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Caroline Koch

    • About Me:

      I live in London and work as a PhD student at Imperial College. When I’m not working in the lab, I like doing Yoga or going for a swim. On the weekends, I like seeing my friends, going to art exhibits or travelling back to Germany – this is where I’m originally from.

    • My pronouns are:

      she/her

    • My Work:

      In my research I develop a new strategy to diagnose diseases faster and better. To do this, I use tiny holes also known as nanopores, which tell me if a person has certain markers in their blood or not.

    • My Typical Day:

      On a normal day I wake up and have breakfast, usually porridge and an English breakfast tea. I get to work between 8 and 9 am, where I either do experiments in the lab or perform data analysis in the office. At around noon I have lunch with my friends and in the afternoon I write my PhD thesis or do other admin work. I go home between 5 and 7 pm depending on the day. If it’s not too late I do a workout after work and then cook dinner and talk to my husband/family on FaceTime.

    • What I'd do with the prize money:

      I would spend it on organizing a workshop to make my research more accessible to students. There are so many different areas in science which you don’t really learn about when you go to school. I didn’t even know what nanopores were when I first started my PhD, and now I’m an expert in that field. I think it is important to educate students on the different projects they could do, so that they can visualise better what being a scientist means and what they could do.

    My CV

    • Education:

      Enztal Gymnasium Bad Wildbad, Germany (10-16 years old)

      Olympic training centre school Hamburg, Germany (16-18 years old)

       

    • Qualifications:

      Bachelor of Science in Pharmaceutical Biotechnology (Germany)

      Master of Science in Biomedical Engineering (Imperial College London, UK)

      Master of Research in Chemical Biology and Entrepreneurship (Imperial College London, UK)

      PhD Chemical Biology (Imperial College London, UK)

    • Work History:

      Research internship at Boehringer Ingelheim (pharmaceutical company) (Biberach, Germany)

      Research internship at Albert Einstein College of Medicine (New York, USA)

      Internship at PwC (consultancy) (Frankfurt, Germany)

      Self-employed tutor

      Graduate teaching assistant at Imperial College

    • Current Job:

      Final year PhD student

    • Employer:

      Imperial College London

    • My Interview

      • What did you want to be after you left school?

        I didn't really know but something related to Science

        Were you ever in trouble at school?

        Not too often but I can't say it never happened

        If you weren't doing this job, what would you choose instead?

        Interior Designer

        Who is your favourite singer or band?

        alt-J

        What's your favourite food?

        German Spaetzle (type of noodles)

        If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!

        1) Someone who writes my PhD thesis for me, 2) a Hot Yoga studio in my house, and 3) a Time Turner (Harry Potter), so I can do multiple things at the same time

        Tell us a joke.

        Someone walks into a bar - Ouch.

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