I’ve neglected this blog again – it’s been over 3 months since I last posted, but a lot has happened in those 3 months so I figured I’d come back…
Written by Heidi Gardner
I am a first year PhD student at the University of Aberdeen. My research is part of the Trial Forge initiative (find out more at http://www.trialforge.org/!), which aims to improve the efficiency of clinical trials on a global scale. Before I began my PhD I did an MSci degree in Pharmacology - this included a year on industrial placement where I worked in clinical recruitment, working to staff clinical trials across the UK and Europe. Hopefully this blog will allow me to keep track of my progress over the next 4 years, and provide you guys with a little insight into what being a PhD student is like!
Funding Applications and Good News
A few months ago I submitted my first ever grant application (as a Co-Applicant with my main Supervisor as Principal Applicant and my second Supervisor as another Co). The funding…
9-Month Viva and Always, Always Expect the Unexpected
Before I started my PhD everyone told me to ‘expect the unexpected’, that at some point something would happen to derail my PhD plans and I should expect this to…
Challenges Outside of PhD Life
If you’ve chosen the right PhD for you it’s natural that it will take over your thoughts at times. In fact it’s often a good thing when it does take…
Starting to Write the Thesis
I’m coming up to the end of my 8th month as a PhD student. 8 out of 36 – terrifyingly, I’m just over 20% of the way through this thing.…
Getting Out of Your Comfort Zone
A few months ago I wrote a post about saying no nicely, i.e. making the most of the opportunities you’re given but making a conscious effort not to take on…
Publishing Costs HOW Much?!
Publishing is one of the central aims of any PhD; it’s a chance to build a name for ourselves and disseminate our research work to the wider scientific community. I’ve…
New Year’s Resolutions for PhD Success
Getting back into the swing of PhD life post-Christmas break can be tricky. Having an extended break (I took 3 weeks!) means finding all those to do lists I didn’t…
My First Conference as a PhD Student
Conferences can induce fear in early PhD students, and I’m no different. I graduated in June 2015 and have been working on my PhD project for 4 and a half…
Struggling to Put Pen to Paper
During our PhD studies we are expected to write almost continually; grant applications, research proposals, protocols, reviews and ultimately a thesis are at the core of how we communicate our…