Current role: Lecturer in Epidemiology  

Current employer: University of Bristol 

What would you like to do next? As a newly appointed Lecturer, I’d like to continue managing and teaching on the high-quality courses offered by the University, developing these to become bigger and better than the previous years, and organising further external, international courses. Alongside this, I will grow my research team, successfully secure the large-scale grants I am pursuing and continue to publish high-quality research, respected by both epidemiological and microbiological fields. 

How did your degree prepare you for this job? The combination of biology and mathematics in my degree certainly allowed me to explore the application of mathematical techniques to biological systems. My general interests in statistics and human biology, plus the modules offered by the mathematics department, are what ultimately drew me towards epidemiology. Having a mathematical background and experience in using R as a statistical software definitely made me a competitive applicant to PhD positions, especially those with complex statistical techniques and high-dimensional data. 

What did you enjoy most about your time studying at the School of Mathematics? For me, the availability and accessibility of the tutors and small-group tutorials were also really useful.  

Do you have any advice for prospective students? Mathematics is a really transferrable, attractive and sought-after skill from a huge range of career paths so be ambitious with what you want to achieve and pursue after your degree. Most of the tutors in the department are actively involved in research similar to the material that they teach, so if you’re interested in a particular topic and want to know more about it (whether that’s for an assessment or even to pursue as a career after your degree), then ask them!   

Why did you decide to apply for your course at Bristol? I honestly had no idea what I wanted to do after my A-levels and found the choice of course and University totally overwhelming. On reflection and in an attempt to simplify the decision, I knew what topics I was most fascinated by so I searched for a course and University that offered something along those lines. I had visited Bristol a few times and the desire to live in such a great and beautiful city was reaffirmed when I attended the open day.