• Question: What PhD are you studying for?

    Asked by simisolaax to Michelle, Darren, Deuan, Duncan, Lori-An on 17 Jun 2010 in Categories: . This question was also asked by aiyassu.
    • Photo: Michelle Hudson-Shore

      Michelle Hudson-Shore answered on 16 Jun 2010:

      You don’t really study for a specific PhD you do a project to get the qualification and it means that you can be called Dr.

      The project I am working on has the title The Use of PRimates in Biomedical Science. I’m looking at whether it is possible to replace primates (monkeys and apes) in research to find treatments and cures for schistosomiasis (a parasitic disease) and Parkinson’s disease (a brain disorder). This involves doing a lot of reading of scientific papers and news reports and interviewing the scientists that conduct the research. I will then have to write up all my findings and defend them in a viva, which is an exam where you discuss your report with other scientists and they decide if what you have found is right and valid.

      I chose primates because they have a very high capacity to suffer so I wanted to focus on them first because of their complex lives and intelligence. I hope my PhD will allow me to put together a plan to replace or at the very least reduce the number of monkeys and apes that are currently used.

    • Photo: Darren Nesbeth

      Darren Nesbeth answered on 16 Jun 2010:

      I finished a PhD in Molecular Cell Biology way back in 1999. Getting old…

    • Photo: Lori-An Etherington

      Lori-An Etherington answered on 17 Jun 2010:

      Hello, I have already got my PhD (I started it in 2001 and finished in 2005, they usually take about 4 years). My PhD is in Pharmacology and Neuroscience (how drugs work in the brain). I now work as a Postdoctoral researcher

    • Photo: Duncan Hull

      Duncan Hull answered on 17 Jun 2010:

      I finished by PhD a few years ago … it was on using computers in biology to help scientists find services on the web.

    • Photo: Deuan Jones

      Deuan Jones answered on 17 Jun 2010:

      I finished my PhD 6 years ago and for the last five years I’ve been working on a similar area in tropical diseases. Particularly diseases that affect the developing world.

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