Virtual Work Experience Week By Laura Gourlay and

Virtual Work Experience Week By Laura Gourlay and Emily Sandeman

What Did you learn? • During this week we took part in many different activities ranging from Q and A's with lecturers to critical thinking workshops. • These activities gave us an insight into the many different routes you can take when studying science. • We learnt about important aspects of studying science in the university such as the different work experiences you can get working in a lab. • We also got to know about all the different types of support that is available to students and how lecturers can help with this!

• Most days during this week, we had the opportunity to speak with many people that work or study at the university. • This was a very good part of the week as it allowed us to learn more about what life at the university entails. Q and A's • We feel that the Q and A's were very informative, and they all gave us a deeper insight into the many different careers there are in life science. • The Q and A's also allowed us to see that people can come from all sorts of different backgrounds and that if you work hard you can make it anywhere.

Presentations • We were also very lucky that some of the scientists from the school of life sciences, were able to make and present powerpoints to us. • All of these presentations were very informative, and we personally felt we gained a deeper understanding of the different areas that are studied at the University of Dundee.

The Activities • Throughout the week we were given different activities to complete. • These activities all related to the materials we had been learning from. They ranged from mind maps on paper to learning and using new software. • Whilst taking part in these activities, we also had the option to work in groups with people we had never met before. This gave us the opportunity to develop our communication skills. • As the activities allowed us to work with other students that we had never met before, we found it very beneficial as it gave us a tiny insight to what completing work at university is like.

• On the last day of our work experience we looked at personal statements and how a strong one can better your chances on getting into your desired course. Personal Statements • A strong personal statement can take many formats but talks about a person's experiences and skills that can be transferred to the course they want to take. • We found out about the processes you follow in order to write your statement and why it is a good idea to follow a planned process.

What surprised you ? • Laura – I found it surprising how many opportunities there are to get work experience in labs. I thought it was more uncommon. • Emily – I was surprised to learn that there were so many different jobs within life sciences. I was also surprised that to learn that as a scientist each day on the job is different. New ideas for the future? • Emily – I came into this week to try figure out if a career in life sciences would be the right thing for me. Although i am still unsure of what I would like to do, I think that a career in life sciences sounds very good and I believe I would enjoy it. • Laura – I was originally planning to go straight into studying a neuroscience course at university. Now after talking to actual neuroscientists I have realised that my options are still open and that I can study other courses such as biomedical science then specialise in neuroscience later.