I'm Elsa, a 4th year PhD student at the University of Cambridge, studying drug development for cardiovascular diseases. I completed my Undergraduate degree in Biology and Master's degree in Regenerative Medicine at Imperial College London. For my A-Levels, I took Biology, Physics, Maths, Japanese, and completed an EPQ. I also have a good foundation in Chemistry from AS-level. I can help with 11+ exams as I took the 11+ myself and scored highly, gaining entry into a grammar school.

I have always enjoyed teaching and mentoring students. When I was a GCSE student myself, I used to set up informal tutoring sessions for my peers during break times. During the second year of my Undergraduate degree, I spent 2 months in Japan at summer camps teaching Biology (specifically, Zoology, Ecology, and Conservation) to high school and university students that were interested in pursuing science in the UK. This not only involved delivering seminars, but also creating freeform discussions about the science and interacting with the students socially. This year, I won an award at a Cambridge university symposium for teaching scientific techniques and mentoring my younger colleagues in the department.

I would class my style of teaching as a mix between demonstrator and facilitator. At first, I will determine the topics that the student may need more help with. I show the student how I would approach the problem or topic, and then later use prompting questions to make sure they have fully understood. I believe there is no stupid question, and in fact I encourage students to ask lots of questions to facilitate learning.

My favourite subject is, of course, Biology. The complexity of living organisms makes me appreciate that we exist. My favourite learning experience in Biology was finding out about how salamanders can regrow their limbs after injury/amputation in an Undergraduate lecture!