School of Chemistry

Heather Cox

Research degree student

Heather Cox enjoyed her MChem project at undergraduate level so much that she decided to stay at Leeds and carry the project on into a PhD. Below she tells us about how she is finding doing a research degree at Leeds.

Why did you decide to study for a PhD?
I was happy here within the department. Doing the MChem helped me decide that this was what I wanted to do. Before I didn’t feel ‘good’ enough to do a PhD but I thought “look, I’ve done the research project, I’ve done it well; I am pleased with it and I enjoyed doing it”, so that was what made me decide to stay on for the PhD. The research way of life suits me; having a problem and tackling it, getting solutions and often figuring out your own solutions to unexpected problems. 

What made you decide to come to Leeds?
I think it was the friendly atmosphere, to be honest. I came to an open day for my undergraduate degree and I felt that the staff really concentrated on making you feel at home within the department. In comparison I had been to another university, which had a very good reputation and I felt that I should go there because it was higher up on the list but in the end I chose the place I felt most at home and that was in Leeds. 

What would you say has been the biggest difference between your undergraduate and postgraduate studies?
I’ve definitely noticed that you have to manage your time a lot better. Doing a PhD is helping me to improve my time management skills. Also I have become more confident in myself so that I can make a decision and go with that decision, rather than having to keep checking back with my supervisor. I still need to become more confident but doing a PhD is definitely helping with that.

What is the focus of your PhD?
I am doing more of a chemical biology based project involving mechanistic studies of an enzyme called ATIC, it’s potassium dependence hasn’t been fully characterised and so that is one branch of my project and then also looking at inhibitors of this enzyme. We have had some really promising preliminary data that ATIC is a potential novel anti-cancer and anti-viral target. We’ve got this initial drug-like molecule to work on and develop further, so that’s what I am doing at the moment.

What do you find exciting about that research?
I like learning new things and through studying this enzyme I can learn different experimental techniques which I can then apply to other similar research situations. I am really interested in the possibilities of the drug-like molecule, developing structure-activity relationships on it and trying to improve it and see positive results come out of something which I have been researching.

How did you go about getting your funding?
I am funded by EPSRC, through the School of Chemistry. I applied for my PhD and the School sorted out the funding for me. So getting funding was very easy.

What advice would you give to somebody who is considering doing a PhD?
Get some experience of research first. So at Leeds we have the MChem research project, but some people come and they haven’t done a research project, so make sure you get a summer placement and do some research in order to find out whether you do like being in the lab and doing research. Even if it’s only a mini project it will give you the idea of what it will be like to do a PhD.

What would you say to other students thinking of doing a PhD at Leeds?
You’re going to love it. I have really enjoyed my time here at Leeds. It’s a good place to live as well as having a good studying environment; the department will support you through it as well. I love the community feel at Leeds where other researchers are always willing to offer their experience and advice.