South Korea – Taejung Park

International student profiles 18 April 2019

Taejung Park is from Seoul in South Korea. He recently completed an MSc Chemistry programme, supervised by Dr John Gardiner. Project title “Organic Synthesis of Glucuronic Acid Fragment”.

Please give a brief summary of your MSc project.

My MSc Project was related to the chemical synthesis of Heparin (H) and Heparan Sulphate (HS) in glycosaminoglycans (GAGs), which are ubiquitously located on cell surfaces in the extracellular matrix (ECM). H and HS consist of a glucosamine (GlcN) as an acceptor and glucuronic acid (GlcA) or L-iduronic acid (IdoA) as a donor. H and HS are highlighted because of their various functions and closely related to many diseases such as cancer, Alzheimers diseases, inflammation and infection. The main focus of my project was to synthesise a fragment called L-iduronic Lactone, which is locked IdoA as a residue of H and HS. It is believed to be a useful fragment because it can be controlled in the synthesis process and provide a safe and reasonable route.

What did you do before undertaking the MSc programme?

I graduated with my undergraduate degree in South Korea.

Why did you decide to undertake a postgraduate course?

I love chemistry. That is why I did an undergraduate degree in chemistry in South Korea. However, I felt that the study at undergraduate level was not enough to fulfil my curiosity and aspirations. I wanted to be a researcher and keep studying chemistry for my future career. For my career, I realised that I needed to take a postgraduate course.

Why did you choose Manchester?

I already knew that the University of Manchester is not only one of the best universities in the world, but is also world leading in research. In addition, I thought that if I could study a postgraduate level, I would like to do it at world leading level. There are many cutting-edge facilities such as high-resolution nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometers and X-ray crystallography, as well as excellent centres and institutes such as Organic materials Innovation Centre (OMIC) and Manchester Institute of Biotechnology (MIB) in the University of Manchester. That is why I made the decision to study in Manchester.

What have you most enjoyed about the MSc programme?

I entirely enjoyed this MSc programme because the programme offered many useful resources such as high quality lectures, lecture notes, workshops, tutorials and teaching labs. The course is well organised with the balance between theory and practical skills. Furthermore, the MSc programme offers a scientific writing course which is helpful to write the master dissertation at the end of the course. I am pretty sure that as long as you study a master degree in chemistry in Manchester, you will improve your knowledge and practical skills through a year programme.

What are facilities and resources like in the Faculty?

The facilities and resources offered were useful to follow the lectures and curriculum. They were well organised and provided good insight into what I was learning and how it would be applied. In addition, workshops and tutorials included in each lecture were highly useful and helpful. Because of the systems, I received a lot of help to understand and follow the courses. In particular, I like tutorials because I could ask tutors whatever I wanted to know. Furthermore, they gave many tips and know-how. From discussions with tutors, I felt that my ability has been significantly improved.

What does the University offer international students?

The university offers many things, even though I was not able to do all of them. In my case, I joined a day trip offered by the international society. It was helpful to reduce stress and refresh my mind. They organised many day trips at reasonable prices. The residential hall also provided many activities to get used to the new environment. Thus, I recommend that you try to do these activities when you have struggled with various reasons during the course.

How do you think studying here will help your future prospects? What are your future plans?

I believe that the experience in Manchester will help my future career. I am also thinking of doing a PhD in the UK. So, I am preparing the application and looking for funding for the degree at the moment.

What do you like about the city of Manchester?

I love football and am a big fan of Manchester United. For me, Manchester is a fantastic place. Many people are friendly. In addition, I like the Mancunian accent, although it is often tough to catch what they are saying!