Here I answer questions I get asked a lot.

WHere does the money in your funding go?

My funding comes from Cancer Research UK (CRUK) and consists of three parts. The first part pays for fees to Imperial College London as I'm still technically a student. The second part is a small salary to pay for living costs while I do my PhD. The third part is used for my experimental work. When I buy media, equipment or reagents then I pay for those out of my funding.

Do you attend lectures etc.?

While technically I am a student I am not required to attend lectures or do exams. Imperial College London has a career development programme which allows you to attend one to three day courses in a variety of subjects which will help you in your career (e.g statistics, presentations etc.). There is the option to join in lectures run by Masters programmes. For example I recently attended lectures for two modules in the MSc Epidemiology in Imperial College London.

What do you do?

I am a researcher. I spend a lot of my time in a laboratory doing experiments but I also do computer analysis.