At Loughborough I have started to use lots of equipment that I’ve never used before. I have attended training sessions to take and analyse blood samples, and now I am qualified to take blood from participants and analyse them in the lab. Devices such as MRI and DEXA scans are also available for to us to use in our research brings us great convenience and, more importantly, increases the quality of our studies.
As well as the academic support, the Careers Network has also been very helpful as it has a development portal for doctoral researchers with lots of training sessions for academic purposes, wellbeing, and career advice. I also had conversations with the student support service to get advice on accommodation.
After my PhD, I am planning to look for a post-doctoral position in Loughborough as I want to further develop my research and take part in more research to get more experience. I would like to continue my career as an academician, where I will conduct academic and clinical research.
My advice to anyone considering studying a PhD is to do some research on the field they want to work in, have knowledge of the literature, and discuss in detail with their prospective supervisors about the studies they want to do. And lastly, I recommend that you enjoy every bit of your PhD adventure!
My PhD is financially supported by a scholarship from the Republic of Turkey Ministry of National Education.