We were lucky to catch up with Nejra Hojic recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Nejra, thanks for joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?
Being fascinated by the brain, I did everything I could to quench my curiosity. As I discovered the wondrous world of PubMed, MIT OCW, and Coursera, my understanding and love for the field only deepened. However, I also realized there was a clear lack of research published by people my age. There was also a lack of neuroscience research conducted internationally. I knew that I could do something to shorten the gap of inaccessibly, ever so slightly. So in 2023, I started Neuro Notebook.
My goal was clear: I wanted a low-pressure space, where students could publish studies on topics that excited them. They’d also be able to learn about other topics through reading other papers on the website. And the best part was, anyone from around the world could engage, no extensive lab required.
What began as a small blog under the free domain of neuronotebook.blogspot.com has grown to over 40 publications, and has had numerous website changes since. As our social media presence grew, so did our team.
We have been lucky to have interviews with incredible PhDs, physicians and scientists. However, after all the partnerships, school chapters and the never ending meetings, Neuro Notebook still remains what it always was and what it was intended to be: a preservation of the young scientist’s mind.
Nejra, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
My love of neuroscience has always existed to some degree or another. However, I started engaging with research around the age of 14, when I realized that many of the questions I was asking had papers answering them.
I am very proud of Neuro Notebook’s community. Although our editors are rigorous in reviewing papers, they are also extremely helpful and willing to reach out to authors and help directly if necessary. Although many students who engage with us do not publish, they still read the papers on our website and engage with them. Our community extends into virtually every corner of the world, and we have published work authored by students in India, Greece, Brazil, and more. This diversity in thought makes Neuro Notebook truly incredible.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
This is a question we get asked a ton. Due to our main audience consisting of students, social media is the perfect way to attract their attention. However, if I am being 100% honest, I really do not know how we gained so much traction. After posting consistently for a few months, our content started blowing up. The thing I found interesting though, was that many of our followers and commenters were from abroad.
Any advice for managing a team?
With 80+ team members across 4 departments, managing can be hard and it’s something I am still figuring out. However, understanding the people you are working with is immensely helpful. Who is good at what? And who might need reminders 2-3 days before a deadline? Knowing who you are working with, and how to manage them is important for being able to allocate tasks effectively.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://neuronotebook.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/neuro.notebook/