Dr Sara Ajina, who hosted a placement on cortical blindness and blindsight based at the Institute of Ophthalmology at UCL, discusses her experience as an In2research volunteer for a second year in a row.
Why did you decide to take part in the In2research programme?
As a woman in science, there are certain barriers, and additional barriers on top of that only make that experience even harder and put people off. I think In2research is a great scheme to encourage people into research and into science, and to give them these opportunities.
When did you first get involved with In2scienceUK?
I was a host last year, so volunteering a second time around has made me more efficient in making the participant’s experience as smooth as possible. In2research’s check-ins have been nice – there’s a genuine care for the experiences of people on the programme.
This year, what has your participant Shraddha been working on?
Shraddha has been really involved in our department and has made a positive impact. We’ve offered her an extension on her placement to continue working on the research remotely when she starts her degree in September.
She was keen to take part in our latest research, so learning how to use basic scripting to be able to create an experiment to test vision, and also how to collect the data. We’ve talked about how to read papers and extract useful information, as well as conducting a literature review. We have had virtual lab meetings every week with the vision group at Oxford, and she’s had a chance to work on her presentation skills, presenting to seniors and peers.
How have your experience of being an In2research volunteer? What have you learnt?
It’s been an overwhelmingly positive experience. It’s been really nice to work with enthusiastic individuals on their journey of getting into research. The programme has definitely increased my awareness of discrimination and cultural literacy.
What would you say to someone thinking of volunteering on the In2research programme?
Definitely do it! You get the chance to work with and mentor someone interested in research and you could change that person’s trajectory, so it’s a really worthwhile thing to do.
I’d definitely be interested in doing the programme again. I hope people will see how positive this experience is and that it makes them more likely to host participants and increase these kinds of opportunities.
Dr Ajina took part in our In2research 2023/24 programme – if you would like to learn more about how to get involved in next year’s programme, find out more and express your interest via our volunteering page. Thanks to the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology for making this placement possible!