Meet student Bethan Copsey

What year are you and what is your PhD on?

I am a first-year full-time DPhil student. My DPhil/project is on medical statistics, researching methods to calculate the sample size for clinical trials.

What is your day-to-day like? What does your research involve? 

My research involves looking at how sample sizes are currently calculated in clinical trials of musculoskeletal conditions and thinking about different statistical methods for how we can improve the way we do this. I meet with my supervisor each week and the rest of my time is spent at my desk, doing training courses or meeting different people in the department to discuss different projects.

What is your background? And what brought you to a DPhil at NDORMS, Oxford?

I studied maths, statistics and economics at Warwick University for the undergraduate degree. I specialised in medical statistics after doing an NIHR summer internship at the University of Leicester. After my degree, I started working at NDORMS as a medical statistician in the Centre for Rehabilitation Research before starting my DPhil.

What is it like to be a DPhil student at NDORMS?

There are lots of opportunities for training and development at NDORMS with a wide variety of courses to build your skills and seminars to hear what other people are working on and provide inspiration. The department combines people from numerous disciplines and the integration of clinicians, statisticians and trial support staff means that there are lots of resources and people to learn from.

WHAT IS IT LIKE TO BE A DPHIL STUDENT AT Oxford?

A key feature of Oxford is the college system which I think really helps you to feel more integrated into the university. Through my college, I have met lots of other postgraduates studying different subjects from French literature to neuroscience. It gives you an element of support and space to talk about things outside your subject area. There are also loads of sports and social activities to get involved in.