Essaying

Hiya,

Having survived and enjoyed the Salsa class (although I can only dance the man's part because my partner was a girl), I've now made a start on preparation for my project. The book I needed appeared on Tuesday and since then I have written an essay on "what are the interesting unanswered questions about heart development? What problems arise in tracing the very earliest origins of the heart primordia?" My project may well expand to look at different areas of heart development once I have investigated the heart reversal problem, so it is important that I know the background to what is being researched at the moment.

Now that I've finished the essay I again have no work to do until my supervisor has marked it and I meet up with him again. Yesterday I had a health and safety meeting where I was given risk assessment forms so I'll need to see him to help me assess the risks too. Having so little work makes me the envy of most of my friends, who are studying hard for exams. It makes a nice change for the medics to be so free compared to everyone else, but I think we deserve it after our hard work last term!

This weekend I'm going to Legoland with KEEN. They organise several trip each year but it is not often possible for me to take a whole day out. Last year I had a great day at the Cotswolds Wildlife Park with them but it was in the middle of winter and was absolutely freezing. Hopefully the weather will be better this time!

Bye.

End of lectures, start of project

Hello,

My lectures for this term have now finished. The Foundation Course is over, and the rest of the term is free for starting work on projects. I met with my supervisor yesterday to discuss where to start with my project. He told me that the scientific papers I had found on the topic were about as relevent as I was going to find because nothing has been published directly on the problem that I am investigating. We also discussed the legal and ethical implications of the practical work (there are no laws regulating experimentaion on chick embryos under 15 days old because their nervous system is not sufficiently developed for there to be any chance of them feeling anything). The eggs I will use will be collected from a nearby farm each week and should be at the right stage for use on Mondays or Tuesdays. Once I have learned the techniques, each experiment will be very quick so I won't need to spend hours in the lab, although the project is likely to last a long time because of eggs only being available once a week.

My next task is to read a book on heart development and write a summary of the early stages, adding any new information from recent research papers. I have ordered the book from the stack (the depository of library books that are not kept on open shelves) and should be able to collect it at the beginning of next week. Until then, I still have no work to do so I've got another totally free weekend! Tomorrow I'm going to lunch with a family from my church, along with a group of students, as part of a "link-up lunch" scheme organised by the church. Then I'm going to a Salsa dancing class for a friend's birthday in the evening. I'll let you know how it goes soon! Bye.

Project and Option allocations

Hello,

I got the project I wanted, and I'm doing the neuro Option like I hoped. The project is called "The myth of heart reversal", which refers to the fact that the heart-forming region in an embryo begins to develop at the top end and then moves down into position when the top of the embryo folds over. You'd expect that to make the heart turn upside-down but somehow it ends up the right way up. I'm going to be labeling parts of the heart-forming bit of chick embryos and seeing where they end up, using a microscope. Dissecting chick embryos (which are a couple of millimetres long) was one of the things I enjoyed most last year so I'm really looking forward to starting the project.

I spent this afternoon in the library searching the literature for work on this area so that I can find out what is already known about it. I haven't found a lot of hugely relevent stuff yet but I'm seeing my supervisor tomorrow so hopefully he'll point me in the right direction. Yesterday I had my first tutorial of the term, where we looked at a couple of research papers to develop our ability to analyse and criticise them, which will be needed in Paper 3 of the exams at the end of next year. The tutors also checked we were all on track to start our projects and answered questions about our Options. Most people have got one of their five project choices, but those who haven't are now in the process of looking through the list of projects that nobody wanted or contacting researchers who didn't offer one to come up with new ideas for projects.

Most of the year group also got their first choice Option, although Infection and Immunity was oversubscribed so some I&I people had to settle for their second choice. Each Option can take up to 50 people. Neuro was another popular choice - I think about 49 people chose it. Signalling in Health and Disease was less popular, with only about 10. Their lectures will certainly have a more personal touch!

Ball and Arts Festival

Hiya,

Sorry for the long gap between posts - I've been filling up my empty timetable with lots of things that I don't normally have time to do! Last weekend was the Brasenose ball. It had a Shakespearean theme so as well as typical ball things like music and dancing, there were fire jugglers, actors, fencers, men on stilts, morris dancers, and other Shakespeare-style entertainers. There were also hairdressers to change hairstyles half-way through the night, a chocolate fountain, and a hog roast. The scary sum of 32 units of alcohol per person was available, but I think most people managed to enjoy themselves without consuming their whole share, leaving some for the Arts Festival outdoor bar.

The Brasenose Arts Festival is an annual event, unlike the ball which happens every other year. It consists of plays and other arty things put on throughout the week, mostly by members of the college. Among the performances I went to see were the Tempest, a comedy night, and a cabaret night. There were also installations by a 2nd year art student around college. The festivities provided a welcome break for those revising for exams, and some great entertainment for those without!

As well as being entertained by some of the talented members of Brasenose, I've done more KEEN and punting this week, and also helped at a mother-and-toddler group at church on Wednesday. Today I had another picnic in the park (becoming a bit of a regular Sunday thing!) and then played frisbee afterwards. There's a concert by a singer in the college chapel tonight which I will probably go to as well.

I should find out what project I have been assigned at the beginning of next week, although since I have been asked to go and see the supervisor of my first-choice project on Tuesday, I suspect that I may have got that one or at least a similar one. Once I know for certain, I will be able to start researching the appropriate topic. Next week, I also have the first meeting with my tutors of the term, where they will find out what projects and Options we have applied for (I applied for the neuro Option), and may set us some work on the Paper 3 part of the course, which is to do with analysing research papers. It will be good to get started because much as I am enjoying my free time, I am aware that there will be a lot to do next term and the more I can start now the better.

A few lectures and lots of KEEN

This week has been the start of the Foundation Course lectures which are intended to prepare us for our work next year. The topics have been quite varied, with some on how to read research papers and others on subjects like evolution and proteomics. Although some are more directly relevent to certain Options, we are encouraged to go to all of them to gain wider understanding, and incase we don't end up with the Option we want at the moment.

With only 2 or 3 lectures a day, many of which I don't feel the need to write up notes on afterwards because they are more about learning skills than memorising facts, the workload is considerably lighter than previous terms! Also, with no tutorials, and therefore no essays, evenings and weekends are totally free. I handed in my form with my top 4 choices for Research Projects today, so there aren't even any project supervisors to meet now.

Today I went to another KEEN session. This time is was ZigZag, an art and drama group (i.e. decorating balloons and singing songs like the Hokey Kokey). Every session is themed, with a storyline running through the activities. Today, we went on a hot air balloon, which crashed in the mountains, where we pitched a tent before being attacked by a yeti and having to ski out. I got back from the Himalayan adventure just in time to go out for a friend's birthday.

Tomorrow is our college ball, and then next week is Brasenose Arts Week, when plays and other entertainment will be put on my members of the college and others every day. But more about that next time...

A free weekend!

Hello,

I'm still enjoying having no essays and no lecture notes to write up. The last of the introductory lecture series was Signalling in Health and Disease on Friday. I'm swaying towards neuro, but I don't have to decide for a couple of weeks.

I've been to see several potential supervisors to find out about the research projects they are offering. On Friday I went to a supervisor's talk about a project that involves using ferrets to test hearing with one ear. The project looked really interesting but there was a whole room full of students thinking of applying for it and only one place. Another project had just three other people at the talk, none of whom were interested by the end. Unfortunately, neither was I. I have some more meetings with supervisors next week, although the most appealing projects are all bound to be very popular. We get up to five choices, listed in order of preference, and if all applications are unsuccessful the search for a project will continue!

Yesterday I spent the afternoon at All Sorts, a sports group run by the charity KEEN for children and adults with learning disabilities. Although I have been to Zig Zag, KEEN's dance and drama group, and on some of their outings before, I have never had a whole Saturday afternoon free before to spend at All Sorts. We played a variety of sports, including rounders, basketball and football. Volunteers, or "Coaches", are paired up with participants, or "Athletes" to allow everyone to get the most out of the activities. I had a great afternoon, despite the enjoyment that my athletes got out of pinching, biting and eye poking, and I'll definitely spend any more free Saturdays that I have there!