It has come to that stage in my 8 week project with one week left to go. Its all go and I am now starting to have enough data to perform some significant statistical analysis. It’s incredibly exciting as I can now finally see wether the work I have been doing has been fruitful or not.

It hasnt become clear yet wether my Trehalose infusion before deep freezing has prevented any damage to the contractile function of the muscle fibres. But I have been taught how to statistically analyse the data that I have amassed over the past several weeks.

This is an invaluable skill to learn and I’m sure it will put me in good stead for my  further studies. What I have found the most useful about this placement is how much more invigorating learning these techniques is when you can see them applied in a practical context. It really helps to enforce what yo have learnt and makes it far more memorable.

At the moment there is plenty to do to make sure I make the most of my remaining time. I am already starting to feel sad that my time is running out. The project has given me a great insight into what real experimental science is. – CT