I had already decided that among all the places available to me for exchange studies, Imperial College was near the top of my list. One of the reasons was to study in a country with English as the spoken language. Another reason was the international reputation of the university, which played a part in my choice. Finally, it was an opportunity to spend time in one of the most interesting cities in the world, London.

I had the chance to meet the international coordinator for the Department of Life Sciences, Dave Hartley, while he was visiting Sweden in the spring. This was a great chance to ask questions, and it felt good to have already met the person I would contact if things in London don’t work out as planned.

No special preparation was needed before departure, since no special vaccines were required. There wasn’t much that had to be taken care of in regards to paperwork either, since England was still part of the EU. All that I had to do was pack my bags and set off.

I arrived in London a couple of days before I was to meet my supervisor to get started with my project. Since the length of the project was required to be 20 weeks, I had to leave for London before the end of the final course at KI, which was annoying. I had not found an apartment before travelling, and spent the first couple of days staying with a friend of a friend living in outer London. During that time, I managed to find a place and then moved in a day after I signed the contract. It was also during this time that I applied for a student Oyster card, for cheaper public transit, and purchased a UK sim card.

London is expensive. I keep repeating myself but it is worth noting. Luckily, groceries in London don’t have to be that expensive. Meat products are slightly cheaper than they are in Sweden, and some things like dairy, bread, and some vegetables are much cheaper. If you make sure not to eat out too often, and bring your own lunch box to the lab every day, you will be able to save money. I did all my shopping in bulk at Tesco, and they have some really cheap useful stuff that aren’t groceries. I bought a slow cooker there for 10 pounds, which managed to pay for itself quite quickly.

Going out in London varies depending on the neighborhoods you want to hang out in. Generally, alcohol is cheaper than in Sweden, especially if you buy it in stores. However, there are places in Soho where you will spend a fortune on everything you order. I took the approach of living frugally during the week and then splurging on the weekends.

I would recommend getting a UK bank account during the exchange stay. Many places have a minimum charge for card payment, and the housing agency I was staying with would charge you an extra fee for using an international bank account. Also, my Swedish bank charged me an exchange fee if I wanted to withdraw pounds. The only place that I found that would accept me as a customer was the Santander branch located on the South Kensington campus, since they are used to having students come for shorter term stays. Other banks required some kind of proof that you would be residing in the UK for at least a year.

Expect to pay large sums of money for small pieces of property. The distance from central London is also a major factor in how expensive living arrangements are. It is worth keeping in mind that London is a big city, and if you live in the suburbs your commute into the university could take more than an hour. Sadly, since the exchange period is only for one semester it is not possible to get accommodation in the student dormitories, which are in excellent locations on campus.

I searched online to find a room in an area close to campus. The problem was that most rooms that were being posted online expected a viewing within a week or so, and for you to move in within a similar time frame. It was impossible to find rooms that were going to be available months in the future, so I couldn’t organize anything a long time in advance. There are both private persons and agencies posting rooms online, and if there is an agency that has posted a room you are interested in it may be worth looking at other rooms they offer, since they will usually be located in the same areas. You should also be cautious when it comes to dealing with some of these agencies, since the housing market in London feels a bit scummy. There is such a huge demand for residences that people are inevitably exploited. Make sure to read your contract closely to avoid small administrative fees and charges that they try to sneak on you.

I ended up sharing a room near the Shepherd’s Bush underground station, on the central line. It was a very good location that was an approximately 30-minute commute from the university, and was therefore quite expensive. It was around double the rent that I was paying for my shared apartment in Stockholm. However, I felt it was worth the price since it was more fun being closer to central London, and being able to spontaneously head in during the evening.

The only applicable studies were the research project I performed. I think the amount and type of work will vary a lot depending on the type of project you are involved in. I ending up spending an average of 8 hours a day in the lab. Due to the varied nature of lab work, some days were much shorter but others were longer than 10 hours.

My project involved mainly molecular biology and bacterial cultures, so I spent most of my time growing various strains of bacteria, performing PCR reactions, transforming bacteria, and other related tasks. Writing the project report itself wasn’t very tough since I managed to start on time. My tip is that you start writing the materials and methods section as you perform the different methods, and to save and organize all your data well. It is a big help when you can find results from a particular date. Also, remember to keep a detailed and neat lab book.

The project was very exciting, and I had a great time working in the lab. It was quite a large lab group but I was working closely with my supervisor and one other post-doc. I felt that the lab was less strict and hierarchical than I first expected, and people were welcoming and willing to help me around the lab whenever I needed.

The language was one of the best parts of being in England. Everyone speaks English! However, it isn’t always the type of English you are used to hearing, and most British accents are a lot worse than what you hear on TV. You quickly get used to it though, and communicating with people proved no problem. London is also a very international city, and you could hear all kinds of different languages being spoken while walking on the streets or riding the tube. Even Swedish can be heard quite often.

The people in London are a lot chattier than the Swedes, and it is much more likely that a stranger strikes up a short conversation with you. I didn’t experience much of a culture barrier in England, and I felt that I could comfortably blend in among the natives. The English are modest, apologize a lot, and mind their own business mostly, and are therefore much like the Swedes in some ways. Part of the excitement lied in the fact that most of London isn’t English, and depending on which part of London you were in you could feel the presence of a local subculture.

London is a massive city that never sleeps. You can eat food from all over the world, participate in probably every sport imaginable, and party to your hearts content. However, these are also some of the reasons why London is very popular and very expensive.

I spent most of my free time on the weekends visiting different parts of London or trying out different cuisine. There are some almost tourist attractions that I felt compelled to visit, such as the Big Ben, Buckingham Palace and the Tower of London. The advantage with these locations is that they are mainly visited from the outside, so you don’t have to pay the extortionate entrance fees they charge at some of the tourist hot spots.

There are also several fantastic museums in London, with one of the biggest perks being the free admission. Due to this, it is a great way to spend a whole evening on a budget. Some of the museums, such as the Natural History Museum, can’t even be finished in a single day if you want to take your time and appreciate every exhibition. I would recommend the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum, and the Victoria and Albert Museum, all located conveniently close together in South Kensington.

I would recommend visiting some of the farmer’s markets that are scattered across London. They are packed full of delicious British and foreign foods, and are a great way to get a taste of everything. The most famous one is the Borough Market near London Bridge, which is completely packed during weekends. There is also a market on the Queen’s Lawn on the college campus every Tuesday, which is a great place to grab a special lunch.

Gym memberships in London are quite expensive, but you have free access to the university gym located in the campus sports center. The access isn’t completely free since you need to pay a fee for the mandatory gym orientation, after which you have unlimited access for the rest of your stay. The gym can get very crowded during the afternoons, and sometimes even in the mornings. There are also certain staff only times. There are also a variety of different sports and classes available at the center, so you can almost surely find something you will enjoy.

I am very grateful that I had the chance to go on this fantastic exchange. I had been on an exchange previously, at Leiden University, during my second year, so I felt that I was more prepared for this experience. I felt it was great on both a personal and professional level, since I gained a lot of laboratory experience. It was also wonderful to get a taste of London as a city. This exchange made me consider London as a potential home town in the future. It is almost cliché to say it, but take the opportunity and go on an exchange if you have the chance. You regret the things you don’t do more often than you regret the things you do. In this case, I have no regrets at all.