Amy Hicks

"I think the personality types fit me really closely, especially the bits about being organised and problem solving. The explorer type is really key in the work that I do, as sometimes the end goal isn't all that clear, so its important to be keen to investigate every little step along the way. Sometimes it can feel like the end goal is quite far away but because I enjoy being practical and following a set of instructions in detail. Its also important to enjoy working on your own as well as part of a team, as sometimes experiments involve long periods of working quietly on something by myself without much interaction with others. But I can always come back to chat to the rest of the people in the lab afterwards, and its good to get their opinion on things, like what might be going wrong or what I should be doing next. "

"I am doing research into neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, with the aim of finding a good target for a drug or therapy. I love working in the lab every day, planning all my experiments bit by bit and eventually getting satisfying and sometimes surprising results. Experiments don't always go to plan, but that's part of the job! My PhDs is one of the better paid ones I could have done, my starting pay is just over £22k and I get additional money for things like travelling to conferences and getting a laptop. "

"Science was something that always fascinated me, mainly because my mum was big into ecology. At school I loved learning about DNA and cells and the human body, more than things like plants and animals. I also loved maths as it was so methodical and you always got a finite answer, but sort of knew I wanted to go into biology more. I chose biology, chemistry and maths for A-levels, with the maths being quite focused on statistics, which a lot of people hated but I loved as it applied to science too! I applied to a week long summer school at Oxford uni in between 1st and 2nd year of A levels, which was in experimental psychology, mainly because it was brain stuff mixed with stats. I loved it, but the subject was a bit too psychology for me. In second year I did this extended project basically because my friend's brother did one and thought it sounded cool. I ended up looking at Alzheimer's disease, and it was mega interesting, so I kind of stuck with that for uni. After my first year at Leeds I applied for this summer internship in one of my lecturer's labs, doing some experiments with cells and DNA stuff. I loved it and my supervisor said I was one of the best students he'd had, so I knew I must have been okay at it! He ended up helping me a lot with applications and stuff, so it was really worth reaching out to him in the first place. I did a work placement at a drug company in between 2nd and 3rd year, doing more lab stuff centred around Parkinson's disease. Again I loved it and had a really nice supervisor who pushed me to try and get the most out of my time there, going to conferences and introducing myself to some top scientists, like Professor Sarah Tabrizi, who is making huge gains in treating Huntington's disease. This definitely helped with getting my PhD position because I gained a lot of confidence. Final year was really hard, trying to juggle assignments and revision with applying for jobs is stressful, but I'm glad I went through that!"

"I love playing hockey in my spare time as part of a local ladies team. We have training once a week and matches most Saturdays, it's really nice to get out of work/the house and have a run around with a bunch of people I wouldn't have otherwise met. Its definitely important to me to have commitments like matches etc. that are completely unrelated to work. Something I also have started to do more since moving here to start this job is going to comedy shows. Its a really fun alternative to going on a night out and often can be cheaper!"

"I usually start by checking emails, reminding myself of any experiments I've planned and planning the exact timings of them. Each experiment usually takes a few days/a week so its important to know when I can take breaks, store things over weekends etc. I often have to coordinate with other people in the lab when using equipment or showing me how to use equipment or where different materials are. If its a day where I reach the end of an experiment and obtain results, I'll spend some time analysing the data and maybe put it together in some Powerpoint slides so I can show it to my supervisor and help decide where to go next. "

"I got 3A*s in maths, biology and chemistry at A-level, and also did AS-level sociology (A) and an extended project qualification (A). At the university of Leeds I obtained a first class degree, with an additional year of industrial work experience at a pharmaceutical company called Eisai."