My Nuffield research placement - a student's view

I was delighted to be assigned to the Babraham Institute for a four week Nuffield research placement in the Bioinformatics facility. Bioinformatics was not a subject I had previously encountered and therefore the placement provided me with a broad exposure in scientific research.

I have learnt how scientific research is conducted including methodology, data collection, result interpretation, statistical analysis and comparative outcome evidence. I critically appraised research publications to find predicted artefacts which could lead to false conclusions being drawn. I was impressed with the environment, facilities and the overall size of the Babraham Research Campus.

The Bioinformatics group were very welcoming, friendly and supportive. I have learnt a lot of new skills and knowledge from them. I have also learnt how to use complex software such as SeqMonk, Rstudio as well as the Institute's compute cluster. I have completed a report and a poster on my research project. The experience I had was very valuable and will be very beneficial in my future career.