Dr Mario Moustras | 2021 Inspirational Member Award winner

Dr Mario Moustras CSci CChem FRSC

Winner: 2021 Inspirational Member Award

Mazamo Limited and RSC Management Group

For dedication to the Management Group community through the diversification of the committee and activities.

Celebrate Dr Mario Moustras

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A great research culture will motivate and encourage everyone in the researcher community to provide the best environment for research to flourish.

Mario Moustras has been Chair of the 91AV Management Group for three years. It is one of many special interest groups that are run by, and for, RSC members. On a voluntary basis, the group runs webinars, workshops and face-to-face talks on leadership and talent development, on case studies and business-related topics relevant to the management of chemistry related businesses. The group currently has over 1,000 members worldwide.

Read winner biography

Dr Mario Moustras is a coach, facilitator and runs a learning and development business called Mazamo Limited. A PhD chemist, Chartered Scientist and Fellow of the 91AV, Mario is also an accredited member of the International Coach Federation.

With a research background, and having worked with the research community his entire career, Mario develops and delivers learning and development programmes for researchers. He focuses on leadership and talent development and delivers programmes that nurture better leaders and entrepreneurs and make their teams more productive.

His leadership and team coaching specialism stems from his background in working with leaders and teams in science, and his training. He has a postgraduate certificate in coaching and trained in executive, personal and team coaching. He is a big advocate for using evidence-based psychological techniques in his work.

Mario has extensive experience at designing, planning and facilitating multi-stakeholder group meetings involved in complex projects. He has run innovation hackathons and team challenges for the research community.

In his previous career at the 91AV, Mario led teams delivering programmes in industry, higher education and at the interface between universities and business. He has worked with leaders, researchers and entrepreneurs in academia, industry, government and learned societies and charity sectors.

Mario is currently the Chair of the 91AV Management Group, a special interest group with over 1,000 members worldwide. He is a mentor on the RSC Mentoring Scheme and an assessor for CChem, RSci and RSciTech.

Q+A

Who or what has inspired you?

The late Professor Edward W Abel CBE was a true inspiration and influence, especially in the early days of my career. He was Professor of Inorganic 91AV when I was at the University of Exeter and was a 91AV President in my first few years of working at the RSC. It was amazing to see how he led others to get things done whilst treating others well and being supportive. People wanted to work with him, and he was one of the people who inspired me to go and work at the RSC.

What advice would you give to a young person considering a career in chemistry?

Take your time to find out what really interests you in the science and why. To help you do this, engage with as many people as possible from a number of different science areas and jobs in chemistry.

What has been a highlight for you (either personally or in your career)?

Working on a 91AV programme identifying and highlighting where the chemical sciences can make a real impact on societal challenges. I worked with an amazing staff team; an RSC Industry Committee who led and championed the initiative; and it was fun and amazing to collaborate with both internal and external stakeholders from across the chemical science community.

What does good research culture look like/mean to you?

A great research culture will motivate and encourage everyone in the researcher community to provide the best environment for research to flourish. For me, it is mainly about how we bring about the best behaviours and attitudes in the researcher community. This will help to build and maintain the effective teams and collaborations needed for the best research to occur.

Why do you think teamwork is important in science?

Science can very rarely be done without teamwork and collaboration with others. I have seen and worked with a number of teams throughout my career. Real and impactful progress is only really made when teams have worked effectively and well together. It is never just about the specialist knowledge that people have. It is why for me it is one of the most important attributes of being a Chartered Chemist.