A PhD and an MBA together – crazy idea?
http://dervishcom.blogspot.com/2011/11/phd-and-mba-together-crazy-idea.html
I think it's fair to say that working in reproductive biology can be more embarrassing than working in most other areas of science. My colleagues certainly know me well, having taken samples of my urine, blood and other intimate fluids to test for their research. Even the pub isn't safe: there have been many occasions when we have been engrossed in a conversation about our research, only to realise everyone is staring at us because we have been discussing the size of rat testis rather too enthusiastically.
Compared with some research projects going on at the Centre for Reproductive Health in Edinburgh, my PhD project is fairly tame - no bodily secretions analysed here. Instead I spend a lot of time growing scar tissue in a Petri dish, trying to recreate a process that happens in the ovary. The ovary never scars when it ovulates, despite effectively getting injured and having to repair itself each time it releases an egg. By understanding this healing process, the hope is that we could use the knowledge to prevent scarring in other organs and tissues, such as the lungs and liver.
Most of my days are spent in the lab, peering down the microscope at ovarian cells. I am comparing how they respond to injury with what happens when cells from the abdomen are injured, to deduce which hormones are responsible for preventing scarring.
Studying for a PhD is a daunting task by itself - I can spend up to 60 hours a week on my project - but I've signed up to do an MBA at the same time, also at the University of Edinburgh. I realise the road ahead is going to be difficult with my attention pulled in two very different directions but I am certainly up for the challenge!
Before starting my PhD, my life as a scientist was somewhat varied and not strategically planned. My undergraduate degree was in microbiology and my master's in drug design. After graduation I got a job at Lab901, a biotech start-up company in Edinburgh. Being part of a start-up was fantastic. I got to experience project management first-hand and that really showed how useful an MBA would be.
I was pretty lucky to stumble into a funded MBA along with my PhD, but I think the key is to keep moving in the right direction, build collaborations wherever you can and be careful not to stagnate. Most of the opportunities that have arisen came about through connections rather than my academic work alone. When I graduate I hope to pursue a couple of postdoc positions before branching out from academia to help others commercialise their research - and hopefully develop some of my own ideas too.
Vicky will continue writing for Big Wide World over the coming months
Compared with some research projects going on at the Centre for Reproductive Health in Edinburgh, my PhD project is fairly tame - no bodily secretions analysed here. Instead I spend a lot of time growing scar tissue in a Petri dish, trying to recreate a process that happens in the ovary. The ovary never scars when it ovulates, despite effectively getting injured and having to repair itself each time it releases an egg. By understanding this healing process, the hope is that we could use the knowledge to prevent scarring in other organs and tissues, such as the lungs and liver.
Most of my days are spent in the lab, peering down the microscope at ovarian cells. I am comparing how they respond to injury with what happens when cells from the abdomen are injured, to deduce which hormones are responsible for preventing scarring.
Studying for a PhD is a daunting task by itself - I can spend up to 60 hours a week on my project - but I've signed up to do an MBA at the same time, also at the University of Edinburgh. I realise the road ahead is going to be difficult with my attention pulled in two very different directions but I am certainly up for the challenge!
Before starting my PhD, my life as a scientist was somewhat varied and not strategically planned. My undergraduate degree was in microbiology and my master's in drug design. After graduation I got a job at Lab901, a biotech start-up company in Edinburgh. Being part of a start-up was fantastic. I got to experience project management first-hand and that really showed how useful an MBA would be.
I was pretty lucky to stumble into a funded MBA along with my PhD, but I think the key is to keep moving in the right direction, build collaborations wherever you can and be careful not to stagnate. Most of the opportunities that have arisen came about through connections rather than my academic work alone. When I graduate I hope to pursue a couple of postdoc positions before branching out from academia to help others commercialise their research - and hopefully develop some of my own ideas too.
Vicky will continue writing for Big Wide World over the coming months
