Kirsty the Scientist

Today's writing fuel was some pic'n'mix from a lunchtime walk down to Grainger market! Still working on my report, spoke to my supervisor today and will be getting a draft to him by Monday so the clock has officially started!  It was also my beautiful Spanish colleague's birthday today and she brought in a  tarte de la abuela - a really yummy chocolate-y biscuit-y cake, almost like a tiramisu without the coffee! 

Today is the first day of my last week in the lab. One of my colleagues asked me today how I felt about my last few days and my project coming to the end. And to be honest I hadn't really given it much thought until today! A little part of me is looking forward to my project drawing to a close. These last 9 weeks have been intense and I'm looking forward to summarising all of my work - pulling together and closing this story.  Thinking about it, I have never worked such a long stretch of 9am-6pm days in my life! With exams looming, it's starting to feel like I'm on the blocks, and slightly chomping at the bit to get started with revision for finals (although I know I'll regret saying this day one of revision!). But a much bigger part of me will really miss my time in the lab. This experience has been amazing, I have made so many good friends and learnt so much from everyone, about everything from science, research and careers to life, friendships. I have fel...

One of the members of our research team has his viva today - a presentation and 4 hour grilling of your PhD thesis, but also the last big step/assignment before your release into the world as a Dr.  This guy who had his viva today has been the person who has been supervising me the most and basically took me through everything whilst I've been learning in the lab. We're also now good friends and this guy is a friendly and likeable person to be around in the lab - so everyone was right behind him and supporting him today! Before and during his viva, there was such a low-key nervous buzz around the lab, with everyone anticipating how he would get on - all pretty confident he would do great, but going through the emotional rollercoaster with him!  And he did fantastically in the end and then we all headed out to the pub (with a huge card and presents, of course!) and then his favourite restaurant to celebrate. Loads of fun for a Tuesday! 

Working in a research lab for my dissertation project has definitely changed my perceptions of what working in science and research is actually like. Maybe I've just been part of a good group, but this whole experience has been so much more sociable than I'd expected. Science is quite a collaborative subject so there is always open discussion on what people are working on, but everyone has been so welcoming and inclusive that I've felt like a member of the team from day 1.  But lab life can be really tiring - you need to be on the ball all the time, keeping tabs on everything that's going on and  thinking ahead to the next step.