The end of the first school year - still too many essays, new science internships, some dancesport medals and finally a sun-filled city

Exams are over now, there are new subjects (Language and cognition among others - so much fun!), new lab practicals, so far no stress from the exams that will take place in one year's time. Did it happen the way I expected? I certainly gathered enough of the sunny vitamin D, but thanks to two research assistance internships it was still considerably hectic; however, I've gained lots of useful scientific experience that I'm very happy about. Below is the summary of the most interesting moments of the third 'Trinity' term:

At my first lab practicals we examined actual. human. brains. Kept in formaldehyde and with the texture of plasticine, these 1.5 kilos of grey matter with labyrinth-like grooves were absolutely fascinating. We spent three hours enthusiastically looking for many different centres of important neurological functions (...and also named them Barry the brain and Helen the hemisphere) and then found out that we weren't going to do this again. Sad times, but so glad I got to try this out!

First weekend of the term was the time for the big dancesport varsity competition between Oxford and Cambridge; a day full of glitter, stunning dresses, music in the rhythms of quickstep and samba and joyful (at times even fierce!) cheering for one's university team. It was a strenuous day, especially as my dance partner and I had to substitute in the second university team at the last minute, but in the end we managed to get a medal for both chacha and jive in our beginner category.

This term I also had my first set of lectures from the academic celebrity Molly Crockett, who taught us moral psychology. I really enjoyed learning about psychological and neuroscientific studies looking at the mechanisms underlying altruism, empathy or aggression. I find this topic very relevant and I'm considering it as a possible focus of my second year research project.

During my fourth week of term I started working as a research assistant in the laboratory of social and evolutionary neuroscience, where I helped organise research on theory of mind - the ability to infer and understand what other people might be thinking and what they know. We might find this ability straightforward and obvious, but certain clinical populations, such as those with schizophrenia or autism, don't perform very well on theory of mind tests. This is the reason why it is now extensively studies in order to uncover its mechanisms and come up with possible solutions to related clinical issues. Next year I will hopefully also continue helping in a lab of developmental cognition with Dr Gaia Scerif.

My first year at Oxford was certainly academically challenging, but I feel like I was rewarded exactly according to my expectations - I gained very fast intellectual progress and met very many interesting people (many of which were Czechs and Slovaks studying abroad). Last but not least, I also managed to take a lot of pictures as my interest in photography has grown in such a stunning city; samples of these are below, and you can find more at my blog The Floral Cortex.

I'm very excited about next year, though the difficult exams at the end of it are making me nervous already!