MRes in Biomedical Research (Microbiome in Health & Disease Stream) - Gina Wren

What did you most enjoy about your course?

I thoroughly enjoyed having the opportunity to plan, manage and execute two independent research projects. For the first time in my academic career I was given a large amount of freedom to shape the direction of my own research. This allowed me to tailor the projects to suit my interests and to formulate novel approaches to tackling some of the biggest challenges in my field. As a result, I am due to submit a paper for publication based on one of my projects, which is very exciting!

What did you most appreciate about the Faculty/College?

One of the best parts about the College is the chance to work with internationally renowned academics. I felt very privileged to receive guidance and feedback from people who were experts in their field. What I found really awe-inspiring was working on a particular method or computer software and finding out that someone in the Faculty was the person who developed it!

How did it feel to receive the Dean's Prize?

Shocked and proud! Shocked as I had to rapidly learn how to code for one of my projects (I didn’t even know which button to press to import my data when I first started out!) and proud as I felt like all the hard work I’d put in this year had paid off.

What are you doing now/What do you plan on doing after graduation?

Currently I am continuing at Imperial College as a Research Assistant in the group I did one of my projects in. I am also exploring both PhD and job options to start in the coming year.

Any other comments

I would like to extend a massive thank you to my supervisors and course organisers. There were points this year when I didn’t even know if I would make it to the end of the course given all the COVID-19 uncertainty. The course was rapidly adapted to become remote and there was lots of support offered by the faulty throughout. A massive thank you to all involved!

Find out more about the MRes in Biomedical Research and apply