Aline da Silva Cerqueira

The sounds seabirds make at sea and why we should listen to them

Aline is Marine Biologist carrying out post-graduate research in to the sounds of seabirds at the Institute of Zoology of the Zoological Society of London, at King’s College.

Daniela Maria Köck

Uncovering the dark parts of the universe

Daniela is a PhD research student in the experimental particle physics group at the University of Sussex, Brighton, where she analyses data from the Large Hadron Collider at CERN.

Dori Grijseels

How your brain knows where you are?

Dori is a neuroscience PhD student at the University of Sussex in Brighton, UK, studying navigation in mice using virtual reality and two-photon imaging.

Fiona Scott

Medicinal Chemistry vs. BakeOff

Fiona Scott works in the chemistry labs of the Sussex Drug Discovery Centre (SDDC) at the University of Sussex, making and optimising drug-like molecules, called chemical tools or probes. Specifically, she studies tools which aim to shut down the action of an enzyme called protein kinase N2 (PKN2), which signals proteins in our bodies that tell our cells to do all sorts of important jobs.

Francesca Hearn-Yeates

Antibiotic Resistance in Gonorrhoea

Francesca has a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry from University College London, and a Masters of Research degree in Molecular and Cellular Biosciences (focusing on immunology) from Imperial College, London, and is now a microbiology laboratory research technician at the University of Sussex, studying meningitis and gonorrhoea.

Dr Gillian Forrester

Your 500 Million Year Old Brain

Gillian's research at Birbeck, University of London, is focused on investigating the behaviours and brain organisation of children, gorillas and chimpanzees focusing on how cognitive abilities evolve and develop over time and across species. She is the founder and director of the "Me, Human" project (www.mehuman.io, @Me__Human) through which regularly engages in public outreach and education and advocates for women and girls in science. Through the "Me, Human" project, Gillian collaborates with the public to investigate and educate about human cognition by hosting talks and live demonstrations.

Dr Laura Evenstar

Why are the Andes SOOooooo crazily, mind boggling High?

Laura specialises in geomorphology, sedimentology and superficial ore deposits from tectonically active arid regions around the world. Her Batchalor of Science degree is from the University of Leeds and her PhD is from the University of Aberdeen. Prior to joining the University of Brighton in 2019, she worked as a Senior Research Associate and Senior Teaching Associate the University of Bristol, researching landscape evolution within Northern Chile and its links with supergene enrichment mineralisation.

Dr Rosanna Barnard

Networks: how mathematical graphs can protect us from epidemics

Rosanna is a research fellow in Infectious Disease Modelling within the Evolution, Behaviour and Environment research group, part of the School of Life Sciences at the University of Sussex. She previously worked as a PhD researcher in the Mathematics Applied to Biology research group, part of the Department of Mathematics also at the University of Sussex. Rosanna's past research has included modelling the growth and development of networks of neurons, deriving and validating models describing epidemics spreading on networks of individuals, and proposing novel analytical methods to deriving epidemic threshold expressions in pairwise models describing epidemics spreading on network of individuals.

Shobita Bhumbra

Quantum Physics – The coolest thing in the universe (...as far as we know)

Shobita is a PhD research student in the Quantum Systems & Devices group at the University of Sussex, working with ultra-cold atoms - which means cooling atoms with lasers and magnetic fields until they end up with so little energy that a whole group will act almost as one atom with cool quantum properties. Shobita then manipulates these clouds of atoms using different magnetic fields to move it, allowing us to measure very small currents in samples and understand their properties.

Sophie Bashforth

How particle accelerators can save your life!

Sophie is a PhD research student in the Department of Physics at Royal Holloway, University of London. Her research involves developing electro-optic devices which have been installed on the Super Proton Synchrotron at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, in order to monitor the position of the high luminosity beam.

Dr Stella Manoli

Light my way

Stella is a researcher at the Optoelectronics Research Centre, an interdisciplinary research centre at the University of Southampton. She uses engineering (mainly mechanical) to create a new experimental installations and modify existing optical equipment, turning theoretical knowledge into practice. Stella uses light for material manufacturing and characterisation for various applications, including manufacturing crystals for quantum communication on satellites.