MTU Co-Op Placement – Research Assistant – Shreya Ghosh.

For my Co-Op Placement, I was fortunate enough to take up the role as a ‘Research Assistant’ in the Munster Technological University in Cork.

I chose this placement because a career in academia is an option for me in my future. My family and I are also based in Cork, which was a convenience factor which contributed to the uptake of this role.

In MTU, I was based in the Postgraduate office in the Department of Sport, Leisure and Childhood Studies. My role as a research assistant involved many duties and responsibilities, such as auditing meetings, writing time stamps, assisting PhD candidates with data collection/data analysis/proof reading, helping organise events e.g. All Ireland Postgraduate (AIPG) Conference, etc.

The highlight of my placement was the AIPG Conference. Since I had a big role in communications and management, it was an eye-opening, first-time experience for me. I received an insight into real-life event planning and management, which improved my skills in organisation, teamwork, leadership and communication. I learned a lot from this experience and look forward to apply my knowledge in university.

For potential future candidates for this placement, I would recommend to keep an open mind for all different areas in sports science. Continue to be curious and ask many questions to postgraduate students and members of staff. The work involved will highly depend on the students which are present, their area of research and the research projects the staff members are involved with. All in all, it will be a great experience.

Shreya Ghosh is a 4th year undergraduate Sports & Exercise Sciences student in the Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, University of Limerick.

Contact Shreya via email : 20244754@studentmail.ul.ie