Some industry placements can contribute to solving important problems in the world, and PhD candidate Muhammad Kamran was able to play a role in one such project.
Muhammad, from the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, completed his placement at CSIRO Agriculture and Food department. His advisor helped him connect with a host placement supervisor from CSIRO to develop a project suitable for the HDR Placement program.,
The CSIRO research project targeted the development of a commercial vaccine to combat flystrike in sheep, which is a parasitic condition that can be deadly. Muhammad was able to contribute to the project while also learning an abundance of new knowledge.
“I learned that industry research is more about team effort rather than individual work in my PhD.
“I enjoyed working at CSIRO on networking, brainstorming and polishing ideas through discussions in very friendly environment,” he said.
Muhammad carefully managed his time between his placement and his PhD workload. He discussed his options with his supervisors at CSIRO to create a workplan to manage both effectively.
Muhammad values the time he spent working with CSIRO, as it helped him to understand how to think and develop a complex project while working within a team.
“These transferable skills and professional growth will help me in future lab work and employability.
“I highly recommend HDR candidates to consider industry placements” he said.
If you are a UQ HDR candidate and would like to explore your placement opportunities, attend an information session to learn more about the program.