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Institute of Epidemiology & Health Care

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Student Testimonial

Gemma Pugh

I joined the Department of Behavioural Science and Health (formerly the HBRC) in 2014 to take up a PhD investigating the health behaviours of young people who have had a cancer diagnosis and haven't looked back since. Here at the BSH, PhD students sit together in one cluster and are seen as an integral and core part of the day-to-day workings of the department.  We are actively encouraged to present and share our PhD findings, both internally during weekly research group meetings and externally at conferences, from an early stage.  

The weekly research group meetings provide us all (PhD students, post-docs, and senior staff) with an opportunity to seek feedback or ask for advice about our on-going work. These weekly group meetings are also brilliant opportunities to hear about other areas of research other than your own and more often than not the discussions from these group meetings generate a fresh perspective on how to tackle any tricky problems with study design, analysis or results interpretation. 

The BSH nature of encouraging PhD students to share and present our work at conferences and submit papers for publication from an early stage means we develop the research skills needed to be confident independent academics. The supportive structure we have here at the Department of BSH is down to the excellence of the senior staff in guiding us in a kind and helpful nature meaning no-one experiences the isolation or loneliness sometimes dreaded when taking on a PhD. Visitors to the department often comment on how much of a happy, collaborative group we are. This may also have something to do with the large volume of cake we share with one another! 

PhD students, post-docs, and senior staff also share methods, learning and skills. A range of courses from complex statistics to 'how to format your thesis' are available to PhD students and there are opportunities to attend external courses hosted by other academic institutions. 

Former PhD students have gone into a range of jobs; some have secured fellowships or post-doc positions here in the department, others have gone on to fellowships or post-docs at other universities (including Harvard and Queen Mary University of London) and some have gone on to jobs in industry. Doing a PhD at the BSH no doubt provides an excellent start for any young researcher.