Hello! I’m Frankie, a first year PhD student at the University of Birmingham, School of Dentistry, Department of Biomedical Materials Science. I also graduated from the University of Birmingham in July 2019, with an undergraduate degree in BMedSc Biomedical Materials Science.
Whilst I have set ideas of what I would like to do as a career, I am still unsure of the exact route I would like to take at this point in time (luckily, I still have a while to think about it). I know that my dream career involves communicating science to a wider audience, preferably taking scientific information and explaining it in a more understandable format. Like Chloe, I want to bridge the communication gap between scientists and non-scientists, with thoughts of working within industry whilst still using my specialist scientific knowledge, for example within life sciences intellectual property as a patent attorney, life sciences consultancy or as a medical writer.
How I knew that science was for me
Since I was little, I’ve always been super nosey (still the case). If I’m told some information, I always ask a million questions about it, I want to know how things work and I like to know all the answers. At a young age, obviously it is impossible to link this natural curiosity to the fact that you will probably like science when you start it in school.
Biology and chemistry came far more naturally to me than humanities. I can’t say there was one exact eureka moment in my life that I thought, ‘yes this is for me’, instead it seemed like a given and was the route that felt right for me. Both my dad and older sister are dentists, and so maybe growing up in a naturally bias household for science influenced me without me even realising.
How I found biomedical materials science
In the UK, aged 16, I moved into ‘sixth form’ which is Year 12 and 13 and I picked my A-Levels. I chose Biology, Chemistry and Product Design, as the subjects that I wanted to specialise in before moving onto university. For me, these two years were a tricky time with respect to the school I was at. I had actually decided to move school for my final two years, to a boy’s school that became mixed at sixth form level – but was still very much predominantly boys. I have very mixed feelings about this time in my life because I spent two years in a very sexist environment, with not only my peers but also the teachers doubting my ability. But equally, I don’t think I would have the drive to achieve as much as I do if I hadn’t gone through this.
I never even knew materials science was a subject until aged 17. I loved all three of my A-Levels and spent a very long time desperately trying to find a university degree that would encompass all three.
And then I found biomedical materials science. It’s the study of medical science and engineering of biomaterials that are used to repair or replace damaged, diseased or missing tissues within the human body.
The University of Birmingham is one of two universities that offers this exact course. Luckily, it’s also (in my opinion) one of the nicest campus’ in the UK (check out @unibirmingham and https://youtu.be/Iq6RQ8LyjMQ for a campus tour).
From the very first day, I absolutely LOVED the subject. I get bored quite easily, but it held my attention because it is multi-disciplinary, so no day is the same. One day I could be in the dental labs, using phantom heads to drill fillings, to another day spent in the materials labs taking apart a pacemaker and writing a design specification for it, to another in a lecture hall of 500 students all studying a medical science degree, learning about the fundamentals of cell biology.
I chose to specialise within tissue engineering in my final year, I carried out a research project titled ‘bioactive glass fibres as a novel haemostatic agent’ – with focus on soft tissue engineering purposes. The research project was half of our final year grade and I wrote an 18,000-word dissertation for it. At this point I knew I wanted to stay at university and continue with research, as I absolutely fell in love with it.
Finishing my undergraduate and finding my feet with my next step
I approached my supervisor about continuing with a master’s in research, but he suggested that I apply for a PhD. I had never, ever considered doing a PhD before this point as I thought it was for people much older than myself (22 at this point) and with far more experience. However, I applied and interviewed and was lucky enough to be successful in my application. I think the encouragement that I received from my supervisor, and the feedback from the interview, really gave me the confidence that I needed to know that I would be able to do this.
My PhD focuses on tissue engineering and regenerative medicine (TERM), which I find so fascinating and truly believe will play a huge role in the future of medicine and so I feel lucky to be studying within this field. I specifically study different formulations of hydrogels, a jelly-like biomaterial, and how they can be used for 3D biofabrication of bone tissue constructs to treat bone diseases, such as osteoporosis.
Saying ‘yes’
My first year PhD resolution was to say ‘yes’ to opportunities that were offered to me. Whether that was an online science communication course, or a CV workshop, or anything else. I just said yes and along I went. Living by this rule, this year I feel as though I have achieved more outside of my academic life than ever before, and by doing this, it has directed me towards what my dream career in the future might be.
I went to a careers workshop based on ‘careers outside of academia’, put on by the medical school. During this workshop we were asked to do an activity which really opened my eyes in terms of my future and can be applied to anyone looking for a future job. We were asked to list all of the things we do as a PhD student, e.g. writing, research, statistics, analysis, presenting, lab work etc…you get the idea. Then we were asked to separate them into lists of ones we loved, liked and didn’t like. It was then suggested that we focus our career search on those within the loved list. I love writing, online research and presenting, and so it made it clear to me that a future career in science communications was one I wanted to pursue.
Achieving my dream career in the future
As I said, I’ve spent the first year of my PhD gaining as much experience as possible in different areas of communication to boost my CV for when I come to apply for jobs. By the time you are reading this, I will be putting a pause on my PhD research and starting an internship within a medical writing and digital publishing company based in London. I’m so excited for this because I’ve been in education for over 20 years of my life and I’m finally going to get some experience within industry, whilst being able to apply my scientific knowledge within TERM at the same time. Because I don’t know the exact path I want to go down yet, I am trying to gain as wider range of experiences as possible so that I can stand out from the crowd when I graduate.
My top tips for getting involved in SciComm
I have a couple of key pieces of advice for people wanting to pursue a career within SciComm
1.Gain experience wherever you can
You need to take matters into your own hands and seek out opportunities and not expect them to be handed to you on a plate. Don’t be afraid to contact people/schools/companies with suggestions of what you can do for them.
2. Gain experience in whatever you can
Consider all styles of communication that you could gain experience in. Think outside the box, even if you want to go into writing – what’s the harm in gaining experience in public engagement?
3. Network
Whoever you meet, always make the best first impression possible – you never know when they could come in handy as a connection in the future. Make contact with them soon after, whether it is a LinkedIn connection or a quick email.
A final note
If you ever come across someone that doubts your ability, whether it is based on your sex, religion, race etc, focus on not proving yourself to people that doubt you, instead focus on proving yourself to yourself – not to others. Don’t seek validation from people that doubt you in the first place.
If you have any questions, want advice or even just a chat, feel free to contact me on…
Instagram – @afrankphd or
LinkedIn – Francesca Lewns.
