Charlotte Stuart

"My personality types are Influencer, Manager, and Quality Controller, which I think were spot on. I work well both on my own and in a team, am adaptable, very organised and detail focussed and like to take initiative. I'm also good at really focusing on a problem and working at it relentlessly until its solved. These are all the main attributes I find helpful in doing a PhD. "

"As a PhD student I carry out research that will help me prove (or disprove!) my hypotheses. These hypotheses are related to my overall research aim which is to understand how inflammation affects the chronic neurodegenerative disease multiple sclerosis (MS).Researchers don't often get to directly work with people who have the disease they're studying but I am lucky to be actively involved in the recruitment and testing of our human volunteers (both MS and healthy people). Using blood and urine samples from these volunteers I also conduct many different types of experiments. I use common techniques such as cell culture, gel electrophoresis and protein assays but have also spent a lot of time developing and validating a mass-spectrometry method for analysing inflammatory markers in the urine samples. I love that research allows you to learn and use many different bits of equipment and experimental techniques. I also love that I get to work alongside many amazing people, from fellow scientists, nurses, doctors and patients. My job is never boring. A PhD student in England is usually paid between £14000 -£16000 (untaxed) a year."

"The route to my current role has been fairly non-conventional! At 17 I moved to Southampton, England on my own from South Africa. I really wanted to study science at university but having not lived in England for long enough I could not get a university loan or afford university fees. After a gap year I discovered the Open University (OU), an online, distance learning university. The OU was much cheaper and I could work part time while studying. Despite not having full British A-levels I was still accepted into the OU and enrolled on a Natural Science degree. I found that the uni work didn't actually consume much of my time, possibly due to the lack of lectures or lab work so I was able study full time despite working and even kept up a good social life.The OU has no practical labs so I decided to email professors/researchers at University of Southampton (UoS) and ask for a few weeks of work experience in their labs. I was so excited when one emailed back and said I could start in their leukaemia research lab at the hospital. I spent two weeks with them, learning lab basics. Looking back, the techniques they showed me were all techniques I have used in my PhD! Having that experience was one of the best things I could have done. It upgraded my CV and meant that I was able to get a job as a part time lab technician in the UoS Chemistry teaching labs. This was in my second year of my undergraduate degree. There I gained a lot of experience, took part in outreach events and even designed a practical for the first year chemistry students. I split the third year of my OU degree over two years due to a more challenging workload. By this point I had I wanted to pursue a career in some kind of medical research. So I applied for jobs as a lab technician in various biology labs. I was rejected from everything due to lack of relevant experience though. To improve my CV I did some more unpaid job experience in other labs at UoS whenever I could find time. This paid off because I was finally offered a lab tech job in the Clinical Neuroscience department at UoS. While in this job I finished my OU degree (with first class honours) and then asked my boss if he had any PhD opportunities. He didn't but instead, together, we devised a project with him as my supervisor. We found some funding and before I knew it was I was PhD candidate."

"I really value my spare time and make sure I have a good work-life balance because as much as I love my job, at the end of the day I'd rather work to live then live to work. I love spending time with my family and friends and adorable dog, binge watching my favourite shows and walking in nature. I'm also a photographer so love any opportunity to photograph people or nature and have even done a few weddings now!"

"There are two types of 'typical' day for me, one in the lab or one at my desk, analysing data or writing. Everything I do though, is to help answer my research question: \"How does inflammation effect the progression of the disease Multiple Sclerosis?\"On a lab day I try to start early to allow extra time in case things take longer than planned (this is a common occurence!). I may do cell culture experiments, run biological assays, or use specialised equipment such as mass spectrometers. I may even meet with patients or healthy volunteers to consent them onto one of our studies. A nurse or doctor will usually take their blood which I then take back to the lab for storage or experiments. There are usually times during experiments where I have to wait for things - perfect opportunities for coffee/snack breaks! Some experiments take all day while others are shorter, allowing me time to write up the results or plan for future experiments. On a desk day (often at home) I use Microsoft Excel or specialised statistics programs to analyse my results, or I may read scientific papers and work on my thesis (the big piece of written work you hand in at the end of a PhD, and get examined on). Sometimes I have a meeting with my supervisor or colleagues where we discuss results and future plans. I also usually have several emails to respond to every day. "

"BSC (Hons) Natural Science: First class (completed in 4 years)International AS- level: Maths: ABiology: AChemistry: BPhysics: CEnglish: B(completed in 1 year)"