International Graduate Story: Luisa

Posted on: 22 June 2023 by Aditi Gupta in Graduate stories

Luisa Silva, an international student from Portugal, shares her experience of progressing to her postgraduate studies at the University of Liverpool.

What did you study at the University of Liverpool and when did you graduate?

I studied an undergraduate programme in Genetics and I graduated in July 2019.

What did you enjoy the most about your time at the University of Liverpool?

I really enjoyed the practical labs as part of my undergraduate programme at the University of Liverpool. I also really enjoyed the way the course was taught. I particularly liked the fact that most lecturers were either working on or were experienced in what they were teaching. 

What is your current academic programme and at which institution are you pursuing this programme?

I am currently pursuing a PhD in Cancer Biology at the ISMIB Institute of the University of Liverpool.

What is the most enjoyable aspect of your current postgraduate programme?

The project itself. I am passionate about cancer research, particularly the molecular mechanisms evolved so to be able to learn a variety of new techniques, which will be essential for my future career, is such an amazing part of the PhD.

What is the most challenging aspect of your current postgraduate programme? How do you overcome it?

I think one of the most challenging aspect of any labs research project is when there is experiment failure. Sometimes it can take months to optimise a particular protocol and the final experiment may still fail which can be quite discouraging.

I read about what other people have done to try and optimise protocols accordingly. If an experiment still fails, I remember that a negative result can still be shared (published) with others so that they will not waste time trying to get that same experiment to work.

What did the application process involve and how did you prepare for it?

I had to send a cover letter and my CV with two academic referees. Then I was offered an interview. For the interview, I had to prepare a presentation outlining my 2 previous lab projects which included my undergraduate honours project and my summer internship project.

What advice would you offer to a current University of Liverpool student/graduate who is looking to pursue to a postgraduate degree?

Unless you are self-funded, look for funded postgraduate positions (most of which will cover your living costs, university fees and research costs) early on in your final year of undergraduate. These are usually the ones which are widely advertised.

A PhD will take a lot out of you so choose a project you are passionate about. Finally, if you have specific goals you would like to achieve during the PhD, do your research on your supervisor. For example, this can involve talking to current and previous students or lab members.

Along with her PhD research, Luisa also works as a Teaching Demonstrator and Peer Mentor at the University of Liverpool.