Week in review: 24th to 30th Aug

This turned into a 7-day week because I didn't get samples for IHC till Friday and they took three days to run, but I'm hoping to take a couple of shorter days during the coming week to make up for it! 

I achieved two of my aims from last week (the late start on Friday was justified by coming in both days this weekend!) I presented my IHC images and had a useful discussion about my experiments in the lab meeting on Thursday, which gave me more to concentrate on the past few days, but I managed it!

Organising my notes hasn't gone so smoothly, but I'm hoping to take a new approach inspired by a highly-relevant review article, which listed key findings in a table alongside specific references. This should help to build my awareness of which findings are consistently repeated, but I also need to be clearer about what my focus is: for example, I reviewed key findings in prion disease models last year, but do I want to keep that as a standalone or integrate it with findings from other models of neurodegenerative disease, and even the human condition? Also, the main technique in my PhD is electrophysiology, but I need to keep some focus on complementary techniques such as MRI, PET and calcium imaging.

As the new academic year is rapidly approaching, I'll also spend time this coming week working on my poster and turbo talk for the 2^nd year poster event at the end of September, as well as dedicating a couple of hours to finally finish part 6 of the SysMIC course, which I've been struggling with for most of this month! Till next time!

Week in review: 17th to 21st Aug

 As I continue doing my PhD in a "blended working" mode, I thought it might be useful to write (weekly?) blog posts to keep on top of what I've accomplished and define my main goals for the next week.

I haven't felt very productive this week despite going into the lab each day to run two antibody optimisation immunohistochemistry (IHC) experiments. My main struggle with the blended working model is that travelling to and from the lab now takes time out of the working day; even if I get in before 9am like in pre-pandemic times, most days I only have a couple of hours of work to do, so my walk home feels like dead time. I've been working later to make these 20-odd minutes up, a strategy my partner questioned when we video chatted this week, as arbitrarily working for a bit longer won't necessarily improve my productivity, especially if I'm wishing the time away so that I can get dinner or watch TV. I think instead I'll keep going if I'm really engaged in something, or take an hour or so after dinner one night to catch up.

I've also felt bad about taking time out to make more elaborate lunches, but I remind myself that I'm entitled to a lunch break, and eating a homemade soup or salad spurs me on for the rest of the day. Moreover, there was always "dead time" during my day, I just didn't see it as such when I was buying coffee or waiting outside my supervisor's office! Today I made a tasty spicy carrot soup before returning to the lab to image my IHC slides.

In terms of what I've actually accomplished this week, it's been mostly a deep dive into A-level mathematics which, as earlier blog posts show, I did not study. In April, I started a distance learning course called SysMIC, which provides mathematics and computing training to bioscientists. My experience with MATLAB software helped me through the first few topics, but the second session of Calculus has been a struggle, with the explanations of differentiation going way over my head. I ended up on Khan Academy, where video demonstrations and proofs have made it start to make sense. I worked through the course while my slides were washing, thankful that (mostly) good weather meant I could study outside and not occupy precious office space. 

Goals for next week: 

• Consistently get up at the time my alarm goes off!
• Organise notes on papers I've read recently
• Clarify experimental design for future IHC experiments

'Till next time!

A-level playing field?

Today, six years on from the day I received my A-level results, another cohort was just awarded their grades. Unlike those of us who came before, this year's crop weren't able to sit exams to earn the results, but have to settle for widely-criticised moderated grades, which were lower than teachers' estimates in almost 40% of cases. I can't help wondering what might've happened to myself and other high achievers at my school had the distribution of our grades depended on the school's past performance and largely ignored our own individual trajectories to GCSE and AS. 

I also wonder whether the bitter disappointment felt by so many this year would have been lessened if AS exams still counted towards the final A-level grade, because that would've allowed other forms of mitigation, such as students not dropping more than one or two grades below their AS result. I appreciate that there was not time to administer a replacement formal measure of progress over the 18 months of A-level education completed before schools closed, and not everybody would have achieved as highly as predicted, but surely there could have been a mechanism to submit work that the centre-assessed grades were based on for moderation instead?

Shifting the entire group based on performance of previous cohorts does not seem fair, particularly when many university places won't be held in time for appeals based on meaningful individual factors, such as mock grades. These results influence the course of lives, so it is unfathomable to me that pupils were marked down simply because a lower proportion of previous years' students achieved high grades.

My path to the PhD project I wanted

My search for a PhD place was rather more organised than my, admittedly flukey, admission onto my undergraduate placement (documented here). Spending my placement year surrounded by people who had either completed or were in the midst of a PhD themselves somehow didn't put me off the idea, so in September 2017, I started my search for the perfect PhD opportunity. I wanted to find a project which utilised electrophysiology, a technique I got a taste for during my placement, to measure brain cell activity, and in particular to investigate what goes wrong in neurodegenerative diseases.

My search began on findaphd.com, where I regularly used the search feature to find new adverts for PhDs involving electrophysiology. I also set up email alerts for new PhD opportunities in Biological & Medical Sciences, so that I wouldn't miss any opportunities of interest that didn't explicitly mention electrophysiology.

Through these email alerts, I found a project investigating the role of an ion channel in Alzheimer's disease. I used the contact form on findaphd.com to message the supervisor, and we arranged to speak more about the project over the phone. This ended up being a mini-interview, in which I summarised my research experience and its relevance to the project, and was then able to ask my own questions. I discovered that there would be no electrophysiology in the project itself, which was disappointing, but at least it meant I hadn't wasted time applying for a project which wasn't right for me.

Several of my former labmates' PhDs were part of a Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) with three other universities, which was funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC). This structure enabled the students to be part of collaborative research between two or more institutions, and have access to a broad range of specialist equipment, not to mention funding for additional training opportunities, which could involve going abroad! I found several interesting projects on this scheme being advertised for my year, and used findaphd.com to contact a potential supervisor, who was impressed with my qualifications and experience to date. When it came to the application, I added second and third choices in the hope of maximising my chances of success, but I eventually found out that I hadn't been shortlisted for an interview (on my birthday, of all days!).

Undeterred, I put in another couple of applications over the Christmas holidays, this time for projects funded internally within the respective universities,  rather than by an external Research Council. The first project (Project #1) proposed to investigate a neurodevelopmental disorder using in vivo electrophysiology, and I was delighted to be chosen by the project supervisor as the preferred candidate! The second project (Project #2) also used in vivo electrophysiology, but this time to investigate the effects of a drug which was found to slow down neurodegeneration in a mouse model. Project #2 was also an industrial collaboration, which would provide an opportunity to work at a pharmaceutical company for a year. Five days after submitting my application for Project #2, I was invited for a Skype interview with the three project supervisors, with just 19 hours' notice! I was uncharacteristically calm the night before, then despite the interview starting half an hour late, I managed to stay calm and give well-thought-out responses, which led to me being selected as the candidate!

However, being selected by the supervisors was only half the story. For Project #1, I had to have a face-to-face panel interview in early February alongside five other candidates for different projects, and only the top candidate would receive the scholarship. The process for Project #2 was very different; once I'd been selected as the candidate, the lead supervisor and I modified my original application, and the new version was one of 24 applications from across the university sent to the Selection Committee, of which only 10 received funding. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to secure the funding for either of these opportunities, but the experiences did prove useful.

There was no time to be sad, however, as I had another interview the following week! Project #3 was similar to Project #2, but used in vitro electrophysiology rather than in vivo. The project was within an MRC DTP similar to the one I applied for originally, but this time I chose to apply only for one project. I left the interview thinking I could've done more, but I had actually done well enough to get on the DTP – the problem was, another student higher up the rankings had already accepted the project I wanted. I visited another lab offering a project loosely related to my interests, but while the lab members were very welcoming, I ultimately chose to continue searching for an opportunity better aligned with my interests.

In the time between my interview for Project #3 and my decision not to take the alternative project, two more projects had taken my interest. Project #4 proposed to use in vitro electrophysiology to investigate a gene which is a risk factor for Alzheimer's Disease, while Project #5 wasn't related to neurodegenerative diseases, but would still provide training in electrophysiology, as well as behavioural experiments. Both projects had funding secured, so the only hurdle was to be chosen by the supervisors. I was shortlisted for both projects and got on well at the interviews, but in mid-March I had an unexpected phone call from the lead  supervisor of Project #2, notifying me of a new funding opportunity which had arisen for the same project.

The new funding for Project #2 was also part of an MRC DTP, but the selection process was more similar to the arrangement for Project #1, in that one candidate for each of the six projects would be interviewed, but this time the top two students received funding. Later in March I arranged to meet the lab members, and I was thoroughly impressed with their enthusiasm about their research and the contribution of Project #2 to their overall research aims. I was also fortunate to meet a senior researcher/manager from the industrial collaborator and find out how she progressed to that stage. By the end of the day, I was completely sold on the idea of joining their lab, and in the following weeks I did my best to prepare for the interview. Seven weeks later, I was back in the lab for a practice interview, and the following day I was the top-performing student in the panel interview, therefore I had finally secured a project I really wanted!

Now, 7 months after I was initially denied funding for it, I'm preparing to starting my ideal PhD! I'm so thankful that my supervisors kept me in mind and persevered to find another funding source, and I hope to keep you updated during my PhD journey.

All four done!

The last two years have been by far the most busy of my life so far, so you can forgive me for neglecting to post here during the third and final years of my degree course, right?

In September it will be two years since I moved to Exeter to complete an Alzheimer's Research UK funded research placement, measuring the effects on the brain of drugs which affect epigenetics using a technique called electrophysiology. My placement year was more useful than I ever could have imagined, and really did affirm that I want to continue in biomedical research, specifically using electrophysiology to further our understanding of brain function and how communication between brain cells is altered in disease. In January 2017 I achieved a solid 72% for my literature review and project plan, and after that I really threw myself in to both lab and student life; on some occasions I would work until 9pm and then meet up with friends and stay out until the early hours!

My project was originally due to finish at the end of July, but I was a bit slow getting started on the non-electrophysiology aspect, which consisted of running samples on gels to determine whether the drugs affected the epigenetics (unfortunately, we didn't show that they did). I finally left in September, which meant the writing of my report coincided with the beginning of final year. After returning to Exeter to give some presentations and producing a poster on my project, I achieved 73% for the unit, my first at Master's level.

The final year of the course was very well planned and consisted of five units, with the first four delivered primarily via lectures from September to February, and the fifth comprising the MSci project, poster presentation, and an extra exam in May on top of those for Units 2 to 4. Unit 1 teaching built on the statistics lectures from second year, which was easier for me thanks to performing several one-way and two-way ANOVAs during my project. We were also introduced to whole-animal experimental design, which was wonderfully complemented by an optional in vivo skills course I undertook just before Christmas. After receiving results of the January statistics exam and the February figure interpretation exam, I calculated that I had achieved 84% in Unit 1, the best start I could've hoped for!

The Unit 2, 3 and 4 lectures were delivered sequentially from mid-October onwards, and each unit included a piece of coursework (essay or data interpretation) accounting for 10% of the marks as well as a 3-hour exam in May. I was pleased to achieve 78 in the Unit 2 and Unit 3 essays, and 85 in the Unit 4 data interpretation, but the fact that 90% of each unit would be decided in the exam hall was rather daunting. I then had my Unit 5 coursework to contend with, which involved writing a grant proposal with little guidance, but I powered through and just like in third year received 72, plus 83 for my grant proposal defence.

Irritatingly, our exam timetable for May was published a week late (plus the timings of my exams prevented me from going to the French Open), but the schedule was helpful as it gave us an extra week of revision time before exams began. Unit 3 was first up, which I found quite tricky, in particular the section 1 experimental design question. Two days later it was Unit 4 time, and annoyingly I remembered a crucial piece of information for one of the essays just after the exam. I then had five days of focused revision for the Unit 2 exam, and I was relieved to find essay questions based on both of my favourite topics. The following afternoon was the MSci exam, for which we had to answer one of four questions covering broad themes across the other units. I was delighted that a question on allosteric modulators came up, as I had researched them extensively for a PhD opportunity I was interested in.

Other than Unit 1 and the Unit 5 project, we had to wait until 28 June to find out our final year grades and the degree classification we would be graduating with. On that day I was travelling in Macedonia, so I had to get through a three-and-a-half hour train ride plus a taxi ride to our hotel in Skopje before I could find out. My final results were:

Unit 1: 84
Unit 2: 78
Unit 3: 67
Unit 4: 69
Unit 5: 75

… which means I got a First! And, I discovered at Graduation on Monday, achieved the highest mark on the MSci Pharmacology course, although we all got Firsts!

So this is where I am now, graduated and looking forward to the next chapter, which will hopefully be confirmed soon!

Year 2 of 4

It's been three months since my summer exams got underway, and it's weird to think that back then I had no idea I'd succeed in finding a placement! This year I studied six 20 credit point units: Neuropharmacology and Neurophysiology for the first half of the year; Pharmacology of Body Systems, Integrative Physiology and Molecular Cell Biology for the second half; and BREES (a.k.a. Biomedical Research, Employability and Enterprise Skills) for the entire year (what a joy that was!).

The Neuro units made for a great start to the year; I was examined in them in January and got 82 in Neurophys and 85 in Neuropharm. By January I had also completed and scored highly in the BREES employability strand, and got 66.6% in the BREES January exam, which required me to write an abstract summarising the main points of a biomedical research paper.

I was less enamoured with my units for the remainder of the year, but I still scored rather well in them, achieving 70 in MCB, 73 in Integrative Phys and 79 in Systems Pharm. The bulk of the BREES workload had to be completed during the final term, including the enterprise group tasks (to which I contributed minimally) and an exam worth 50% of the unit, which assessed our statistical knowledge and abstract writing prowess (again). Somehow I was awarded over 90% in the statistics component and equalled my previous score for the abstract, which contributed to a decent score of 76 for the BREES unit overall. Once the exam board had ratified my marks, I was delighted to be awarded the Pfizer Prize for achieving the highest average mark across all units in the second year. I'm still thinking about what to spend the £75 prize money on…

Now that my blog is up to date, it's time to look to the future. In just over a month, I'll be setting off into the world of academic research, armed with these grades and the knowledge underlying them. I know I say it every year, but I really hope to start writing here more often and to log all the new experiences I have as an MSci placement student.

How I became an MSci student

Two years ago today I gained a place at university for an MSci (Master in Science) degree course including a placement year, which I had to apply and interview for this year. As such, it feels like the perfect time to regale how I found my placement and officially became an MSci student!

Despite having a strong desire to do a placement, I didn't start applying until February this year. My first application was to Janssen in Belgium for an Alzheimer's disease-based project. I took my time writing my application and sent it off at 6:55 pm the day before the deadline. My diligence paid off: I was one of ten candidates selected for a Skype interview! Unfortunately, when the day came, technical issues rendered me invisible to the team in Belgium, but after a shaky start, I tried to make the most of my fifteen minutes voice-to-face with the head of the Neuroscience department. Disappointed, I at least managed to enjoy my first concert of 2016 (Patent Pending) later that day, but two weeks later I found out for sure that I wouldn't be spending my placement year at Janssen.

Thankfully, more opportunities arose in April. I applied for two more placements, one at a biotech company in Oxford and the other based at a university an hour's train ride away. While I heard nothing from the former, the latter invited me for an interview on the 6th of June. It was my first time visiting the city, and I was in awe of the beauty of the university grounds. The interview was a really positive experience, and a few hours later I met the other three candidates for a tour of the neurophysiology labs. I left feeling content, but it still came as a shock when, at 5:41 pm, I received an email offering me the placement!

Last week I had my induction to the university, my accommodation is all booked, and from September I'll be in the lab, trying to understand how epigenetics associated with Alzheimer's disease affects brain cell firing. It still feels like a dream, but soon it'll be reality…