So I'm finishing up my masters programme out in DCU. It's a taught MSc. that culminates in a 12 week research project.
Semesters one and two were (to me anyway) not too hard going. The modules were interesting, some of the topics I had covered before, and most of the workshops and assignments were also ... emmm interesting (for want of a thesaurus, and it's actually the exact right word I want). The taught portion was sort of like doing final year again, except with more modules that interested you.
The research project takes place over the summer, so the masters doesnt finish up till the beginning of September. I was assigned a very interesting and challenging project that should have me doing the proof of concept of an assay my supervisor had conceived (really, not enough words in English/my head for things). The people in the lab I work with are great and really helpful, but the assay itself didn't want to comply. With a number of hurdles including being sick a lot, contamination, and reagents that suddenly didnt want to work, I haven't completed all the work I intended doing on the project. On top of which, again due to being unwell a lot, I haven't got as much writing done in advance as I'd have liked. The deadline is in two weeks (probably shouldnt be writing this post) and a fair assessment might be "I'm bolloxed". The project component of the masters is designed to give you a good taste of research and an understanding of techniques in the laboratory, it is fair to say I have gotten a good dose of both.
That said, I really enjoyed the masters programme (DC727), and would happilly recommend it to anyone interested in diagnostics. Just get started on writing up your research project earlier than I did....