Writing about my job: research manager at the China Vegan Society

I've always seen myself pursuing a career in academia.

Throughout my bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees, I have not ruled out academic life.

But at the end of the day, when I would ask my husband how his day was and he would tell me that he had advised three entrepreneurs, and I would share that I had added three citations of academic papers to the introduction of my PhD thesis, I somehow felt that academia was not enough, not what I was meant to do.

Since then, my life has undergone a complete transformation. While I dreamed of a postdoctoral position that would focus on promoting plant-based nutrition in the United States, he aspired to a career in promoting plant-based nutrition in China.

Since the United States is saturated and the promotion of the field in Asia aligns with the values of both of us, we moved to China.

My lecture was accepted to present a keynote speech for the China Vegan Society, and my husband was accepted to host a panel of experts. Following this, and after a survey of both of us at the conference, where we shared the results with the China Vegan Society, I was given the role of research manager there.

What are the lessons?

• "Five-Year Plans are Inviting the Universe to Drop a Piano on You" - a beautiful piano, I might add. Plan ahead, but leave room for spontaneous changes. Flexibility and the ability to improvise can be just as important in a career as the ability to plan for the long term. I have already heard the recommendation to plan your schedule to the level of 5 minutes. I think that, apart from a few people, there is no person whose calendar is so predictable. In the age of AI, this is going to be even more true – the most important ability may be being able to reinvent yourself every time AI conquers a different area of your work.
• Invest in gaining experience and skilled volunteering instead of improving your self-presentation – this aligns with my recent thoughts, in light of the success of various AI tools: despite what I've learned, social psychology and marketing aren't everything. It is important to invest in the product. To make this point, think about how bad the name ChatGPT is and the method of naming the different versions of it. It didn't stop them from changing the world. It's not the packaging, it's the product. This also applies to resumes.
• Is the cause worth moving to another country for? It sure is. If this is not a reason to move a country for, what is? I have reason to believe that Asia is one of the places with the most potential to make a difference, and I'd love to expand on that now:

The readers of this forum are likely familiar with these infographics, but I would like to put them into context. Saying that focusing on Asia is addressing a large-scale need with room for funding is an understatement.

However, I would like to make another statement, about openness to alternative proteins:

The Good Food Institute Asia Pacific (GFI APAC) identified in February 2025 the Beijing launch of China’s first alternative-protein innovation facility as one of five reasons to be hopeful about Asia Pacific's future-foods sector this year (and I'm sure they will share more details in the future).

According to GFI APAC, China established protein diversification as one of the cornerstones of its national food strategy earlier this year, delivering policy announcements and direct calls from the National People's Congress (NPC) Deputy Wei Chen, who serves as president of Jiangnan University - recognized among the world's leading food science and technology programs. In his comprehensive address, Mr. Chen firmly advocated for China to “expand the boundaries of food resources,” including “in-depth exploration, nutritional evaluation, and industrial production of alternative proteins.”

China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA) issued a new statement outlining its intent to thoroughly implement its calls to action.

Among MARA’s goals is: to “develop new food resources such as plant-based meat.”

Therefore, it is not surprising that, in line with China's domestic priorities, among the top 20 cultivated meat patent applicants worldwide, 8 are based in China, while only 3 are from the United States.

China's applicants strategically include numerous universities, demonstrating unwavering government commitment and a deliberately collaborative framework built to establish a comprehensive national ecosystem. China's universities and public institutions have outpaced their US and European counterparts combined in cultivated meat patent filings.

Ending on a personal note again, the cost of living here is basically nothing, so even our living standards haven't been compromised, you can hire multiple workers who are happy with their salary here rather than one in the West, and Chinese is a language you must know anyway if you're going to live in our world.

Inspiration is a big word, so I can only hope my journey will validate pre-existing desires of some of you to do the same, and make you feel like you are not the only one willing to make such a change, and who knows, maybe in the future we will have a sub-niche of EA members who would literally go the distance.

So, yes, given everything I know right now, I would do all of it - moving to a new country for a cause I believe in, learning a new language, and experiencing a new culture again!