From oxidative phosphorylation to transcription--a postdoctoral adventure

The period as a postdoctoral fellow is crucial for the establishment of one's scientific research career. I illustrate here its importance based on my own experience. Although luck played a part, moving to the right place at the right time and having generous leaders who allowed me freedom to express unconventional views were most valuable in my venture into two scientific territories that were previously unfamiliar to me. My first encounter with an unknown field led to me challenging the well-established dogma of uncoupling of oxidative phosphorylation as the explanation for hormone action; the second, led to the demonstration of the multiplicity of eukaryotic RNA polymerase. I hope that the events described here will provide some encouragement to young scientists embarking on a research career and also be of interest to others.