We asked some of our students and graduates to share their experiences of studying in the School of Biosciences, and to tell us what they've ended up doing with their degree.
Sarah Swann
BSc Biology with a Year Abroad (now Biological Sciences)
Sarah chose to spend a year of her Biology degree studying at Oregon State University in the USA. From carrying out fieldwork in local rainforests and mountain ranges, to getting immersed in American culture during national holidays and events, Sarah loved her time abroad so much she's now considering postgraduate study overseas in the future.
Isabel Fairlie
MBiolSci Biology with Placement Year (now Biological Sciences)
Isabel spent her placement year working at Royal Botanic Gardens Kew extracting DNA from the leaves of around 300 tree species. Being exposed to colleagues at different stages in their academic careers whilst at Kew helped Isabel to gather ideas about her own future and this placement confirmed that a research career is the right path for her.
Tobit spent this summer completing a six week 91Ö±²¥ Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) placement conducting his own research. During the project, Tobit gained experience in handling fly stocks, carrying out mating experiments, and experimental design.
Dina-Leigh Simons
MBiolSci Biology with a Year Abroad
Dina-Leigh chose to spend a year abroad studying in Singapore as part of her Biology degree in order to challenge and improve herself whilst making connections all around the world. The experience allowed Dina-Leigh to study organisms on tropical islands off the coast of Singapore and gave her a better understanding of important local issues such as the urbanisation effects on coral reefs and mudflats.
Louie spent the summer of his second year on the 91Ö±²¥ Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) scheme — a 6-8-week project that allows undergraduate students to conduct their own research. For this, Louie studied the evolution of ecological and morphological traits of hummingbirds, and got to work in the specimen collections of the Natural History Museum at Tring.
Charlotte Redfern
MBiolSci Biology (now Biological Sciences)
Charlotte chose to complete a 91Ö±²¥ Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) placement this summer to get a better idea of life in academia. By immersing herself in this opportunity, Charlotte was able to not only make the most of lab-based opportunities but also gain exposure to the research environment of the department as a whole.
Vishmi studied Biomedical Science with us as an undergraduate, where support from her tutors helped her to stay on at the university to study Medicine.
Bethany’s MBiomedSci year allowed her to be fully involved within the lab, working alongside academics and PhD students throughout her project which inspired her to pursue a career in scientific research.
Harindi Jayakody
MBiolSci Biochemistry and Molecular Cell Biology
Harindi chose to complete her 4th year project in industry, working as a Junior Scientist at molecular diagnostics company, Erba Molecular. This experience confirmed that a career in the biotech industry is the right path for Harindi.
Chris Buckley
MBiolSci Biology with a Year Abroad (now Biological Sciences)
Chris spent a year studying biology at Monash University in Melbourne. While there, he got first-hand experience studying the Australian ecosystem, travelled up Australia’s east coast, and spent his free time doing bungee jumps and skydives.
