Betina Elfving: "It’d probably have been easier if my husband had an 8-16 job."

Excel and planning are the key. I'm very structured and I’ve really planned my way out of a lot - not least on the home front. Meal plans and carpooling with other parents so I only had to take the children to gymnastics once a month instead of every week. And fortunately, I don't need much sleep. I can make do with six hours or less, so once the kids were in bed at night, I knew I had a good three to four hours to work.

I put aerobics and gymnastics on hold while the kids were small. There simply weren't enough hours in the day for it all. Instead, I started running as it was a better fit with my schedule. Once the pick-up-and-drop-off era was over, I joined a gym and drove straight from work to the gym three days a week. It was wonderful to have time to do something for myself again. Now I row kayak in Vejle Fjord. I really like that.

It’d probably have been easier if my husband had an 8-16 job. I’ve been a single mum for many periods. My husband is a fighter pilot and he’s been deployed several times to Afghanistan or stationed with the air force in the US and the Netherlands. It was typical that the children would fall ill just at the moment John was getting into his aeroplane. I just had to make it all work. When my mum took early retirement, she would sometimes move in for a week if I needed to do experiments in the lab. We also employed a young girl during the peak years, and our neighbour has picked up the children from the daycare centre a few times if I've been stuck in traffic on the motorway.

It's actually a relief that the kids have grown up. I enjoy it. Now they can almost look after themselves. I'm very conscious of what we eat, which is why I cook from scratch and bake all my own bread. I clearly remember the pressure I was under years ago, when food had to be on the table by 6 pm, otherwise the rest of the evening was chaos. It's rarely my actual job that stresses.

Today, students ask how many hours they should work. I never asked my professor that question when I was a student. Times are changing. I work more than the norm, but there’s a lot of freedom in my position, which I really appreciate. It’d be a bigger problem for me and my family if I had to work every other weekend, for example.

I like being an external examiner. It's my own choice, and it has given me more than I could have imagined. I think it's fun and I gain insight into other programmes and other universities. It's good input, and it's healthy to shake things up a bit in my own education and teaching routines.

Criticise me and let me know where I need to make corrections. I don't really have anything against applying for grants from foundations, but I'm tired of calls not always being crystal clear, so we know exactly what the funders expect. And it's frustrating not to get some kind of feedback when you get a major application rejected. Make the process more transparent so we researchers can do better next time. Otherwise, it's a waste of effort for a lot of people.

The lab is my driving force. I love being in the lab. I love delving deeply into the detail and testing new methods. I'm very interested in the brain and how we can find better treatments in psychiatry - I trained as a pharmacist.

Collaboration and relationships. That's probably what’s most important. You can sit in your office all day and still meet 100 people. Hold on to that: it's rewarding. I truly believe it's about creating strong relationships and good collaborations. That’s really where the fun is!