Claire Shaw wrote a useful article recently highlighting “10 things that academics say students get wrong in exams“.

Photo by Anto475

It has been pulled together from advice given by academics in a range of disciplines so not everything will be relevant to students of biochemistry and biology. But most of it is.

Definitely worth a read – especially for 1st and 2nd years preparing for exams. Good luck folks!

A guest post from Rui Gao sharing her impressions from a year out working at the Institute for Cancer Research

As part of my degree, I undertook a placement year between my second and final years. I thoroughly enjoyed my placement experience and highly recommend other students who are thinking seriously about pursuing postgraduate studies to do the same. My year at the Institute of Cancer Research allowed me to gain countless experiences and insights not necessarily attainable by just attending lectures and practicals.

As someone who had always been considering postgraduate studies, the year in industry/research programme was an excellent fit for me because in many ways, the placement was a “test run” which allowed me to determine if a postgraduate degree was the right choice for me. During my placement, I gained deep and meaningful insights into the world of research and what it was like to work in a lab day in and day out. Short-term summer placements can also offer students a glimpse into research and expose them to new techniques, but with a year-long placement, I could really delve deeply into my project, and develop and optimise it, which is not always the case with a short-term placement because simply learning the techniques used and doing the necessary background reading can take up to weeks or months.

I also found it highly inspiring to spend a year working alongside talented scientists who were already established in their fields. My social interactions with them were just as rewarding as the practical work I carried out and I received invaluable advice and suggestions from them simply through lunchtime discussions or even over a few drinks after work. I attended seminars by leading figures in cancer research on a regular basis and on a few occasions had the chance to sit down and discuss their research with them, which were exciting and eye-opening opportunities.

One of the greatest rewards from my placement was the sense of accomplishment I felt. As with anything, what you get from it is proportionate to the amount of effort you put in, but it was immensely satisfying to observe in myself a marked improvement in my technical and analytical skills. Over the course of the year I matured and developed as a scientist. There were of course some setbacks and frustrations along the way, but that is part and parcel of research, and I think learning how to deal with failures efficiently is an essential skill to succeed in science.

Now, as a result of my year in research, I am more motivated than ever to return to Imperial and do well in my final year, then continue on to postgraduate studies. It has allowed me to ascertain that a career in research is the right path for me; I can now apply for a postgraduate degree knowing what it entails and what is expected of me. Finally, having substantial research experience and good references from my placement supervisor will undoubtedly enhance my application for a variety of positions, whether Masters/PhD courses or other careers.

Here is an interesting post by Harry Slater that has just popped up at The Guardian — advice from a student on how to make the most of your time at university, both socially and academically.

Ring any bells?

What do you make of scientific papers?

First year students may yet to have read one in depth but second and third years should be getting to grips with what is the primary mode of communication of scientific research.

They can seem daunting, especially at first. For a start there are thousands of journals out there and it can be difficult to get a measure of the differences between them. Which is better — Nature or Science? The EMBO Journal or the Journal of Biological Chemistry? How do you find out?

As an undergraduate student, you may feel that you are in no position to criticise the contents of a paper that has obviously been written by an ‘expert’. But you should never be afraid to ask questions.

This week I gave the 2nd year Biochemists on my Macromolecular Structure and Function course a short lecture on how and why the scientific literature has the form it does (and what changes might be around the corner). You can have a look at the slides from my talk (PDF – quality reduced a tad to keep the file size small).

If the slides pique an interest please let me know — either by email or by leaving a comment below. The information in the slides is only sketchy so I would be more than happy to arrange a repeat the lecture if there is sufficient interest (this time making sure there is enough time for Q&A at the end).

Update (13 Feb 2013): I did a re-run of this lecture on 12th Feb 2013 for the whole department. For this latter occasion I expanded my comments. You can access the slides via SlideShare. Please feel free to ask questions in the comments below or by email.

The education journalist Peter Wilby had a comment piece in the Guardian last week, in which he raised some interesting questions about the value of educational qualifications. The article resonated with me because it touched on an issue that I have become more and more aware of since assuming the role of Director of Undergraduate Studies: the meaning of a university degree.

Wilby starts from what is probably a widely accepted position:

“Education is regarded as an unmitigated good, of benefit to society, the economy and the individual. More means better, we think. In many respects, that is true: if we are a more tolerant, more inclusive society than we were 50 years ago, that is largely because most of us are better educated.”

But despite improvements in education he notes that many professions have been affected by a sort of qualification inflation, by which the minimum entry requirements have risen inexorably and, in some cases, without proper justification. He argues that this creates problems for employers and students:

“Take, first the demand for higher general qualifications: the batch of GCSEs and A-levels or a degree without which most employers won’t look at a job application. These credentials carry little or no information about knowledge and skills that may be of relevance to a particular career. They are sifting devices, allowing employers to exclude those they perceive as unintelligent or lazy. They create, in students, an instrumental attitude to education. Subjects are studied and examinations taken, not because of enthusiasm for history, chemistry or German literature, but because they are required if the student is to progress.”

I wonder what you — our students — feel about this? There is on occasion a perception among staff that some students are only prepared to engage with their courses if the activity contributes to the degree. Hence the oft-heard refrain, “Do we need to know this for the exam?” or the sometimes patchy attendance at lectures or tutorials that are not perceived as necessary.

To some extent, I think we should be relaxed about this. It is part and parcel of treating students as responsible adults — free make their own decisions and take the consequences. Given recent increases in fees, it is understandable that students should be more concerned about the grade on their degree certificate, since that may well impact their future income.

But I would not like to go too far down this road. Being at university is about so much more than the acquisition of a qualification. It should be a time of excitement and personal growth, in all sorts of areas, not just academic. A university should be an environment where curiosity is encouraged to thrive and where all participants, staff and students, can enjoy an intellectual challenge together. It may be hard to realise, given the day-to-day pressures on everyone’s time, but I think it is a goal worth aiming for.

In part this has motivated us to introduce more research-based material into the revised Biochemistry second year and this sort of thinking is behind the development of the College’s new Horizons program (introduced this year for 1st year students). This will be an ongoing project as we seek to refine the experiences on offer to our students. You can help with this by talking to us about how we might — within reason please! — provide opportunities to complement and enrich your educational experience, to make it less passive.

The preoccupation with qualifications can sometimes make university seem like an end in itself. But, as Wilby argues, it would be more valuable to see education as a life-long process. Your time at university is just the beginning.

I came across this blogpost yesterday with useful advice on how to communicate with professors and lecturers by email. Although it comes from Wellesley College which, being a US liberal arts college for women only, is a rather different institution to Imperial College, much of the advice is relevant and helpful.

It is clear from my email inbox that many students already have a clear idea of how to write a polite and effective email message, but I’ve also seen examples from students who are not so sure how to go about the task.

To the points of technique and etiquette mentioned in the blogpost, I would like to add the suggestion that students try to keep to a minimum the number of times that they email staff at weekends or during holidays, out of consideration for the fact that staff are entitled to a break from their teaching duties from time to time.

Mary Beard, a Professor of Classics at Cambridge University, is a well-known TV historian and currently also has a regular spot presenting ‘A Point of View‘ on BBC Radio 4.

In this week’s instalment, she ponders the survey culture that has swept the UK university system, asking if student satisfaction should be the most important driver of the educational system, even when students are paying £9000 a year.

Have a listen (or read the text) and see what you think.

Welcome to all the first year students arriving for their first taste of life at university. We hope that you are about to embark on some of the best years of your life. There is plenty of hard work ahead but also a great opportunity to grow, both in terms of scientific understanding and personal development.

Welcome also to all our returning students — we hope you enjoyed and profited from the long summer break and are looking forward to getting back into the swing of life on campus.

First years are perhaps most likely to be regarding the year ahead a little apprehensively, but please don’t worry. We aim to make the transition from school to university life as straight-forward as possible. For sure there are challenges — studying at university is less structured than at school and you are expected to take more of the initiative in your learning. But you are all bright, successful students and should have confidence in your ability to cope. The nerves are understandable — it’s a big step — but fear not.

Second and final years may be wondering what is in store for them. Is a shift to a higher gear required? Possibly (!) — we do expect you to mature in your approach to your studies now that you have at least a year under you belts. But plan ahead and you will manage.

Take a look at the smiling faces above. These are last year’s finalists celebrating their degree results in July. Many were pleasantly surprised and experienced a gratifying sense of pride in their achievements. And yet they too were once first years, arriving at the Department of Life Sciences and not knowing quite what was ahead of them.

Prof Stephen Curry (Director of UG Studies)

Congratulations are due to Dominic Swift, a biology student who has not only just graduated, but also become a published author.

Dominic’s account of his research into the effects of logging on primate populations, which was performed during the Uganda field-trip on the Tropical Biology course, has now appeared in Bioscience Horizons.

His supervisor, Prof Vincent Savolainen, is justifiably proud of Dominic’s work — as are we all.

If any other students have succeeded in publishing their results, please do let us know.

Last week our final year students on all our Biochemistry, Biology and Biotechnology programs got their degree results and — in the vast majority of cases! — celebrated their success.

Many students seemed to be pleasantly surprised by their performance, suggesting perhaps that you tend to be harder on yourselves than your examiners, a lesson that first and second years might want to bear in mind. (The phenomenon, that able people tend to underestimate their abilities, is rather well known).

The Biochemists and Biotechnologist’s were the first to learn of their fate, on Thursday last.

And then on Friday it was the turn of the Biologists:

Congratulations to all our students! We hope to be able to celebrate with you again come Commemoration Day in October.