Marina Gardasevic

"Hello! I am Marina and I am PhD Student in Neuroscience =] From the personality types quiz I got Coach, Influencer and Quality Controller. I think these partially relate to me in that I do research for my job and I need to be very thorough and organised whilst doing so, I work well with others like the Coach. However I feel I am also a Trainer as I enjoy training others in the lab, I love helping people, I have been a private tutor for the past 8 years and I teach self-defence. I really enjoy teaching so feel while this quiz is interesting it isn't 100% me!"

"I am a PhD Student in Neuroscience. This means I research my neuroscience project for 3 - 4 years and then I write up my thesis on it. If I pass I am then officially a Doctor and get to put Dr in front of my name!My specific project is about understanding how light affects our brains e.g. you may have heard that it is unhealthy to go on your phone before bed because of the light confusing your body clock, well I look into other things the light affects, like your memory or alertness. I am technically a student so there is a mixture of research, training and about one assignment a year.My research is a mixture which is why I love it! I do some lab work where I am looking at cells, some work with human volunteers, some programming, a lot of analysis and visualisation as well as reports, presentations and conferences. I love the variety!Most PhDs are funded which means you get a salary. It isn't massive amounts but it isn't taxed so it ends up being like a normal starting wage. I earn around £15'000 a year tax free which is the typical amount (although some people do earn more depending on the field of study). I am doing this job to train me to get into industry which is where the pay will increase."

"I never really knew what I wanted to do so when choosing university I decided to do what I enjoyed which was Biology. During my degree I tried different things to see what parts of Biology I may want to go into. I went to South Africa to research elephant conservation and I went to a lab to research diet and ageing. It was in the latter that I fell in love with research and lab work and knew this was where I wanted to go. The lab group was so diverse with people from different countries and backgrounds and everyone helped each other, I loved the environment. With the help and advice of my supervisor in that lab - Adam - I applied for a Masters degree in Manchester. I really liked this degree as it had two 6-month research projects and they could be totally different so I chose microbiology and diabetes research. I realised I love doing work that directly relates to people. So I searched for a PhD and found one looking into how light affects the brain and I was amazed! After meeting the supervisor in person I knew this was the one for me!I have been a private tutor in science and maths since I was doing my A levels. I have also done a variety of volunteering over the years, including scouts, first aid, now self-defence instructor and working with schools for science role models.I was inspired by my parents who always said I could do whatever I wanted, and encouraged me to be the best version of myself. The person who had the biggest impact on my scientific career was the supervisor when I volunteered in the ageing lab. His name was Adam and he gave me so much support and showed me what a career in research could be like. I am grateful to him every day for helping me get where I am now."

"I am a big advocator for work-life balance. Science is my work but it isn't every hour of the day!In my spare time I enjoy:-training martial arts-listening to metal core and going to gigs-keeping snakes and houseplants-bullet journalling-writing blogs about being a PhD student-tutoring-teaching self-defenceAlong with the standard hanging out with friends, lying in the sun and food ^_^"

"The thing I love most about being a researcher is that no two days are the same. Every day is a mixture of:-lab work, in a lab coat, with chemicals, the whole picture-work with human volunteers-programming-helping out others in the lab, e.g. training-analysing data and drawing conclusions-writing my results-meetings with my supervisor to plan my project-training events-presentations-conferences (sometimes abroad!)One of the projects I am currently working on is an app we have developed to try to understand how the amount of light around you affects your performance (such as memory and alertness) and how this is different for different people. The app has games you can do that measure your performance while the phone's light sensor records the amount of light around you. We are hoping to have this app ready so give to the public early next year!"

"A levels - Biology (A*), Chemistry (A), Maths (A) and Psychology at AS (A)1st degree - Bachelors of Science (BSc) in Biology (First Class) - Imperial College London2nd degree - Masters by Research (MRes) in Biological Sciences (Distinction) - The University of Manchester3rd degree - PhD in Neuroscience [in progress] - The University of Manchester"