Thoughts on my non-lab project

I was disappointed to not be able to do a lab project because of COVID but it turned out quite well.

Non-lab projects don't have to be bioinformatics or based on a lot of numerical data - my project was an evaluation of a particular field of neuroscience. I did a lot of reading and literature searches and presented my data on the history and current status of the field. I critically analysed the papers and made suggestions on the future of the field.

I had weekly meetings with my supervisor which I would recommend to make sure you stay on track as it is only a semester long project.

I found the project to be quite stressful, it takes up a lot of time because it is worth three modules of credits. It is a challenge but it is a good opportunity and gives you experience completing a large piece of independent work. My project evolved through the semester and I refined the topic as I went, it started off very broad but my final report was very specific. I didn't start writing until about three weeks before the Christmas holidays which worried me at first but apparently this is a normal way to do the project. I kept a very detailed activities record with my summaries and analyses of papers which I found very useful when I did my write-up.

I did it in the first semester and I was glad to have got it out of the way.

Overall, the final year project is a good experience and I am glad I did it.