• Question: What kind of work experience did you do?

    Asked by vampire1234 to Anzy, Aoife, Dave, Matt, Tomasz on 12 Nov 2013.
    • Photo: Aoife O'Shaughnessy-Kirwan

      Aoife O'Shaughnessy-Kirwan answered on 12 Nov 2013:

      Hi vampire1234,
      The most relevant work experience I did though was a summer I spent at Harvard Medical School, doing a short project in a lab there. This (along with a project I did in the final year of my degree) was the only lab hands on experience I really had before starting my PhD! I think it’s probably the bare minimum that’s necessary to figure out whether it would really suit you or not.
      Hope this helps!
      Aoife

    • Photo: Matthew Tomlinson

      Matthew Tomlinson answered on 12 Nov 2013:

      Hi vampire1234

      I worked as a teaching assistant in my old school during my school work experience (at the time I was thinking about being a teacher). Like Aoife I also spent a summer working a in lab during university, although mine was at the much less glamorous University of East Anglia in Norwich! This was great experience as I was working on a real research project for the first time and gave me a good idea of what a PhD would be like, I also managed to get a publication based on the work.

      Hope this is useful!

    • Photo: David Christensen

      David Christensen answered on 12 Nov 2013:

      During my undergraduate degree, I did a 20 week project in a lab, but I had no other experience of lab work before applying for a PhD and had never really been to labs outside of school lessons, practicals at university and that project. I had enjoyed that project though and had enough interest in science to think that I wanted to do it for another 4 years! And I’m still enjoying it!

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