How to do an Organic Chemistry PhD Straight Out of Undergrad: Interview with Rowan Ives

Welcome to Invite Health! This week, I invited one of my closest friends, Rowan Ives, to share his story. Not many students enjoy organic chemistry in undergrad, but Rowan is the exception: he’s currently pursuing a fully-funded research-based PhD (DPhil) in Chemistry in Cells at the University of Oxford. Today’s highlights include:

• How Rowan turned his passion for organic chemistry into pursuing a fully-funded Oxford PhD - straight out of undergrad!

• Life at Oxford: the scientific discoveries, the college system, the Clarendon scholarship, the international community, and more

• Rowan’s advice for gaining organic chemistry research experience, and pursuing graduate studies in Canada and the UK

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P.P.S. Make sure to read the important Invite Health update at the end, and also to complete the feedback form!

How to do an Organic Chemistry PhD Straight Out of Undergrad: Interview with Rowan Ives

First off, tell us about your journey so far. Where do you study, what inspired you to pursue this, and what’s next? What else do you like to do outside of studying?

Hello! My name is Rowan Ives (he/him) and I’m doing a PhD at the University of Oxford (DPhil in Oxford terminology- see this Oxford glossary for more strange terms that are used here.) My programme is called DPhil in Chemistry in Cells: New Technologies to Probe Complex Biology and Medicine (bit of a mouthful), and it is a research-based DPhil that allows me to study organic chemistry as it applies to biology, and work across both sides of drug development project. Outside of sciences I have many other interests, including music (I’ve played the piano since I was very young), swimming, visual arts (although I’m not very good myself), TV and film, and solving crossword puzzles.

For my degree at Oxford, I’m studying the development and potential applications of small molecules in targeting a cellular receptor involved in the innate immune system. My degree is co-supervised by Prof. Angela Russell in the Department of Chemistry where I focus on the synthesis of these small molecules, and Prof. David Greaves in the Dunn School of Pathology (where key early work in the development of penicillin was conducted!) where I focus on testing these molecules biologically and seeing how they may be applicable as drugs.

At Oxford I’m a part of St. John’s College. Colleges are meant to provide a community for students studying at Oxford. When you apply to Oxford you have the option to indicate a college preference, and with your offer you will be assigned to a college. Colleges act as a ‘home base’ for students, and host regular events, allowing you to meet people studying a wide variety of subjects. Colleges also provide services to their students, which include accommodations, meals (and formal dinners) cooked in the college, and access to the college library, chapel, and bar. All colleges offer these essentials, but exactly what is offered is ultimately college-dependant (e.g. my college also offers access to gyms, squash courts, music practice rooms, college-specific scholarships and grants, etc.)

I was inspired to pursue this degree for a variety of reasons. Before starting at Oxford last October, I did my undergrad degree at McMaster University as a part of the Bachelor of Health Sciences (BHSc) Honours programme. In the BHSc programme I developed my passion for organic chemistry, but also in parallel developed my passion for biology, anatomy, and physiology. When I was researching graduate-level courses, I really liked that Chemistry in Cells provided the opportunity to continue to study both areas together. The multi-disciplinary nature of the course was something that I found a lot of other graduate courses to be lacking. I did not want to have to decide between these areas that I was equally interested in, and Chemistry in Cells allowed me to do it all, even with minimal hands-on research experience in biology. 

I also thought it would be a really cool adventure to be able to study in a different country. Before beginning my degree here, I had never been to the United Kingdom before, and since arriving I’ve learned so much about the UK and Europe completely outside of my degree. The university is also very international, with students from all over the world attending, and I’ve also enjoyed getting to meet many new people and hear their perspectives. Oxford is a beautiful city and has so much interesting history (the university was founded in 1096), and I find it inspiring to study somewhere where many important scientific discoveries have been made. It is also much quicker and easier to explore the rest of Europe from the UK. Finally, on a personal note, I have some extended family in Europe that I never got to see very often growing up, so I’ve enjoyed being closer to them here and getting to know them better.

After my DPhil, I haven’t decided what I’d like to do next yet. I do really enjoy teaching, alongside the research, so staying in academia is a potential option. There are also many exciting opportunities in industry to work in drug development (e.g. start-ups, pharmaceutical companies). I also thought it might be nice to continue my education even further and pursue medical school to really get a full picture of the biomedical sciences, and to be able to apply the type of research I currently do to directly help patients. I like to think that it’s never too late to explore any one of these options (or maybe even something else) and I look forward to exploring career development during my degree.

Tell us about your program, DPhil in Chemistry in Cells. Can you talk about what the program is about, the course format/curriculum, and some highlights from the course? Did you apply to any other grad schools? What did the application process & timeline look like?

Chemistry in Cells is a programme meant for graduates with some experience in (bio)chemical, and/or physical sciences research, who are looking to apply these tools to studying and understanding biology. Every student in the programme is supervised by two professors- one in the physical/chemical sciences side, and another in the biological sciences side. Chemistry in Cells is associated with Oxford’s Doctoral Training Centre (DTC) which runs a series of fully funded multi-disciplinary STEM programmes. Chemistry in Cells is a relatively small programme with 5-8 students selected each year.

Chemistry in Cells is specifically funded by a grant from a UK charity called the Wellcome Trust meant to promote interdisciplinary scientific research, and positive research culture. This means that students do not need to pay tuition, are given a stipend for living expenses (£23,955 per year as of 2023, adjusted for inflation in the future), £10,000 per year for research consumables (lab reagents, etc.), and also are able to access other benefits such as a £1,000 relocation grant, £2,500 fund for conference travel, opportunities for research placements during the degree, and a £5,000 ‘transition fund’ to be used post-graduation. Since the funding is associated with the student rather than the project, students can freely choose supervisors and projects. During the first term of my degree, we were given a project booklet with project proposals from many Oxford professors (and some in collaboration with pharmaceutical companies) to choose from. However, the choice is not restricted to projects in the booklet, and if it can be worked out with potential supervisors and fits the aims of the programme any project is possible.

The course is structured over 4-years and consists of several parts. The first term (October-December) is made up of taught courses covering a variety of relevant areas in 1-2 week blocks, including chemical biology, computational tools, drug discovery, and even a hands-on biology lab course. During this period, we also heard from a variety of professors at Oxford about their work and their project proposals. I also found this to be a great way to get to know my coursemates. The following 1-2 terms (January-June) are known as the springboard phase, in which students begin their research projects, but also can have some time to get oriented in both labs and learn any new techniques that they may need during the next 3 years of the degree. Following this period, Chemistry in Cells is a typical DPhil degree following typical milestone examinations each year. These milestones include transfer of status at the end of the second year, confirmation of status at the end of third year, and a defence just after thesis submission. These all take the form of oral examinations (often called vivas) in which students present their progress to a small panel of professors, and answer questions about their own work as well as the field in general. These exams are meant to ensure that students are on track to graduate.

My initial application to Chemistry in Cells was quite like other graduate programs I applied to. To apply I was required to write and submit a personal statement discussing my experience and reasons for interest in the programme, along with a copy of my CV, and three academic references, all submitted around January (this is typical for many schools, although exact due dates may be slightly different).  

Unique to Chemistry in Cells, since positive research culture is at the core of the programme, these materials all had to be made anonymised, without reference to an applicant’s demographic characteristics. After review of my application, I was then invited to an interview in March which consisted of several stations in Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) format. In one station I gave a presentation on my previous research work, another station required me to prepare a presentation on a topic assigned 1-2 weeks in advance, and a final station was a live problem-solving session in which I was presented with real data and had to interpret. I then received an offer a few days later, which I accepted.

I also applied to many other PhD programmes both in Canada and the UK, including McMaster Chemistry, McMaster Chemical Biology, McMaster Biochemistry, uOttawa Chemistry, Oxford Synthesis for Biology and Medicine (SBM), Oxford Organic Chemistry (now amalgamated into a general chemistry DPhil programme), and Cambridge Chemistry. I was accepted to several and rejected from several, so I would recommend applying to multiple programmes if possible. I had actually already accepted my offer to uOttawa when I was offered a place in Chemistry in Cells, and I had to turn them down after the fact (something that is actually quite common in graduate school applications, since schools all have different timelines). 

Many of the more general programmes require you to already have a supervisor in mind, so I would recommend reaching out to and meeting with professors whose work you find interesting as soon as possible (ideally sometime before November, if you’re applying for the following year) if you’re considering applying to graduate school. My main piece of advice when doing this is to briefly discuss your experience and genuinely express interest in their research (i.e. don’t send a form letter) when emailing them. I don’t think that it’s necessary to include your CV in this initial email, as if they are interested, they will ask for it, but this is a matter of personal choice. Also make sure keep following up if you don’t receive a reply. Professors are very busy people, and it can be so easy for them to miss emails- this doesn’t mean that they’re not interested. When I was emailing professors, I had to follow up 3-4 times for some of them before getting a reply (and the reply was often positive!) When applying to these more general programmes, multiple meetings with the professor and research group (and maybe even laboratory visits) often take the place of a single more formal interview, although this is ultimately dependent on the group. It is also generally a good idea to ask to talk to current students in a professor’s research group. This can help you get a good idea of the conditions that you’ll be working in and give another perspective on what is expected of students in this environment. A PhD can take a long time, and will include many challenges, so I think it's very important to ensure that you will be working in a supportive environment with a professor who has healthy expectations of their students.

I would also recommend looking into research/laboratory funding, considering tuition costs, stipend (generally given to students for living expenses), and funding for research-related expenses (this may be associated with the lab rather than the student, depending on the school). Different degrees may offer different amounts of financial support and may have different associated requirements (e.g. many PhD programmes in Canada and the USA require students to take on a TA role in order to receive stipend funding.) This can be an important factor to consider when deciding on programmes. Additionally, there are many external scholarships that require secondary applications, but provide students with excellent funding resources during the course of their degree. Professors that you contact may directly encourage you to apply to some of these, but it is a good idea to do your own research and to try and familiarise yourself with what is available.

The research experience that is required to apply to any degree can look different for different people and I encourage anyone who is interested to reach out to the programme and ask, rather than giving up and not applying. My undergraduate degree is decidedly not a degree in physical/chemical sciences, but when I reached out to Chemistry in Cells, I was assured I was eligible considering my experiences. My coursemates also all have unique research backgrounds, with some of us having more chemistry experience, some of us having more physics experience, and some of us having more biochemistry experience. A DPhil is meant to be an opportunity to learn, and I think that your experience is really meant to prove your passion for the area, and guide your DPhil project, rather than define it. I had absolutely no hands-on biology or biochemistry experience going in to my degree, but I’m currently learning these skills (e.g. tissue culture, running biological assays, etc.) as a part of my project. By contrast, some of my coursemates have plenty of experience in biology/biochemistry labs but minimal laboratory experience with chemistry or physics, however they have also been able to learn as a part of their project.

Unfortunately, the future of the Chemistry in Cells programme is uncertain, with 2024-2025 being the final year of the Wellcome grant that created the programme, and thus potentially being the final year for intake, but I would encourage anyone who is interested to keep an eye on the programme webpage and Oxford’s admission page. I’d also recommend looking at other Oxford DTC courses, as these programmes are always funded, and many of them offer similar benefits to Chemistry in Cells but may have a slightly different research focus.

Can you tell us about your Clarendon Scholarship?

The Clarendon scholarship is a scholarship originally established in 2001 to support overseas graduate students studying at Oxford. The fund receives its endowment from surplus income from the Oxford University Press (the largest university press in the world) as well as from external donations. When you apply to any graduate degree at Oxford, you are automatically considered for a variety of scholarships including Clarendon. Various departments and colleges have a certain number of Clarendon scholarships to distribute, and they decide internally which applicants will receive scholarships each year. While the Wellcome trust provides me with a large amount of funding as a part of the Chemistry in Cells course, my tuition is much higher as an international student, so a large part of it is paid for by the Clarendon fund. Clarendon also provides a great community at Oxford and hosts regular events for scholarship holders and their guests. I’ve made many friends through Clarendon, and I’ve found that Clarendon is an excellent way to meet passionate people from around the world who may study completely different subjects from you.

What types of experiential learning opportunities did you have in undergrad that were the most pivotal in getting you to where you are today?

In the BHSc programme I’m very grateful that I had the opportunity to explore many areas that I was interested in and meet lots of incredible friends. In high school I had really enjoyed my classes in biology and chemistry (particularly organic chemistry, which I was fortunate enough to be exposed to by teachers as early as grade 10), and I knew I wanted to continue to study something science-related for my undergraduate degree. I didn’t really know much about what could be done with an undergrad degree in these areas, but at the time I was interested in medicine. The McMaster BHSc programme seemed like a perfect fit, as I liked that it gave a lot of exposure to a wide variety of areas in the health/biomedical sciences.

In BHSc first year has a list of prescribed introductory courses (e.g. cell biology, chemistry, inquiry, etc.) with barely any room to take electives. This provides everyone with a good basic science background. In following years some courses are still required, however a lot of space is opened for electives allowing you to follow your interests. In my second year of BHSc I took my first university-level classes in Anatomy and Physiology (required for the programme) and organic chemistry (elective to the programme). I really loved both courses; however, I was unfortunately unable to have a significant lab experience in either one as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. As I had really enjoyed the material and missed out on labs, I decided to continue to pursue both areas in subsequent years, to both learn more about these areas and get more hands-on experience. 

In third year, I took a wide variety of elective courses across areas of chemistry, biochemistry, and chemical biology, all of which I enjoyed immensely (and I actually ended up minoring in all three subjects.) I simultaneously began a position as a paid teaching assistant for McMaster’s Anatomy and Physiology programme. As a TA I was responsible for guiding student tutorials and lab sessions, running office hours, marking, and answering student questions. This was a really cool experience for me, as I was able to make-up for the anatomy lab experiences that my year had missed out on, and really get into the details of the course material. I had also never really taught before, and I found the experience very rewarding. I continued TAing in fourth year BHSc, and I’m getting involved in anatomy at Oxford as well as a tutorial demonstrator.

BHSc third year also requires that students participate in project courses- assessed research projects guided by faculty in any discipline. I also did my third-year project in anatomy (with Sachi!) studying the use of VR and autostereoscopy in anatomy education, under the supervision of Dr. Bruce Wainman. This was my first real research experience, and I really enjoyed learning about the research process (planning our study, running participants, analysing data, etc.) I also was very fortunate to be able to present a poster on our findings at the American Association for Anatomy (AAA) conference in Philadelphia that year (you can read my abstract here!) I met a lot of amazing people through this project, and this was an incredible experience and really opened my mind to research. I even ended up using Dr. Wainman as a reference for graduate school (even though the research itself was not entirely related to my desired graduate research area). However, while I was getting my anatomy fix through TAing and our project course, despite all of my coursework, I still had no experience in the organic chemistry lab.

This is when I decided to reach out to professors studying organic chemistry at McMaster. For me this process involved cold emailing the professors who had taught me. I received a couple of rejections (mostly due to the difficult timing coming out of the pandemic), but I ultimately ended up meeting with Dr. Jakob Magolan, and following our conversation, he offered me a paid summer job, and a spot in his lab for my fourth-year thesis project. I had an incredible experience in the Magolan lab and learned so much about how to do organic synthesis from my graduate mentor. The Magolan lab was a perfect fit for me, as while it is a chemistry lab, a large proportion of the work done consists of collaborative drug development efforts with biologists at McMaster (which was exactly what I was looking for). In the Magolan lab I met a lot of great people, worked on many projects in antibiotic development, and learned so much about the field, synthesis, and research as a whole. I was even lucky enough to have my undergraduate work published recently (check out the preprint here!)

At the time I was applying to the Magolan lab in third year, I still was unsure of what I wanted to do post-graduation, and I actually also applied to medical school during this period. I ended up finding myself on a waitlist that summer, but by that point I had been enjoying my time in the lab so much that I didn’t mind, and when the time came to reapply, I decided to apply to PhDs instead. This was a difficult decision at the time, but what really helped me to make it was the idea that while it felt so final, it didn’t have to be. I decided to continue my studies in drug development, as I’m currently really interested in the area, I find it rewarding, and I enjoy my time in the lab. This does not mean that medical school is necessarily off the table forever. It may be, but there’s plenty of time to figure that out!

Based on your experiences, what advice do you have for students trying to land their first lab position, if they don’t have experience yet?

The best way to find a research position is by cold emailing. While this may seem daunting, remember that professors are people too, and they like receiving cold emails and having students show interest in their work. The first step to this process is identifying professors at your university that you may want to work with. I found the best way of doing this to be contacting professors that I’d liked who had taught me, but even just browsing departmental websites can be a promising strategy. Once you’ve identified professors who you may be interested in working with, read up a little on their work, and reach out to introduce yourself. Like applying to graduate schools, my main piece of advice when doing this is to briefly discuss your experience (whatever it may be) and genuinely express interest in their research work in a specific way. Even with no previous research experience, there’s a reason for your interest in their work— talk about that. Maybe you really enjoyed learning about content related to their work in a course you took. Maybe you had a great time in a teaching lab that’s somehow related to the work. Maybe you have research experience in another area but want to try something new like I did. Mention these experiences— they are just as relevant as direct research experience. Everyone must start somewhere! And again, make sure to follow up. Just because you haven’t heard from a professor you emailed, does not mean that they don’t want you— odds are that they just missed the email.

Where can students go if they want to learn more about your experiences?

If you have any questions about anything, feel free to reach out to me on LinkedIn or through email at [email protected]. I also recommend checking out the links included above!

Is there anything else that you would like to add for Invite Health readers?

As I mentioned above, I want my main takeaway message to be that it’s never too late to start something new! Stay open minded to new experiences and remember that just because you want to focus on one thing now, does not mean that you can never go back and try something else later. You really don’t have choose, and there are often ways to continue to pursue other interests (both academic and non-academic) extracurricularly. My journey to my DPhil was long and atypical for my field (who has ever heard of a BHSc graduate going into organic chemistry research?) While I don’t know where I’ll ultimately end up, I’m happy to continue following my passions, enjoy the journey, and figure it out as I go.

Next Week on Invite Health 💌 

I will be taking a break from posting on Invite Health for the next few weeks, to focus on my Master’s studies. I will be returning with weekly newsletter content at the start of May.

During this break, I have a few asks:

1. Fill out this Invite Health feedback form. Whether you’ve been reading Invite Health since September 2022, or just started, your perspective and feedback will help me improve Invite Health. I will read every feedback response- it means the world to me 🌎️ 

2. Read through all of Invite Health’s previous newsletters on invitehealth.beehiiv.com 

3. I will continue reposting job opportunities on Invite Health’s LinkedIn page- give us a follow!

4. Reach out to the students featured on Invite Health, to find mentors and build relationships.

5. Share Invite Health with people you think would benefit from this. It helps grow our mission to close the talent-opportunity gap, and reach more students. Forward it as an email, or text the newsletter link to them.

I’ll be back in the inbox again in May. Enjoy your April (especially for those of you finishing undergrad this month- push through, enjoy it, and best of luck!)

Cheers,

Sachi 💌 

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About Invite Health 💌 

Invite Health is a newsletter for students trying to figure out what to do with a life sci / health sci degree. I highlight students pursuing careers in healthcare, and the paid experiential learning opportunities they've had. From biomedical engineering to medical anthropology to climate policy, my goal with this newsletter is to introduce you to the various pathways that students can pursue in healthcare (and get paid along the way!).

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