Great Scientists, Great Failures

Science can be brutally difficult. The daily experience of science is often failure: most experiments fail, most grants are rejected, most job candidates never get an interview. Despite this, failure is rarely discussed in public and the long stumbling chain of failures that lead to scientific findings are hidden between the lines of publications. On this channel, established scientists tell their personal stories of crashing and burning: mistakes, fiascos, and deeply humbling moments.

This project was initiated as a special 50th Anniversary Storytelling Session for the 2021 Society for Neuroscience Conference: “Oh Sh*t”: Great Scientists Tell Stories About Their Greatest Failures.