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Eileen Xu

    • About Me:

      I’m a PhD student and I live in Edinburgh with my dog Rosa šŸ• I love plants, cooking for friends and going out in the summer to pick berries for jam šŸ“šŸ«

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      Hi everyone, I’m Eileen!

      I’m in my second year as a PhD student at the University of Edinburgh. I get to research young people and their mental health now, but that wasn’t always the plan…

      I wanted to be a doctor when I was in school – I was (and still am), a bit of a nerd! I had grand plans for studying medicine, but things didn’t go to plan for me. I got ill and had to choose my back-up plan, Neuroscience. I was upset about it then, but it turns out that I really liked science and doing research! So even though things didn’t go to plan originally, everything has worked out in the end.

      I’m Autistic, which means my brain can be a bit different from other people’s when it takes in information. It means I find my research so fun though – I can get totally absorbed in reading about a new topic! It also means that when I say I love dogs and plants, IĀ REALLY love them – I learned lots of dog breeds and know some Latin plant names.

      My favourite thing to do is to spend an evening with my partner or a few friends, cuddling my sweet dog and playing games on my Switch or board games. I’m pretty competitive with Mario Kart! I’m not very sporty, but I do love to go for a walk in the forest if it’s not muddy with Rosa.

    • My pronouns are:

      they/she

    • My Work:

      I’m researching teenagers and their mental health. I want to find out how our day-to-day experiences might make some people more likely to get mental illness.

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      I work with “big data”. This means that hundreds or even thousands of people have volunteered to tell researchers about their lives!

      I mostly look for patterns in young people who have depression or other mental health issues. I can then compare these people (“cases”) with people who don’t have depression (“controls”). By looking for the differences between cases and controls, I can see what types of activities might make you more likely to get depression. On the flip-side, I can also find out what types of activities could protect you from depression!

    • My Typical Day:

      I’m a major night owl, which means IĀ really hate mornings. I take my dog for a walk first thing in the morning, then have coffee and start work at around 10am. I work from home most of the time, but sometimes I go into University to have meetings or teach classes.

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      Since I work with “big data”, I don’t have a traditional science lab with test tubes and beakers. Almost all of my work takes place on a computer which means I can work wherever I have internet. I recently started teaching some undergraduate classes in statistics, which gives some nice structure to my week.

      The great thing about being a PhD researcher is that my days are really flexible. I usually have a few different tasks through the day – checking emails, analysing data, writing papers. So when I get bored of writing, I can switch to doing something else!Ā Depending on how focused I am, I finish work anywhere between 4pm and 7pm with plenty of dog cuddles to break up the day.

    My CV

    • Education:

      I was born in Birmingham and went to primary school there until I was 7.

      Then I moved to Glasgow and went to Broomhill primary school and Jordanhill Secondary School.

      I got my BSc in Neuroscience at the University of Edinburgh and a MSc in Psychiatry there too. I’m now doing my PhD in Psychiatry at the University of Edinburgh.

    • Qualifications:

      National 5: Maths, English, Chemistry, Biology, Physics, French, Geography and Art.

      Higher: Maths, English, Chemistry, Biology and Physics.

      BSc (Hons) Neuroscience

      MSc Psychiatry

    • Work History:

      I did work experience with a GP and a psychiatrist in school. I volunteered at after-school care for primary school and volunteered in a hospital cafe for a while too.

       

    • Current Job:

      I’m a PhD student so I get paid to do research and I also teach on a statistics course.

    • Employer:

      The University of Edinburgh

    • My Interview

      • How would you describe yourself in 3 words?

        "big data" nerd

        What did you want to be after you left school?

        A doctor

        Were you ever in trouble at school?

        Rarely, I was a goody-two-shoes!

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

        Something people-focused, like counselling, nursing or teaching.

        What's your favourite food?

        Almost anything cheesy

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

        1. To have the time and money to foster dogs, 2. To be able to travel the world without fear of spiders, 3. To tell my younger self that everything would work out in the end

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