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Course: BSc Bioscience 

Supervisor: Professor Fabiana A Hoffmann Sarda & Professor Sean Fair 

Name of Research Project/Activity:  Evaluation of extreme osmolytes on the survivability of specific anaerobic bacteria derived from the female reproductive tract: Relationship to fertility. 

Q) Can you tell me a bit about yourself, and why did you decide to study the course you are taking at UL? 

Hi! I’m Marion, a third year Bioscience student in the Department of Biological Sciences. For the Leaving Cert, I studied Honours Biology and instantly fell in love with it, especially with topics like microorganisms, virology, and human anatomy. So when it came to filling out the CAO, I naturally choose UL’s LM123 Biological and Chemical Sciences as my first choice and later branched into Bioscience. The theory I’ve learned in lectures and in the undergraduate labs has truly helped me while working on this research project! 

Q) What motivated you to apply for the Summer Bursary Programme? 

During lectures, I occasionally hear my professors mention their research in their fields. This inspired me to explore research myself. So, when the applications were available, I knew I had to apply for the Programme. 

Q) What are you doing as part of your research here at UL? 

In this project, I am cultivating two types of bacteria typically found in ewes. My research aims to determine whether an osmolyte, discovered by Prof. Sean Fair, found in the vaginal microbiome of ewes, can act as a bacteriocin to inhibit the growth of these bacteria, potentially reducing infertility in certain sheep breeds. 

Q) What skills have you developed over the summer? 

The most significant technical skill I acquired was learning to work safely in a Class II laboratory and handle specimens with the utmost care. Learning to properly operate a biosafety cabinet gave me the autonomy to work with bacterial samples confidently. Moreover, I also gained insight into how to proceed when an experiment yields anomalous results. I also became familiar with using IBM SPSS Statistics and BioTek Gen5 software to accurately analyse data. Additionally, I greatly improved my skills in Microsoft Excel for organizing large data sets. 

Q) What has this experience taught you and what would you recommend it to others? 

In addition to technical skills, this opportunity highlighted the critical importance of effective communication. When communication is successful on both ends, the results are seamless.  I highly recommend partaking in this research programme, as it allows you to explore a career in research. By the next academic semester, you'll have a deeper understanding of the effort involved behind the scenes of experiments, and the experience gained from research will significantly enhance your ability to write quality laboratory reports and scientific literature. 

Q) What are your future career plans, would you consider a career in research? 

I've got lots of ideas about what I might want to do, and research is definitely one of them. I'm not totally sure what I'll end up going for, but I'm excited for what's ahead! 

Learn more about the BSc in Bioscience.