My past five days with TwinsUK have been amazing, every single staff member I met was so welcoming and helpful, and it has just been an overall wonderful week. I am extremely grateful for my opportunity as it has led me to discover a multitude of different career paths which I otherwise may never have even heard of, and it ultimately solidified my decision to pursue science further in my education.

During my first day I was able to spend time learning about the work that is done at TwinsUK, and the importance of ethics in scientific research. I was thankful for the opportunity to join the operations meeting as it provided an idea of all the hard work that goes into the program. I was extremely excited to see the labs in the afternoon, and gain an understanding of what is done with the samples provided by the twins. As I had never been in any sort of lab setting it was such an interesting experience and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Furthermore, the staff were so helpful answering any questions I had about the process and their jobs. I liked learning about their different backgrounds as it will certainly help when deciding what course to choose at university.

One of the main highlights of my week was shadowing a morning twin visit in the clinic. It was so interesting to see all the tests that were done- ranging from blood tests to balance. I loved seeing how happy the twins were to be involved in the project. And once again I really appreciated having the opportunity to speak with members of staff about their experience and their backgrounds too.

Across the week I also spent time with the admin and data teams- it was good to learn about other aspects of scientific research- away from the wet lab and clinical visits. I didn’t realise just how many different jobs there are and I enjoyed speaking with staff about what they do and how it all fits in with the studies.

Each person I spoke to across the week seemed to really enjoy their role and the department genuinely seems like such a wonderful place to work. There is so much effort that goes into research and it was so nice to see how connected the staff were. It was definitely inspiring and has made me excited for my future, hopefully working in a similar field.

Overall, this work experience has been even better than i hoped for- i gained an awareness of so many different areas which i never would have, had i not had this opportunity, and for that i am so grateful. I would definitely recommend TwinsUK as a work experience placement as it has just been such an amazing time.