And then I start running, like the hamster on the wheel”—2023 AAA Winner Yessica Delvyna Salim

It would be remiss to describe Yessica Delvyna Salim without mentioning the air of efficiency and good-natured spirit that punctuates each word she says. When she joined Duke-NUS in 2019, Yessica first came on-board the Programme of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disorders (CVMD) to help with all and sundry secretary work, such as assisting principal investigators (PIs) of different research projects with their claims and calendars.

After just a year, however, her business manager spotted her potential for managing a bigger and more complex portfolio, and so proposed that Yessica take on the exciting world of grant management. At present, Yessica, who now is a Senior Executive, assists all of the CVMD PIs with six to seven grants each, meaning she keeps track of more than a hundred grants at any one point in time.

A reflective Yessica muses, “If I could go back in the past, I would do the grant management stuff immediately—why waste time, right? But this is also the journey. However, if you ask what I would have done, I would have progressed my career from there.” Never having expected to end up working in biomedical research, Yessica, who is 33, moved here from Indonesia in 2009 to pursue a diploma in advanced hospitality management, followed by a bachelor’s degree in business management, before embarking on a career proper.

However, she soon realised that the hospitality industry was not for her, and neither was administrative work for a small-to-medium construction firm. While looking for a more specialised portfolio and career progression, she chanced upon the opening with the CVMD Programme. Comparing her current position to her previous roles, Yessica says that though the work is demanding, there is more opportunity to feel she is helping others—between assisting the PIs with their budget utilisation, annual and financial reports, and liaising with different parties across institutions, her hands are full, but in the most satisfied manner.

“I feel most happy when the project is ending and the grant utilisation rate is 97 to 98 per cent. It’s quite rewarding, because I’m proud that I can assist the PI in achieving those numbers—especially because it’s not easy for PIs to get grants in the first place.”

It’s evident that Yessica prides herself on her resourcefulness and ability to run a tight ship, particularly because she often has to prod her PIs to utilise grants in time, something well-nigh impossible to rush at the last-minute.

Yessica with friends at one of the cafes they love to frequently.

Yessica lets off some steam
on her day off at a cosy bar.

Yessica jovial personality lights up with friends at Jewel.

Of course, her job, like all of our roles, comes with its own challenges. Most of Yessica’s work life is spent keeping ahead of a timeline. “Sometimes the PIs find industry grants, and they come to me to let me know, and then I’ll inform the Sponsored Research Department, check what we need to clear, get the endorsements… Once they inform me, then I start running. Like, you know, the... (Yessica does a little jogging motion with her hands) the hamster on the wheel. They start to inform me, and I say, okay, I’m going in, I’m running already.”

Running up against hurdles in the course of her work, such as the abrupt and unplanned departure of her previous BM, followed by a six- to seven month-long gap before her successor’s arrival, demanded the full use of Yessica’s ingenuity and problem-solving skills. She made the most of it, however, seeing that her circumstances required that she build rapport with the PIs herself, and establishing her people skills along the way. Gradually, she learnt to catch PIs on a good day—and how to phrase communication such that she could get what she needed to do her work.

Yessica describes a core work ethic of hers with an analogy: “When you come to a PI with a problem, you should also have a proposed solution. When I meet them, I cannot bring a gun, but there is no bullet. I need to put some bullets in, right? I need to bring a solution along with the problem.”

Her manager, Ms Tao Yuxuan, wholly echoes this sentiment: “Working with Yessica is both inspiring and motivating. Her quick learning and fast-working nature make her an invaluable asset. She is a person who combines efficiency with a deep sense of empathy, making her not only a highly competent colleague but also a joy to work with. Her adaptability and dedication, especially in managing complex grant-related tasks, highlight her commitment and resilience.”

Little wonder, then, that Yuxuan has big dreams for Yessica, hoping that she will in the near future lead the grant management team in CVMD. In line with her view of Yessica as an excellent leader and mentor, as well as someone with fine strategic thinking, Yuxuan nominated Yessica for the 2023 Administrative Achievement Award (AAA), of which Yessica was the proud winner.

Introduced in 2018, the Awards recognise full-time staff who have made significant contributions in their administrative responsibilities with the outstanding merit of their service. Yessica says she is very grateful to receive the award—especially as she was aware that the 2023 pool of nominees was larger than in recent years 2021 and 2022.

Interestingly, even though being able to assist people with their goals is a key motivating factor behind her work, Yessica doesn’t like asking for help herself. “I am quite independent. If people help me, I also feel awkward; for example, when I’m doing the tracking, if someone else does my tracking, I will feel uncomfortable—I am more a do-it-myself kind of person.” Her independence serves her well, but that’s not to say that the self-professed introvert eschews all socialising.

Says Yessica on the most memorable place in Duke-NUS, “I don’t know why, but it’s happening all in the pantry. Where else are you going to meet people from other departments that you wouldn’t come across otherwise? …I think most of my socialisation is stuck in the pantry.” Aside from serendipitous encounters in the pantry, Yessica also café-hops in her free time and enjoys checking out Singapore’s bustling nightlife and entertainment scene—when she’s not home catching up on the latest Netflix series, of course.

For someone as driven as Yessica, she’s always looking to better herself. Her next steps will be to complete her Master’s and show some of the newcomers the complexities of grant management, passing on the skills she’s acquired through trial-and-error, or plain trial-by-fire. We can’t wait to see what Yessica has in store for CVMD, and Duke-NUS, next.