Autumn at UCL

After contacting several groups focusing on infectious diseases and synthetic biology research, I managed to find a supervisor within the department of Biochemical Engineering, outside our faculty. I then spent a significant part of the summer at the Future Vaccine Research and Manufacturing Hub. With the ambition to end my internship in the centre with a publication of a research paper, I returned to the lab early in September, three weeks before the start of first term. I already know I won’t be able to publish the results before my bachelor thesis submission deadline in March (although it would probably significantly improve the mark). Even if everything goes exactly as planned, the work in the lab alone will last at least until June next year. My thesis will thereby probably contain only a part of the research. Fortunately, I have time to publish the paper until the beginning of October next year.

Grades from the 3rd year account for 60% of the final mark of the three-year bachelor's program (10% in the first year and 30% in the second year). Luckily, I only took two modules this semester and have so far managed to combine studying with work on the research project relatively well. I divide the rest of my time between a temporary job in a restaurant, mentoring socially disadvantaged students within a non-profit organization, and a university-based gliding club.

Autumn in Bloomsbury appears relatively pleasant and photogenic, but with a looming prospect of upcoming tests and deadlines, one can sense the ubiquitous stress and anxiety filling up the campus, close to the end of the term. Happy to say, I managed to escape the frantic London for 5 days during the reading week, joining a gliding club expedition to the north of Scotland, where I at least partially refreshed, while flying over Aberdeenshire.