Niamh Murray from Knocklyon in Dublin had no idea when she embarked on her PhD in September 2013 that just one year later she would be heading off to the University of California, Davis (UC Davis) to study there for a year – at no expense to herself.

She got to do this thanks to the Fulbright-Teagasc award, which offers postgraduate students the chance to travel and study or research in the areas of agriculture, food and forestry in America.

The good news is if you want to channel Niamh’s experience, applications are currently open for the next intake of this programme, but close on 28 October. Fulbright is supported by the US Department of State and Department of Foreign Affairs.

Niamh embarked on her PhD in UCD in September 2013, having studied an undergrad in Food Science on the Belfield campus. Her PhD focuses on milk protein hydrolysis.

“These are milk bioactive peptides or protein fragments that have been shown to have health benefits. However, they are extremely bitter and this bitterness hinders their incorporation into food products, so I’m trying to develop an approach to understand more of how we can identify bitterness in these proteins and hopefully mask it, so they can eventually go to the market.

“Consumer acceptance is an issue. No one is going to want to consume something that’s so bitter it tastes really bad, so that’s a major challenge with milk proteins, as well as trying to get them to the market and taste somewhat acceptable,” explains Niamh.

Two months into the programme, Niamh received an email from her supervisor with an advertisement for the Fulbright scholarship. She thought it looked like “an amazing experience”, so she put in an application, went for interview and the following September (2014) jetted off to do the second year of her PhD in the sunshine state.

Niamh describes the experience as “one of the best things I’ve ever done in my life” and, really, is this any surprise given she got to spend a year of college in California – fully funded?

Niamh was very keen to go to University of California, Davis in particular. “UC Davis is famously known for its focus on food science, so I was extremely lucky to work with experts in this field. I was based in the food science department, but I also had opportunities to work in a milk processing lab and in a chemistry lab, so there were plenty of opportunities for collaboration and expanding my network,” she explains.

Niamh says studying in Davis also gave her research another dimension and she developed new ways of working and thinking.

Another reason Niamh particularly wanted to go to UC Davis is because there is collaboration between UCD and UC Davis and she says UC Davis is very famous for food science.

However, the scholarship application proved a fair bit of work itself. “You do need to spend some time on it. I wouldn’t leave it to the last minute, you need to fill in your experience, your work experiences, you need to submit your undergraduate degree transcript, you also need to have a personal essay on your research objectives, and references from people you’ve worked with, or your supervisor.

“It takes a little bit of organisation to pull everything together to get it in on time as well. It takes good effort to get it done right,” she says.

Niamh says the funding she received from Fulbright was “more than enough” to fund her for the year.

“It obviously depends on what part of the US you go to, some places may be more expensive than others. Also, if you wanted to travel at the weekends or take a week or two out during your year to go to different places, that might cost a bit more. But for general living and transport and getting to the US and back, your scholarship is more than enough.” Niamh was very lucky that she also received her PhD stipend for the year.

Cali Living

So what was living in California for a year actually like? “It’s amazing! You always see US colleges on television, so to actually be there and experience it... there’s so much spirit on campus. Although I wasn’t attending lectures and doing exams and assignments, I did try to sit in on lectures.

“There were certain days in Davis called picnic day, where all the departments on campus open up their labs and have different demonstrations. And they have their football, their American football games and their cheerleaders, marching bands. There are frat houses, sororities, everything that’s on television.”

The weather, of course, was beautiful too. “I thought it was summer all year round – it’s always sunny, I think there was maybe only one month of the year when it was raining and a little bit cooler. But when I say cooler, it’s just a little jacket. The summer got up to 40 degrees, so that was hot, really hot, but for most parts of the year it was very warm, very pleasant. It’s the Cali-living lifestyle.”

Niamh says the whole experience “beyond exceeded” her expectations. “It’s just the general living. Davis is such an international campus, so I made so many friends. At the weekends, we would take a trip to San Francisco or Lake Tahoe or go camping or hiking. California is very active, there’s so much to do, people are always up for hiking or camping it’s a very active place to be. It’s great.”

Students can apply to any college they’re interested in studying in in the US. “When I was applying you did not have to have your decision made during the application process, but it was good to have in mind a college you wanted to go to.”

When Country Living asks Niamh what was the best thing about the whole experience, she says emphatically: “Everything.”

“I really loved it all, from the friends I’ve made – who I still keep in contact with now – to travelling, the sights that I’ve seen, and the expansion of my professional network and work that I’ve done over there. I couldn’t pinpoint one particular aspect.” CL

find out more

Find out more about the Fulbright-Teagasc Award here at www.fulbright.ie/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Fulbright-Awards-Flyer-Teagasc-1.pdf