Over the course of the summer I had the good fortune to be awarded an internship jointly at the Cambridge Centre for Physical Biology and at the Department of Oncology. My work was purely computational, focusing mainly on the statistical properties of spatially expanding bacterial populations. As a physicist I was at first daunted by the prospect of having to get to grips with so much biology but I needn’t have worried; members of my group and my supervisor were very helpful in pointing me towards useful reading and helping me understand parts of the problem I misinterpreted.
The first week of the project was fairly typical, mostly spent reading through some associated papers and doing general course admin (there is a lot that goes into a summer research internship, it turns out!). I also got settled into my summer accommodation. Pembroke tries to place all the undergrads doing summer projects in one accommodation which is very fun when your friends are doing one too and very similar to university (except you have more free time working your 9-5 than you do during term bizarrely…).
In the first few weeks, the project stirred into motion and I started seeing the benefits of my LEAP grant. Not only did LEAP help me with my accommodation costs – which is a massive weight taken off my shoulders allowing me to focus on work, not just worrying about how much money I spend – but also they provided me with a grant to visit friends during my internship. Last summer I did an internship in Glasgow and while the project itself was fascinating I found it socially isolating at times given the difficulty of visiting people. So, to make my overall experience as fulfilling as possible this summer, I requested some help with visiting people from LEAP. Thankfully my grant request was accepted, and it meant I could more freely travel to visit friends and family without worrying about the cost (LNER has no right to be that expensive). I only spent one weekend in Cambridge the entire summer, the rest being spent in London, the Lake District or at home; breaks definitely needed during an intense project.
In the second week, I spent my first few days at the Oncology site in Addenbrookes having been waiting to arrange a meeting with my supervisor there. As it turns out, I got lucky because on my first day there was the yearly Early Cancer Detection Department Garden Party; drinks, food, cake, a reason to go into Trinity Masters Garden – I couldn’t believe it. Unfortunately, that doesn’t happen every day so I actually had to work the next few days, but the office is comfy, air-conditioned and the work was very interesting. I also began going to lab meetings, meetings where people present either their work or a paper they have found interesting recently and general lab business is discussed. These weekly meetings were very valuable to gain exposure as to what life as a researcher would be like so were one of my favourite parts of each week. As well – not to be overlooked – I started going to the Monday pub quizzes at the Cambridge Tap which we would attend and consistently come middle of the pack in.
By the final few weeks, I was (finally) hitting my stride on the coding front, making better headway than I had up until this point. It was a good job too – given that I had my final presentations coming up. Making the PowerPoint for this and then presenting my project to the two separate labs I had been working with was an excellent way to culminate the project and helped me build up my public speaking skills, as well as give me confidence that if I want to pursue research I could make a tangible impact. I would highly, highly recommend LEAP, and indeed doing a summer researchship if you can. These programs will help you build up your confidence, useful skills and aid in whatever it is you are aiming to achieve.
