A number of Year 12 students had an afternoon out at Salford University today, where they discovered more about the type of research conducted at the University, in addition to getting involved in some practical sessions in the labs. Tom had been here before of course, squeezing crabs and such like, and was on first name terms with all the lecturers. He even knew where to find the bin.
The lab activities involved firstly preparing blood samples to spin in a centrifuge in order to separate out red and white blood cells, along with plasma, to assess blood parameters as an indicator of health. A second activity allowed students to gain an understanding of processing tissue samples for microscope analysis, involving dehydrating a biological sample with alcohol and impregnating it with wax. This was to aid the slicing of the sample into cross sections before staining. The poor little fly.
Students then got the opportunity to see some of the spectroscopy equipment in action, with infra-red and nmr machines being demonstrated, followed by a final talk from some past research students discussing available work placements and other opportunities.
Best of all though, there was chocolate. Lots of chocolate.
