Charlotte Bailey MSc Animal Science

PhD student Aberystwyth University

"Following on from my BSc in Animal Science, I decided to go straight into the Masters course of the same subject. During my undergraduate course I realised I enjoyed studying nutrition, in particular equine nutrition, due to my ability to apply the knowledge to real-life situations when riding and loaning horses during the summer months. The Equine nutrition module in the MSc built on my previous knowledge wonderfully and allowed me to gain a thorough insight into the working of the equine digestive tract.

The MSc course was comprehensive in both livestock and equine, providing me with the basis to go down either route in the future. Despite putting my emphasis on the equine part of the course, I took a mixture of modules, including Grassland Management, something that is incredibly useful to my role now. I found that the benefits of doing the Animal Science MSc meant I was able to secure a PhD position in livestock nutrition. This course gave me enough of an understanding of ruminants to be able to apply my knowledge across the species and feel confident doing it.

I found that studying a Master’s degree gives you a novel relationship with your lecturers. They all want to see you succeed, and appreciate that you are there because you want to be. As such, it is a much more relaxed environment, with smaller group sizes and a comradery between students and staff that make the course enjoyable."