In this blog, we spoke to BSc Genetics student Lewis Batkin, who joined Queen Mary University of London’s School of Biological and Chemical Sciences (SBCS) in September 2017.
Lewis Batkin
Why did you decide to study Genetics at Queen Mary?
Queen Mary is renowned for its scientific research, with a lot of groundbreaking work taking place. I was particularly drawn to the research at the Blizzard Institute in areas such as diabetes, which I found very interesting and something I wanted to be part of. Unlike other universities, Queen Mary has its own campus, which has a real community feel and you see familiar faces everyday. There are also so many resources available to students and the London location provides a lot of opportunities to students.
What do you enjoy about your course?
There’s a huge depth of information to take in on the course, which I really enjoy because that’s why I’m here. The lecturers are really knowledgeable and are always able to answer your questions. They also teach us a lot about the industrial skills we need to go into industry with examples of research and papers that are being published within the School. It’s good that we learn the academic knowledge and are then able to put it into practice through practicals and field trips. I’ve been to Nettlecombe in Somerset where we did a lot of ecological work and I find that scientists are quite visual learners so this has been really helpful.
What would you like to do in the future?
I’d really like to stay in science and go into research as science so fascinating and we’re learning new things everyday. I’m interested in genetic research - genetic counselling would be a good option for me as I’m quite extrovert and enjoy talking to people, so this would be a good combination of my scientific knowledge and helping people.
Any advice to students thinking about studying genetics?
Firstly, do your work as soon as you get it, as you’ll find it’s much easier to study this way. Make sure you pick the modules you’re really interested in and finally the tutors and the admin team at SBCS are always here to help you so don’t be afraid to ask for help if you need it.