Arsha Kaur is in her fourth year of a Biomedical Sciences degree. She recently completed a six-month placement with DECIPHer and Cardiff Third Sector Council (C3SC).
New Delhi raised, Cardiff based — and somehow the Greggs sausage rolls made it feel like home. I’m Arsha, studying Biomedical Sciences and the first in my family to go to university. From the start, I knew I wanted more than just lectures, labs, and revision; I wanted to see how research works in practice and how it connects with people’s lives. That’s what led me to a placement with DECIPHer and Cardiff Third Sector Council (C3SC), which turned out to be one of the most defining parts of my journey so far.
Finding my place at SPARK
Two days a week I was based at SPARK with DECIPHer, supervised by Dr Jeremy Segrott. Walking into those first staff meetings, I often felt like the quiet observer in the corner — scribbling notes while everyone else spoke confidently about projects on parenting, mental health, and prevention. It was classic imposter syndrome: part of me wondered whether I really belonged there at all.
But being in that environment slowly changed things. I attended staff forums, took part in training, and completed the DECIPHer Short Course on Public Health Improvement Research Methods, which gave me a new perspective on how interventions are designed and evaluated. I also joined an international team working on a scoping review titled Where are the Public in Prevention Science? A scoping review of public involvement in the development and evaluation of family-based prevention interventions, alongside colleagues from Sweden and the Netherlands. Contributing to this taught me systematic searching, critical reading, and how to turn evidence into something meaningful. The review is now being prepared for submission to the Journal of Prevention, and being first author on this work feels like a milestone I never thought I’d reach at this stage of my degree.
It was classic imposter syndrome; part of me wondered whether I really belonged there
at all.
I was also awarded an EUSPR Early Career bursary to present the review at the European Society for Prevention Research conference in Berlin in September. It feels a bit surreal — from doubting if I even belonged in those meetings, to now preparing to share our work with an international audience.
Building Communities with C3SC
The other three days of my week were spent with Cardiff Third Sector Council (C3SC), which supports charities and community groups across Cardiff. This side of my placement was about community development — working directly with people and organisations to make sure their voices shaped health and wellbeing projects.
I worked on quarterly Key Performance Indicator (KPI) narrative reports, learned to use customer relationship management systems, and supported qualitative data collection. I also represented C3SC at mental health and wellbeing partnership meetings and on Cardiff Council’s steering group for National Safeguarding Week.
Being first author on this work feels like a milestone I never thought I’d reach at this stage of my degree.
Some highlights of my role included supporting the organisation of health and social care network meetings for consultations, helping deliver the Minority Ethnic Communities (MEC) Health Fair 2024, contributing to the Improving Cancer Journey Steering Group with Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, and supporting the PIPYN family nutrition programme by involving minority communities to shape the intervention and being part of its reference group. These experiences gave me the chance to actively contribute — through planning, outreach, and feedback — and showed me how much stronger services become when communities are directly involved in shaping them.
A great support network
None of this would have been possible without people who believed in me. I’m deeply grateful to Sheila Hendrickson-Brown, Chief Executive of C3SC, for her guidance and encouragement, and to Anna Ross-Woudstra, my manager at C3SC, for her constant support throughout my placement. And of course, my supervisor Dr Jeremy Segrott, who trusted me, gave me space to grow, and backed me all the way — that made all the difference.
Looking ahead
I sometimes have to pause and remind myself how far I’ve come. The little girl in me, who once wondered if she’d ever get the chance to study science abroad, would be proud of where I am now.
I’ll be continuing at C3SC as a Community Development Support Officer for Health, Social Care and Wellbeing, and I also hope to build on this experience by pursuing a PhD in population health in the future. This placement may have started as part of my degree, but it has become something much bigger — the beginning of a journey I’m only just getting started on.