A Week in the Life of an MSc Astrophysics Student

UCL Physics & Astronomy Digital Student Ambassador Nishta Varma writes about a typical week in the life of an MSc Astrophysics student, including some tips on the best places to study.

Hey fellow space enthusiasts! Looking to join UCL for an MSc in Astrophysics and want to know what a typical week on the programme looks like? Buckle up as I take you on a whirlwind tour of a typical week filled with lectures, study sessions, and exciting research!

Mondays in the Astrophysics department begin with motivation. Quite literally actually, because every Monday we get to attend seminars by guest lecturers who take us through their respective research work and introduce us to new avenues every week.

Sometimes all my studies can feel a bit overwhelming, and I feel like the Monday seminars act like a refresher, a reminder of what we all are working for and what all we could achieve.

You can expect about 6-9 hours of lectures every week, and I find that I need at least 20 hours of self-study each week to be up to date with coursework and stay ahead of deadlines. This would give you plenty of time to take on a part time job that’s casual.

Every week, you would have meetings with your research project supervisors, who would again stimulate your curiosity by assigning interesting readings or tasks. I find the weekly meetings with my supervisor to be the most exciting part of my week. We meet every Thursday in the Cosmo-particle hub where I have been learning about Neutrino Detection, using the upcoming neutrino detector; PONE (Pacific Ocean Neutrino Experiment) being built under the Pacific Ocean.

The UCL Student Centre offers me an energizing environment to study. Whenever I’m in a bit of a study slump, which is usually towards the end of the week, I head over to the UCL Shop, grab a coffee and seat myself in the social study space in student centre where being surrounded by other hardworking students really gets me excited to study myself.

And at the end of a crazy jam-packed week, there’s two ways I spend my weekends, either curled up in my room with a good book and some good soup or at one of UCL Student Union’s many events that take place at or around campus. The UCL Space Society is great at organising events with guest seminars and workshops. The most recent one was an exploratory workshop where the UCL Mars Rover team discussed their designs and ideas.

So that’s a brief overview of what a typical week looks like, it’s hectic sometimes and other times when there aren’t any deadlines, it’s pretty mellow, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I wish you all the best for your future endeavours and hope you enjoy your time at UCL as much as I do.

Author: Nishta Varma
Photo Credit: UCL Digital Media