
{"id":2556,"date":"2019-05-08T09:55:46","date_gmt":"2019-05-08T09:55:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/a-day-in-the-life-of-chemistry-phd-student\/"},"modified":"2025-04-04T08:25:10","modified_gmt":"2025-04-04T08:25:10","slug":"a-day-in-the-life-of-chemistry-phd-student","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/a-day-in-the-life-of-chemistry-phd-student","title":{"rendered":"A day in the life of chemistry PhD student"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\">I find people\u2019s routines really interesting. Everybody\u2019s different. Some people are early birds while others are night owls. Some people work long hours and others manage to fit a lot of work into a short period of time. In this post, I chat about what a typical day looks like for me and the various things I get involved with both inside and outside of the lab as a PhD student.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"responsive\" title=\"Default Title Text\" src=\"http:\/\/insights.cactusglobal.com\/sites\/default\/files\/A%20day%20in%20the%20life%20of%20chemistry%20PhD%20student%20image%201.jpg\" alt=\"Default Alt text\" data-file_info=\"%7B%22fid%22:%228127%22,%22view_mode%22:%22default%22,%22fields%22:%7B%22format%22:%22default%22,%22field_file_image_alt_text%5Bund%5D%5B0%5D%5Bvalue%5D%22:%22Default%20Alt%20text%22,%22field_file_image_title_text%5Bund%5D%5B0%5D%5Bvalue%5D%22:%22Default%20Title%20Text%22,%22field_image_tags%5Bund%5D%5Btextfield%5D%22:%22%22,%22field_image_tags%5Bund%5D%5Bvalue_field%5D%22:%22%5C%22%5C%22%5C%22%5C%22%22%7D,%22type%22:%22media%22%7D\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;\">\u00a0<em><strong>Fiona in a lab coat taking a selfie in the chemistry lab.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<h4 style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\"><b>Day in the life<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h4>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\">0630: My alarm goes off. More often than not, I press the snooze button for a little while.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\">0630-0700: If I\u2019m sufficiently awake, I go for a run; then get ready for uni. I\u2019m currently training for the Brighton Half Marathon at the end of February next year.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\">0815: Get the bus to campus.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\">0845-0900: Depending on how the buses are, get into the office, check e-mail and RSS feeds.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\">MORNING: I spend the morning either at my desk doing data analysis or in the lab running experiments.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\">1200: I eat lunch with colleagues. I usually bring a packed lunch, but occasionally I treat myself to lunch at one of the university cafes.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\">AFTERNOON: I usually have a bit of an energy slump after lunch so I switch to low-brain-power tasks e.g. running TLCs in the lab or writing up analyses.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\">1600: I usually kick back into gear at this time of the day so I will have a burst of activity in the lab or at my desk.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\">1800-1830: leave office<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\">Evenings: I don\u2019t tend to do work on my PhD when I\u2019m not on campus. In the evenings, I\u2019m either chilling at home, going along to something at my church, or going to review something at the theatre.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\"><span style=\"background: #fefefe;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif';\"><span style=\"color: #444444;\">***<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\">This is what a typical day, where I have nothing in the calendar, looks like. There are other things that pop up throughout the week which mixes things up. I generally prefer days when I have a meeting or two in the calendar. This is because it makes me more productive with my time \u2013 because in my head I\u2019m thinking, \u201cI have to get this done by X because of Y.\u201d Below are some other things that are typical of chemistry PhD life outside of doing experiments:<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h4 style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\"><b>Cleaning the Lab<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h4>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"center\" title=\"Default Title Text\" src=\"http:\/\/insights.cactusglobal.com\/sites\/default\/files\/A%20day%20in%20the%20life%20of%20chemistry%20PhD%20student%20image%202.jpg\" alt=\"Default Alt text\" data-file_info=\"%7B%22fid%22:%228128%22,%22view_mode%22:%22default%22,%22fields%22:%7B%22format%22:%22default%22,%22field_file_image_alt_text%5Bund%5D%5B0%5D%5Bvalue%5D%22:%22Default%20Alt%20text%22,%22field_file_image_title_text%5Bund%5D%5B0%5D%5Bvalue%5D%22:%22Default%20Title%20Text%22,%22field_image_tags%5Bund%5D%5Btextfield%5D%22:%22%22,%22field_image_tags%5Bund%5D%5Bvalue_field%5D%22:%22%5C%22%5C%22%5C%22%5C%22%22%7D,%22type%22:%22media%22%7D\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;\"><em><strong>A set of super sensitive scales, known as a balance, reading 0.0000 g.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\">While everyone in my lab has a responsibility for their own lab space, we have a rota for cleaning the communal areas of the lab. This involves checking that our balances don\u2019t have residual chemicals on them; cleaning up the TLC plate area; and checking that our communal rotary evaporator, for removing toxic\/smelly substances, has been cleaned.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h4 style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\"><b>Solvent Run<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h4>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\">In a lab capable of up to nine chemists working in it at once, we get through a lot of chemicals, especially solvents! Solvents are the liquids we run our reactions in. Sometimes it\u2019s water, but it\u2019s usually an organic solvent such as dichloromethane, tetrahydrofuan or an alcohol. We take it in turns to check our communal solvent stocks in the lab and top them up from the school\u2019s central store as needed.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"responsive\" title=\"Default Title Text\" src=\"http:\/\/insights.cactusglobal.com\/sites\/default\/files\/A%20day%20in%20the%20life%20of%20chemistry%20PhD%20student%20image%203.jpg\" alt=\"Default Alt text\" data-file_info=\"%7B%22fid%22:%228129%22,%22view_mode%22:%22default%22,%22fields%22:%7B%22format%22:%22default%22,%22field_file_image_alt_text%5Bund%5D%5B0%5D%5Bvalue%5D%22:%22Default%20Alt%20text%22,%22field_file_image_title_text%5Bund%5D%5B0%5D%5Bvalue%5D%22:%22Default%20Title%20Text%22,%22field_image_tags%5Bund%5D%5Btextfield%5D%22:%22%22,%22field_image_tags%5Bund%5D%5Bvalue_field%5D%22:%22%5C%22%5C%22%5C%22%5C%22%22%7D,%22type%22:%22media%22%7D\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;\">\u00a0<em><strong>Multiple plastic bottles with different coloured lids containing different solvents.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<h4 style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\"><b>Supervisor 1-2-1s<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h4>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\">About once a week, I sit down with my lab supervisor to review the chemistry and other work I\u2019ve done, troubleshoot any problems I\u2019m having, and I propose what I plan to do next. About once a month, I give a slightly \u201cbigger picture\u201d version of this project update to my main PhD supervisor. This helps me to build up a record of what I do on a weekly\/monthly basis and gain input on my project from people with more experience than me.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h4 style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\"><b>Teaching<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h4>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\">PhD students can undertake casual work at my university to earn extra money. So far I have demonstrated in undergraduate labs \u2013 walked around and made sure everyone is carrying out their experiments safely and helped with any issues they had; invigilated exams; marked exam papers and taught tutorials and workshops for undergraduate chemistry\/life science courses.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h4 style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\"><b>Attend lectures\/seminars<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h4>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\">As I am undertaking a research postgraduate degree instead of a taught one, I don\u2019t have any mandatory classes as part of my course. That doesn\u2019t mean I can\u2019t take advantage of the learning that\u2019s happening around me on campus. Last year I attended a module called Fundamental Cancer Biology which helped me to consolidate what I\u2019d learned about the biology side of cancer from my own personal reading, which I found very helpful.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\">The life science school puts on a number of seminars that are mainly geared towards postgraduate students and research staff. While the term \u201cseminar\u201d can mean different things, in Sussex\u2019s School of Life Science, this session is usually an hour-long where an in-house\/invited speaker talks for about 45 minutes about their research, followed by questions. It tends to be a very applied talk with only general concepts covered in the first few minutes. I enjoy seminars because you get the chance to learn about all kinds of research outside of your own.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h4 style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\"><b>Conferences<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h4>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\">A few times a year, I go to conferences. These are 1-3 day events where researchers in academia\/industry meet in a specific location to hear talks about research around a specific area. I\u2019ve been to conferences about medicinal chemistry, genome stability, the specific class of drug target I\u2019m working on, and more! There\u2019s a conference for everyone.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"responsive\" title=\"Default Title Text\" src=\"http:\/\/insights.cactusglobal.com\/sites\/default\/files\/A%20day%20in%20the%20life%20of%20chemistry%20PhD%20student%20image%204.jpg\" alt=\"Default Alt text\" data-file_info=\"%7B%22fid%22:%228130%22,%22view_mode%22:%22default%22,%22fields%22:%7B%22format%22:%22default%22,%22field_file_image_alt_text%5Bund%5D%5B0%5D%5Bvalue%5D%22:%22Default%20Alt%20text%22,%22field_file_image_title_text%5Bund%5D%5B0%5D%5Bvalue%5D%22:%22Default%20Title%20Text%22,%22field_image_tags%5Bund%5D%5Btextfield%5D%22:%22%22,%22field_image_tags%5Bund%5D%5Bvalue_field%5D%22:%22%5C%22%5C%22%5C%22%5C%22%22%7D,%22type%22:%22media%22%7D\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;\"><em><strong>Fiona giving a presentation at the RSC Kinase 2018 conference. A single slide summarises my PhD project with diagrams of chemical structures and biological processes.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\">While I haven\u2019t had the chance to go abroad yet, I\u2019ve been to conferences on my own campus and in Glasgow, Cambridge, and London so far. I sometimes take a poster summarising my research and am now applying to talk at some conferences \u2013 now that I\u2019m later on in my PhD. They\u2019re a good opportunity to network and catch-up with people from my field of research.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h4 style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\"><b>Public Engagement<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h4>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\">It is becoming increasingly common that researchers are required to demonstrate the impact their research has on society by communicating that research to the public. I\u2019ll do a separate post about the various public engagement activities I\u2019ve been involved in another time but very briefly, from time to time, I take part in science fairs, school events at the university, and sometimes go into schools to talk about chemistry.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"responsive\" title=\"Default Title Text\" src=\"http:\/\/insights.cactusglobal.com\/sites\/default\/files\/A%20day%20in%20the%20life%20of%20chemistry%20PhD%20student%20image%205.jpg\" alt=\"Default Alt text\" data-file_info=\"%7B%22fid%22:%228131%22,%22view_mode%22:%22default%22,%22fields%22:%7B%22format%22:%22default%22,%22field_file_image_alt_text%5Bund%5D%5B0%5D%5Bvalue%5D%22:%22Default%20Alt%20text%22,%22field_file_image_title_text%5Bund%5D%5B0%5D%5Bvalue%5D%22:%22Default%20Title%20Text%22,%22field_image_tags%5Bund%5D%5Btextfield%5D%22:%22%22,%22field_image_tags%5Bund%5D%5Bvalue_field%5D%22:%22%5C%22%5C%22%5C%22%5C%22%22%7D,%22type%22:%22media%22%7D\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;\"><em><strong>Fiona pouring liquid nitrogen onto the floor, creating a large fog, as part of a public engagement show about chemistry at a school.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\">***<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\">Juggling these things requires a lot of time management, which I have varying levels of success at doing. I like that there\u2019s a lot of variety in my work but primarily the goal of my PhD is to spend time in a lab making molecules. The other things give me a change of scene and enable me to develop other skills that will be useful for whatever job I do after my degree.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\"><i>What does your typical working day look like? Is there an established routine or is every day different? Let me know in the comments below.<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><i>Fiona Scott (<a style=\"color: blue; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/fi0n0\">@fi0n0<\/a><\/i><i>) is a <span style=\"background: white;\"><span style=\"color: black;\">PhD researcher at Sussex Drug Discovery Centre. This story was published on November 26, 2018 on Fiona\u2019s blog, \u2018<\/span><\/span><a style=\"color: blue; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/thechemistryofaphd.com\/\"><span style=\"background: white;\">The Chemistry Of A Phd<\/span><\/a><\/i><i><span style=\"background: white;\"><span style=\"color: black;\">\u2019 (available <\/span><\/span><a style=\"color: blue; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/thechemistryofaphd.com\/2018\/11\/26\/chemistry-phd-a-day-in-the-life\/\"><span style=\"background: white;\">here<\/span><\/a><\/i><i><span style=\"background: white;\"><span style=\"color: black;\">) and has been republished here with her permission.<\/span><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I find people\u2019s routines really interesting. Everybody\u2019s different. Some people are early birds while others are night owls. Some people work long hours and others manage to fit a lot of work into a short period of time. In this post, I chat about what a typical day looks like for me and the various [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1432,"featured_media":33313,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2414],"tags":[2673,2454],"new_categories":[],"new_tags":[],"series":[],"class_list":["post-2556","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiring-researcher-stories","tag-a-day-in-the-life","tag-researcher-stories"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>A day in the life of chemistry PhD student<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"On a\u00a0typical day for me as a chemistry PhD student, I am involved with several activities and tasks\u00a0both inside and outside of the lab.\u00a0Juggling these things requires a lot of time management, which I have varying levels of success at doing. 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