September 21, 2023, by Arts Placements

Faculty of Arts Summer Research Placement Programme (SRPP)

by Michael Firth

I became Dr Christina Lee’s Research Assistant intern through the Summer Research Placement Programme offered at the University of Nottingham.  I worked on the amazing team project: Ancientbiotics. As someone who studies Ancient Greco-Roman and Ancient Mediterranean history, entering the field of medieval medicine was intimidating.  However, I quickly found it exciting to learn history that is new to me whilst also performing paid work. In addition, this aided Dr Lee in approaching some of the public-facing content.  I could give honest feedback about what is suitable to an audience with less expertise in this historical period and field of study. I feel that ‘Research Assistant’ does not begin to cover the rewarding work I did during this placement, due to the exciting opportunities that I was able to take advantage of and the amount of vastly different work I approached.

Overall, working with this amazing and talented interdisciplinary team was a truly rewarding experience. Not only have I developed research, liaison, and other essential skills for this career prospect, I have also met and worked with some fantastic people along the way. All of whom offered support and guidance at every hurdle. I started the internship knowing I would learn a significant amount about the field of research. I finished the internship not only with this knowledge and experience but also with the proud feeling that I have in some way assisted a team that I believe is making genuine milestones which will greatly benefit the disciplines of English, history and biology and our health for many years to come.

I would like to thank the Faculty of Arts Placements team for their support, and would recommend anyone to participate. It’s a great opportunity to expand your skillset and experience and work with some talented and friendly people, as well as meet new peers from different courses across the faculty.

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