My experience and my tutors’ support are what prepared me and encouraged me to apply to a PhD in Sheffield

I discovered my deep interest in Biomedical Science during my International GCSE biology class. All the questions on my mind started with “how?”. How do scientists know all this? What happens behind the scenes of all the medical advances we see today?

While exploring the different options to pursue my undergraduate studies, I came across the University of Sheffield. The course offered in the Department of Biomedical Science perfectly matched my interest.

I then decided to pay Sheffield a visit on one of my trips to the UK. The community was incredibly friendly and vibrant. I could sense a good balance of social and academic life where I can develop my personal and intellectual skills. I could envision myself studying here.

In my first year of BSc, lecturers incorporated primary research alongside textbook material in their lectures. The department also organises a weekly seminar series from external speakers, which I occasionally attended.

As a result, my knowledge and interest in research became even stronger and therefore I decided to try research myself. I then applied to and got accepted onto the Sheffield Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) scheme, where I was funded by the University to carry out a research project for 6-8 weeks during the summer after my second year.

My project aims to understand the disease mechanisms used by Salmonella Typhi to cause global epidemics of typhoid fever. The expertise of world-class researchers and state-of-the-art facilities are making my PhD experience an exceptional and a memorable journey.

Mohamed ElGhazaly

BSc Biomedical Science

In my final-year I chose a lab-based research project which I carried out in the Sheffield Institute of Translational Neuroscience. Undoubtedly, my experience and my tutors’ support are what prepared me and encouraged me to apply to a PhD in Sheffield.

I am currently a second year PhD student in the Department of Biomedical Science supervised by Dr Daniel Humphreys. My project aims to understand the disease mechanisms used by Salmonella Typhi to cause global epidemics of typhoid fever.

The expertise of world-class researchers and state-of-the-art facilities are making my PhD experience an exceptional and a memorable journey. PhD students are always at the forefront of research and encouraged by supervisors to disseminate their work in national and international conferences.

In February 2019, I was funded by the Learned Society in the University to attend my first national conference, the UK Cellular Microbiology Conference in London, where I presented a poster summarising my PhD work so far.

This experience was very rewarding as I got to connect and share knowledge with other researchers in the field. Not only did I get to network, but I also received the first prize for the best poster in the conference!

My experience so far during my undergraduate and PhD studies assure me that I made the best decision to study in Sheffield. In summary, I believe the amount of support, excellent supervision and friendly community are what make studying in Sheffield special.