Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Robert finds own path into medical research
A BUDDING researcher who failed his final-year exams in high school will begin a PHD after the summer.
Robert Davis will graduate from Dundee University next month, having completed an MSC in Applied Neuroscience, before continuing his studies in Cardiff.
Robert, 22, a former junior rower for Scotland, is sharing his story of finding an alternative path to university in the hope of inspiring others.
He dreams of becoming a researcher in the field of degenerative brain diseases and is well on his way to achieving it with his PHD.
But things looked very different for Robert as he finished secondary school in Edinburgh, having failed to achieve any grades in sixth year and with poor grades in fifth year. His applications to attend university to study science were refused and he was left questioning whether he would have to compromise his ambitions.
“I probably should have been a bit more focused on trying to do well in my exams, instead of just aiming to pass them,” said Robert.
“I’d never not passed them before so I didn’t even think about that, but when I got my results through showing I’d failed all my sixth-year exams, I realised something wasn’t right about the way I was balancing my time.”
Robert admits extra-curricular activities took up most of his time at school, when he was ranked 10th in the country for junior rowing.
He was training daily and competing across Europe, but failed to recognise that his success in rowing may have come at the expense of his studies.
However, the university’s administration team spotted Robert’s potential.
Robert was offered a place as an associate student – meaning his first year would consist of an HNC in Applied Sciences run by Dundee and Angus College, with one day a week at university doing two firstyear modules.
Should he pass the HNC, he would continue into second year of the degree course at the university.
Robert said: “I took a while to think about whether I wanted to do university through the college route.
“I thought there might be a stigma around it, that other students would see me differently or that employers might not look too favourably on it.
“It was a high school way of thinking and as soon as I started university I realised how wrong that perception was. I didn’t feel any different to other university students.”
Robert attended classes and lectures at both the college and the university’s School of Life Sciences and there was regular downtime.
Just like all other first years, he had a student card, could use the university library, take part in student sports clubs and could stay in the halls of residence.
The mixture of the university’s self-study approach to education, combined with the more structured and teacher-led approach from college, allowed him a smoother transition into university studying.
After completing his degree, Robert then continued on to a Masters course.
He added: “I don’t think I would have done a Masters if it wasn’t for the alternative route. The experience was so positive and supportive that it made me want to stay on past my undergraduate course and move into research.”
Each year the university has up to 50 funded places ringfenced for associate student places.
It has welcomed 201 students through this route into Humanities, Environmental Science and Life Sciences in the past five years.
Professor Nick Brewer, lead for the associate student pathway in the School of Life Sciences at the university, said: “A lot of our associate students come from challenging backgrounds or situations and feel like university isn’t for them.
“It can be quite intimidating coming to university – classes can be with hundreds of people, even our lab classes can take around 110 students per lab. Some people thrive in that environment but others find it daunting.
“Through this programme students can sample university and work out if it’s for them. It might not be, and that’s okay, but some really grab the opportunity and that’s what it’s all about – giving them that chance.”