My lab experience was an extremely positive and enriching
one. I completed my project at UK-DRI, Chancellor´s Building, Little France Campus.
The lab was highly efficient, very well organised, multidisciplinary, and
collaborative. Clinicians, biochemists, neuroscientist, stem cell experts,
bioinformaticians and technicians, all working together with a common aim:
making a difference to ALS patients. Everyone knew about each other´s research,
thanks to weekly departmental seminars. This enabled the exchange of ideas, and to bring up problems, so that they could be embraced together as a group with complementing
expertise. I was lucky enough to work with many brilliant people, as I had to
learn varied techniques that were novel to me. Learning such advanced
techniques from experts that do these routinely, willing to teach you their
best tricks, and sharing their passion, was a true gift.
There was a great closeness with the supervisor, with
frequent talks, without the need to schedule them. Thus, I would say, in this
aspect, it was quite similar to KI. My supervisor would tend to challenge me,
but in a very positive way. This meant that we would have a discussion about
the experiment, I was shadowed the first time, and left on my own soon
afterwards. Having to arrange and schedule all the experiments myself, and
making important decisions gave me a great feeling of independence, while
gaining an insight into the life as a researcher.
I was part of a big group, with 5 other PhD students (no MSc though), which enormously contributed to creating this positive and supportive environment. The lab would organise pub nights, dinners (we
tried all Indian food in town!) and fund-raising hikes and challenges every now
and then, which were great opportunities to socialise in a more relaxed
atmosphere. We even held a gathering for all PhDs working in MND in Saint
Andrews.
On the other hand, I did find the working load to be higher
than at KI. I would work long hours in the lab, with a single break for lunch
and coffee. No fika pause, nor leg strechers as at KI, much as I tried to
implement those! The weekends, however, were free with some data analysis and
maybe literature to do to catch up.