I should be busy....

The week flew by just like that!! I can't believe it! Come to think about it, it's been more than 4 months since I'm here in Glasgow. And I know, before I know it, I'd be back in Malaysia! :(

Well, let's not think too far ahead. Because I've got plenty to do for the coming weeks!!!

First off, let's talk about my research project.
My supervisor is Prof. Alastair Florence.

"Alastair J. Florence (AJF) is responsible for the Solid-State Research Group (SSRG) within SIPBS. The SSRG specialises in crystallographic investigations of pharmaceuticals (Fig. 1), including aspects of solid-state polymorphism, ranging from crystallisation, to phase transformations, through to crystal structure determination from single-crystal and powder X-ray diffraction data.

To date, the SSRG has benefited from ca. £2M of investment in state-of-the-art research facilities (Fig. 2). The dedicated facility includes a suite of three XRPD instruments, a single crystal diffractometer, thermal analysis, automated parallel crystallisation and a range of manual crystallisation techniques, FT-IR, microscopy and dissolution apparatus."

Sounds impressive eh? That's what my final year project is about. It's about crystals. I'm supposed to find a new co-crystal (if you don't know what a co-crystal is, don't bother, cause I myself am not 100% sure what it is!!!) for a compound called ellagic acid.

Never heard of ellagic acid? So did I.

And that was the main reason I choose the substance, I'd thought it'd be fun to work with a compound that I've never heard of. Bad choice. Turns out that ellagic acid is extremely unreactive i.e I'm not getting a new co-crystal *haihhh*

Best of all, I've got a postgraduate to guide my lab work. And he's pretty strict, I would say. While other student need only submit their draft for their introduction end of November, I'm supposed to let my postgrad proof-read mine on the 2nd of November @.@

Then, on the 11th of November I've got a presentation to make regarding a case that I clerked in the hospital during the month before I came to Glasgow. The bad news is that not only will I be short on the preparation time, but I get a "brilliant-non-stop-question-asking-lecturer" called Alex Mullen. *sigghh*

Good news is, that despite all that, I'd be off for a short break in Ireland from the 13-17th of November! *whee*