A Bit About Me

Hi, I’m Beth, I’m a final year PhD student at the University of Leeds, UK. I’m studying platelet inhibitory signalling pathways in the context of cardiovascular disease. I’m currently in the final stages of my PhD where I’m finishing up experiments and writing my thesis! Alongside my PhD I am actively involved in science communication; I volunteer as a social media officer for the Royal Society of Biology Yorkshire branch and I’m also a platelet society early career member where I’m involved in engagement of members of the society as well as the public with all thing’s platelet related. I also run my own science Instagram page (@_bethology), YouTube channel and blog (www.bethology.co.uk).

How I First Became Interested in STEM

I’ve always enjoyed science and asking questions. My dad and I loved watching sci-fi movies and tv shows and that sparked a lot of my interest in science. Originally, I thought I’d like to be a doctor, but I was a bit too squeamish, and I knew I’d never be able to reach the grades required to study medicine at university. I enjoyed biology and chemistry and intended to study chemistry until I went to a university open day where I listened to a talk from a professor who studied biochemistry and it completely blew me away. The way she talked about cells and biochemical reactions was just fascinating and she talked about all the different paths after studying that I chose to study Biochemistry.

I was interested in medical research with the view of working in pharmaceuticals. I only thought geniuses could do a PhD and it was never something I’d considered. I managed to get accepted to study biochemistry at the University of Huddersfield, UK and as part of my degree we were encouraged to take a year-long placement in a lab. I applied all over the place and faced many unsuccessful applications to pharma companies but then I saw some academic research placements available at the university of Leeds. I applied and happened to be successful and that’s what really set me on the course of wanting to pursue academic medical research and applying for PhDs.

My Placement involved working on a drug discovery project related to thrombosis. My role was to test small compounds against coagulation factors to see which compounds would make it to the next stage of screening. I was also able to get involved in other projects and it was this that gave me the bug for research. My supervisor at the time suggested that I should pursue a PhD and that I’d be a suitable candidate. Of course, I was blown away as I’d never even considered doing a PhD. After my placement year ended and I finished my degree, I applied for PhDs but was unsuccessful however I was able to secure a research assistant role in the lab where I did my placement. This got me back into an academic research lab and gave me the opportunity to develop my skills ready for a PhD. I applied again the following year and managed to secure a PhD studying platelets in relation to cardiovascular disease.

Adversity I Faced on the Way

I received a lot of rejections from PhD applications and that was tough, it’s hard to get remain positive when you get rejected by a lot of places, especially when you put a lot of work into your application. I also faced funding issues during my research assistant role so that was quite challenging, I was on very short-term contracts and was hoping to do a PhD in that group, but the funding just wasn’t there. I had to make the tough decision to apply elsewhere but I’m glad I did.

Classes that Defined my Career Interests

My placement year was a defining moment for me, as much as it was difficult because it was unpaid for a year, so I had to work part-time around a full-time lab placement, it really gave me a true insight into an academic research lab. I also really loved my time at university, I made great friends, learnt a lot and gained a lot of practical experience which stood me in good stead for an academic lab research role.

Finding my Career

I spoke to other PhD students and post-docs, as well as tutors at my university to gain an understanding of the PhD process and different academic research career paths. In the last few months, I now have a mentor who’s a post-doc and on a career trajectory that I’d like to be on. I’ve found having a mentor who’s at the career stage just a couple of steps above me, very useful. Their advice is topical and appropriate for the things I’d like to do, it’s a bit tricky sometimes when asking for career advice from your supervisors who may have been a professor for a while, as things were a lot a different when they were first starting out. It’s much more competitive now and being a visible scientist in the online space is much more important than it has been. I’ve found that talking to people that are closer in career stage more useful when it comes to guiding my career journey and carving out the career in science that I want.

What I’m up to next!

I’m in the process of applying for post-doc positions for after my PhD. I’m hoping to secure a position in the lab I’m currently in to continue some of the work and hopefully apply for some grants. I want to continue research as well as science communication on the side. I’d like to be able to work 4-days a week in research and focus one day a week to SciComm projects (that’s the goal anyway).

Last words of Advice

Keep going, show you’re passionate and determined, and this will help you when it comes to making a positive and lasting impression on your PhD applications. Academic research is a tough process but if you’re in a good lab group and you enjoy the work then it’s absolutely worth it!

Beth Webb