STUDENT LIFE AT ROTHAMSTED
SUSANA SILVESTRE
“The level of mentoring and training I am receiving at Rothamsted is great, specifically in the area of statistics which is important for the correct design and analysis of my experiments. The Institute offers a series of progressive experimental design and statistics courses that are very well structured and delivered.”
STUDENTSHIP SUMMARY
LOCATION:
Rothamsted Research - Harpenden
WORKING TITLE OF PHD RESEARCH:
‘Securing seed oil synthesis under cold stress: what can we learn from the extremities?’
AREA OF RESEARCH:
Plant lipids
YEAR OF STUDY:
2nd
STUDY PROGRAMME:
BBSRC Nottingham Doctoral Training Partnership
UNIVERISITY:
University of Nottingham
FUNDER(S):
BBSRC
INTERNAL SUPERVISOR(S):
Dr Richard Haslam; Dr Louise Michaelson
EXTERNAL SUPERVISOR(S):
Dr Erik Murchie - University of Nottingham
SUSANA'S STORY
I always knew Rothamsted Research to be a prestigious research institute, and when a studentship opportunity came up, which I was interested in, I didn’t hesitate in applying! My PhD research, which I am now in the second year of, examines cold stress and the role that plant lipids play in the protection and adaptation of the plant to this stress. This is a comparative study with Arabidopsis thaliana, the model plant, and the extremophile Eutrema salsugineum.
The level of mentoring and training I am receiving at Rothamsted is great, specifically in the area of statistics which is important for the correct design and analysis of my experiments. The Institute offers a series of progressive experimental design and statistics courses that are very well structured and delivered. There is a whole range of other professional training courses provided and we, as a student body with is represented by the Post Graduate Training Committee (PGTC), can also make requests for specific training as required.
Along with many other students, I work and live on-site. This helped me to create a good network of support both academically and socially. We hold a range of PhD social events, to meet the new students when they arrive and to catch up with each other and have fun!
There are several Rothamsted clubs that span a really good range of activities during the week, from tennis to knitting or even singing. The land surroundings the Rothamsted site in Harpenden is very pretty and there are great trails for bike riding and running in the summer. Locally there is also the sports centre in the Rothamsted Park, which has a good range of facilities (gym and pool) and activities (group exercise classes). And of course, it is incredibly near to London, and Luton Airport in case you like to travel, or are an international student like me and in three hours I’m home back in Portugal!
