[5][1] Upon hearing of the growing work being done by William Bateson on genetics at the John Innes Horticultural Institute (now the John Innes Centre) in the UK, Sømme wrote to Bateson requesting to join him working on Primula sinensis, crossing the North Sea in 1921, initially as a volunteer.
During her time working in the 'Ladies Lab' with other female geneticists including Caroline Pellew and Dorothea De Winton, Sømme studied Primula sinensis genetics and cytology.
[6][7] Sømme remained in England until 1926, at which point she returned to Norway to take up the position of lecturer in genetics at the University of Oslo.
[2] The research she conducted at the John Innes Horticultural Institute formed part of her doctoral dissertation, which was finished in 1931.
In 1942, Iacob Dybwad Sømme was arrested for his participation in the Norwegian resistance movement to the Nazi occupiers.