Jim Smith is Director of Science at the Wellcome Trust and a group leader at the Francis Crick Institute, where he was formerly Director of Research. A Fellow of both the Royal Society and the Academy of Medical Sciences, he was knighted for his services to medical research and science education in 2016. His lab works on mesoderm induction in the early vertebrate embryo. We met Jim in the Crick to hear about his life in science, his visions for the Crick and the Wellcome Trust, and his advice for early career scientists.