think there is only one path to success. There are always multiple ways to reach the same outcome, whether that means becoming a professor, a researcher, or working in another scientific role. Some people may advise you to keep doing what you already know, so you can keep producing papers. Others may advise you to learn something completely new, especially when moving from a PhD to a postdoc. Both paths can work.

Ultimately, however, it depends on what excites you. Don’t be afraid to explore different fields, and don’t be afraid to question whether the path you are on is the right one. Sometimes there may be other areas of science, or other questions, that you had not considered before and now interest you more.

Q: Do you have any advice with female scientists that are in your field and in the STEM field in general?

A. One of the first things I would say is: don’t be afraid to speak up. Not only about injustice, but in general - in meetings, group discussions, and scientific conversations. There were many times when I was the only woman in the room, including during my PhD, and that can be intimidating. But I always tried to ask questions and express my opinion, even when I thought differently from others.

If you are a PhD student, you were chosen for that position. If you are a postdoc, you were hired because of the contribution you can bring. Women are often still a minority in the room, but that should not make us feel like we do not belong. There were women before us who paved the way in much more difficult times, and we also have a responsibility to keep improving the conditions for those who come after us.

Q: Is this something that you also experienced? And if so, how did you overcome this?

A. I think impostor syndrome is not limited to one gender. Many people experience it, and I think it can be more common when you come from a background where academia feels far away.

I am not a first-generation university student, but I am a first-generation PhD student. When I started university, I did not even know what a PhD was, let alone imagine a career in academia. It felt very distant and almost unattainable. I still experience imposter syndrome sometimes. But I try to remind myself that if I made it this far and people like working with me is because I bring something to the table.

Mentors who encourage you, push you to speak up, and create space for these conversations can make a difference. Being able to talk about it openly also helps, because many people around you are probably dealing with similar feelings. I also think support from friends and colleagues matters a lot. We encourage each other, and that creates a group dynamic that is uplifting for everyone.

Q: What’s your perspective on the field of geoastronomy? And what do you think is its significance for current research ?

A. I think geoastronomy is great. I would not say it is the first attempt to bring Earth science into the study of planets outside the solar system, people have been working on this since some time now. What is exciting about this effort is that it brings people from both sides together under the same project— the Earth science community and the astronomy community. In exoplanet research, one of the main challenges is finding a common language between these fields and finding people who are willing to interact across them. The fact that this kind of work has been proposed and was funded under the synergy scheme, shows that thecommunity recognizes something important: without knowledge of how planets work, especially their interiors, we can only go so far in understanding exoplanets.

Exoplanets are more challenging to study compared to Earth, where we have direct samples and we are literally sitting on the planet. But they are still planets, and even with limited information, we are learning fascinating things about how planets work. We are also seeing that the planets in our solar system may not represent the full range of planets that exist beyond it.

What I find interesting about the geoastronomy project is that it creates a framework for direct collaboration. It gives geologists and astronomers more opportunities to speak with each other, build common projects, and work across fields in a more structured way

I think broader knowledge cannot hurt. It gives you the mental flexibility to think about problems in an outside-the-box way. Sometimes you use techniques from one field that can be applied to another field, or you develop enough flexibility to approach different problems. I think it is always nice to learn new things. We are in science because we like learning, and that applies at every stage of a career. You just have to be open and see where things take you. Sometimes everything turns out to be connected to your first field, or you find a strange connection that you did not expect. In my own work, I found a connection between what I studied during my master’s and what I am working on now. I am using knowledge I developed during my master’s to understand my current experiments, even though they seem completely unrelated..