What am I doing here???

I often ask myself this question; exactly why am I here?

I left a good job with good prospects to come and research here, why. The main reason is that I really like to do my own research.

When I took the funding for this PhD the title that had been proposed was to research into materials that could be used for television screens in the future: much more than that, the TV screens would be flexible and see-through when not switched on. It is like something out of minority report.

I spent my days in an office writing out safety cases for nuclear installations; the prospect of doing this research work was just too good to turn down.

However, a short way through my PhD I produced a thin film which (hopefully) kills MRSA and c. diff. which if you read the news are taking lives in hospitals around the world daily. The film is also durable and stable and cheap to make. For me this technology is far more important than the see-through TV screen technology, but I guess that depends on who you are and the way you look at it.

I'm just happy that I have the choice to decide which way my research goes and that hopefully sometime in the future lives may be saved because of the work I am undertaking now.

The second reason is that I would really like to teach University Students in the future. If an undergraduate degree is a license to get a job in the field then a PhD is effectively a license to teach those students. I have already had a taste of teaching and I loved it and hopefully completing this PhD will allow me to teach more often.