Maia Kavanagh-Williamson
Studied BSc Biomedical Sciences, Graduated 2010, First Class Honours
I graduated in 2010 following three very enjoyable and inspiring years at Newcastle. The exceptional quality of teaching and support from the School encouraged my interest in Biomedical Science, so I knew that any career I pursued would have to have a strong science element.
Following a talk on ‘Careers away from the Bench’ I was inspired to work in Science Communication as it gave me the opportunity to combine my interest in science with my enthusiasm for interacting with others. Soon after graduating I joined the Centre for Life as a Science Explainer, where I taught a range of science subjects to school groups and performed live science shows and demonstrations.
Having given many oral presentations as part of the course I was comfortable teaching in front of large audiences; whilst the experience of preparing assessments to deadline and in a variety of style had developed my creativity and I was able to adapt quickly to new challenges. The breadth of modules we covered, along with an acute understanding of fundamental science principles, gave me a broad but solid knowledge base allowing me to teaching a variety of subjects both inside and outside my area of expertise, from Genetics to Physics.
The School’s strong focus on research and its structured teaching on this subject have proven very useful in my current role in Science Policy at the University of Cambridge, where it enables me to understand the ‘hard science’ research that helps to inform governmental politics.
Ultimately however, I wish to pursue a career in virology research, inspired by the enthusiasm and encouragement with which the course is taught, and to this end I hope to start a PhD next year. The skills, both concrete and transferable, that I have gained from studying Biomedical Sciences at Newcastle, leaves me well equipped to undertake this next challenge, as it has for the other roles I have held since graduating.
