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Postgraduate Research Information Seminar
The Biochemistry Graduate Studies Committee and the Biochemistry and Biotechnology Society UCC hosted a research seminar on Tuesday 15th November. Science undergraduate and postgraduate MSc students were invited to attend.
The seminar was opened by Professor Justin McCarthy, Head of School of Biochemistry and Cell Biology who provided information on PhD and MSc options, as well as scholarship and funding opportunities.
Five of our postgraduate students provided information on their research projects, the funding they attained, and discussed what it is like to do a PhD or research MSc.
James Harte graduated in 2019 with a BSc in Biomedical Science UCC/MTU and with a Diploma in Clinical Laboratory Practice from MTU in 2020. James is completing a PhD under the supervision of Professor Justin McCarthy. James discussed his research on SARS-CoV-2-associated COVID-19, aiming to understand the biochemistry and haematology of disease, and his research funding: The Lilly Research Scholarship. James concluded his presentation by highlighting the incredible feeling of being the first to discover a particular result and said “there was no greater feeling”.
Aideen McCabe is conducting a PhD under the supervision of Dr Kellie Dean and her talk was entitled Bioinformatic identification of novel ovarian cancer diagnostics. Aideen also discussed how students can move within the science areas, as she completed a BSc in Plant Biology at UCD, followed by an MSc in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, UCC. Aideen then secured a Genomics Data Science PhD, which is funded by Science Foundation Ireland (SFI). Aideen showed the audience how the super group enhances work-life balance.
George Merrin is conducting a PhD under the supervision of Dr Kellie Dean and his talk was entitled Characterisation of micro-protein encoded on long non-coding RNAs and their roles in cancer. George completed a BSc in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in UCD and subsequently completed an MSc in Molecular Cell Biology with Bioinnovation, UCC. George attained a Lilly Research Scholarship and commenced his PhD research in Jan 2022.
Kate O’Connor discussed her research on translational recoding, frameshifting and translational bypassing with relevance to SARS-CoV-2. Kate is a UCC BSc Biotechnology graduate and she commenced her PhD under the supervision of Professor John Atkins in 2020. Kate discussed the pro’s and con’s of conducting a PhD and she really enjoys the “constant learning” and “novel research”.
Jordan O’Donoghue completed a BSc in Biochemistry and conducted his 4th year project under the supervision of Professor Justin McCarthy. Jordan commenced an MSc by Research in 2021, again under the supervision of Professor Justin McCarthy. Jordan is investigating how the IGF-1R interfaces with proteases and the EAL system, and how this may modulate receptor localisation and signalling in cancer. Jordan also discussed the transition from undergraduate to postgraduate and how he finds it “very fulfilling” to become an expert in an area of research.
The seminar was closed by Dr Sinéad Kerins, thanking the speakers for their informative and excellently delivered presentation. Dr Kerins also thanked Jordan O’Donoghue for organising and Chairing the seminar in conjunction with the UCC Biochemistry and Biotechnology society.
