Planning ahead

The last few weeks leading up to the beginning of summer were pretty hectic. Along with revising for my end of term exams, I also had a number of important decisions to make regarding what I want to study in my third year. Around this busy time all second year biological sciences students had to make decisions about the types of third year projects and preferred supervisors they would like as well as which modules they want to study in the next academic year. Things to consider included what type of third year project you would find most interesting, what would keep you motivated to work hard, what would best suit your future aspirations, what types of skills or techniques you might want to learn and so on. In addition, as a first for this year, a number of new projects were introduced in order to better cater for the various types of skills we might need depending on what we plan on working with in the future. For example, some of the new project types that were introduced as an option this year include a bioscience business project, bioscience education and a science communication project. So as an example, those students who already know they want to go into teaching after their degree might prefer to choose a project type such as the bioscience education module which could prepare them better with the types of skills they might need in the future. Originally the project types included doing a long lab project, a short lab project, a literature project or a long field project.

Choosing a project type does require some thought into the future and what you hope to do when you graduate. For example if you’re planning on continuing study with either a Masters or PhD then (depending of your area of research of interest) a long lab might be the best choice. After a lot of consideration I ended up choosing to do a field project which I hope to accompany with some additional lab experience, however I will save the details for a future post closer to the time I begin my project.

Many of the biologists and zoologists who choose to do field projects take the opportunity to collect their data abroad (including travelling to exotic continents such as Africa and Asia) with an external company. The expenses are paid by the student but many find ways to raise money so that they don’t solely have to cover the costs. It all depends on what your interests are and what your project is. On the other hand, there are numerous interesting lab projects which generally revolve around an area of research in which your supervisor is working, which is why your supervisor choice can be very important.

In terms of the modules I have chosen for next year, I have decided on mostly plant-related modules, building on many of the modules I chose in my second year and on topics which will hopefully complement my third year project. My future modules include Applied Ecology, Applied Plant Biology, Global Change Biology and Spatial Ecology and Conservation. Again, choosing modules for next year required some thought into the future and what I might want to work with or continue to study after I graduate.

Now while I’m still at home in Sweden for another couple of weeks, I have some free time to really start thinking seriously about what I might want to do when I graduate (and what I want to do with my life!). I want to start thinking about this seriously now because I think it will be somewhat of a relief to have some sort of a plan ahead, even though it could likely change, especially seeing as you never really know what opportunities may arise and if this should happen I think it’s best to be flexible and welcome them with an open mind. Anyway, along with planning ahead and thinking of the future and about applying for jobs, I have decided it would be a good idea to start cleaning up my online profiles and hopefully represent myself better. During the last careers fair I went to, there was a lot of emphasis on how you represent yourself online with social media. It can be a valuable tool but if you’re not careful it might also cost you your dream job. So I have been gradually trying to clear away old photos and material, including old blog posts (from my old personal blogs) which now in hindsight I have realised I might have shared more information than was really necessary. In any case it has been quite amusing reading through some of my old blog posts as well as looking through old photos and seeing how much I’ve changed. It’s unbelievable how fast time flies and it feels like it only passes faster each year as I get older! I find it hard to believe that at the end of the summer I will be entering my third year at university!

Kristin