Applying to study in Zoology

A Graduate Student’s View of the Department

By Marta Costa (3rd year Evolution & Development) & Stephen Montgomery (3rd year Evolutionary Genetics)

The Zoology department offers a friendly base for graduate studies. There are plenty of opportunities to develop useful professional skills and foster new friendships and hobbies. The wide variety of research areas studied in the department makes for an exciting environment where one can easily learn about different fields in a relaxed atmosphere.

PhDs can be a long haul so throughout your studies you are given milestones to work towards to maintain progress and to provide an opportunity to reflect on your work so far. As well as your thesis supervisor two advisors, which you choose, offer feedback and advice along the way by reviewing and discussing with you yearly reports on your research. Within the first term you write a feasibility report outlining your plans for your thesis, and at the end of both the first and second years you produce a report on your work and future plans to make sure you’re on the right track. As well as academic support the department has staff and graduate representatives available to discuss any non-academic problems you might face.

The department has various stimulating seminar series that cater for a wide range of interests. The Tea Talks are given by invited leading academics on a range of topics whilst other more specialised series focus on evolution & development, behaviour and ecology. If you miss what’s going on in the department there’s also the opportunity to catch up on other people’s work at the annual Departmental Seminar Day. Graduate students also run a series of ‘Beer Talks’ where second or third year students present short talks on their work. This provides a relaxed atmosphere to practice presentation skills and find out about your peers work over some free pizza and beer. In addition, every other year, graduate students have the opportunity to further polish their science presentation skills and present their work at a day-long Graduate Symposium.

Both the department and the School of Biological Sciences offer a range of post-graduate training skills. These include subject based courses such as scientific ethics, bioinformatics, microscopy and statistics as well as transferable skills courses such as project management, computing courses and guides to planning and completing research projects.

Within the department there are also numerous chances to gain experience in teaching and demonstrating in undergraduate courses (which also provide a bit of extra cash). Opportunities also exist to work in the Zoology Library and Museum and to take part in outreach events such as the Science festival, Young Zoologists Club and schemes such as Researchers in Residence.

Of course doing a PhD isn’t all about work. One of the main perks of being in the Zoology department is the many ways to socialise. If you fancy releasing some steam after a day’s hard pipetting or staring at data you can join one of the sports teams which include football, cricket and rounders or if you fancy a sing-a-long the department has its own choir! For times when you’re not feeling so energetic you can enjoy a drink or three with colleagues at the weekly Happy Hour on Friday evenings. Amongst many other social events the Christmas Party and Summer BBQ at the Madingley field station are always a hit too.

Studying for a PhD isn’t always easy (who knew?!) but the department provides the academic support, stimulating intellectual environment and friendly social community to help you make the most of your studies.