Faculty of Health and Life Sciences research student profiles

The UK.

I became familiar with Oxford Brookes because in my previous career I had colleagues who worked for the University.

I was attracted here to conduct my research because I already knew some of the academics in my department from my previous career.

Before I started my degree, I was a Senior Fellow at the Health Services Management Centre at the University of Birmingham, where I had worked for over 12 years in applied health policy and services research as a qualitative researcher.

I didn’t feel like a complete fish out of water, given my previous career, but it was quite difficult to start a Research Degree during Covid, with limited access to the campus and to facilities and resources for much of the first year.

I’ve picked a lot of things up as I’ve gone along – who to contact for different things like room bookings and how to get things done like bulk printing and setting up a dedicated answerphone extension for my study. So I think you have to be prepared to be quite self-reliant, which is how it should be really as a post-graduate research student.

Enhancing the quality of life for people with inoperable pancreatic cancer and their family carers, through high quality supportive care, is of prime importance, yet evidence shows that there are gaps in care and sub-optimal support in some cases.

Pancreatic cancer is the tenth most common cancer in the UK with approximately 9,000 people diagnosed each year but survival rates are low, only 1 in 4 (25.4%) people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in England survive their disease for one year or more. Surgery is the only curative treatment for pancreatic cancer, but at present, less than 1 in 10 (10%) of patients are deemed eligible for surgery at diagnosis.

If the cancer is inoperable, treatment then consists of ‘best supportive care’ or ‘palliative care’ to manage symptoms and maintain optimal quality of life. Such care might address physical symptoms such as pain, digestive discomfort, and fatigue, or psychological symptoms such as depression or anxiety.

This study takes a qualitative approach with a longitudinal element, to explore the experiences of people affected by cancer alongside the healthcare professionals who provide care and support to this cohort of patients and their family carers. Semi-structured interviews will take place with patients, family carers and healthcare professionals across a number of NHS and non-NHS sites. Data from the interviews will be analysed using the Framework Approach or Method.

The findings will be shared and discussed with NHS sites and through national networks of people affected by cancer, and healthcare professionals, in order to consider feasible recommendations for service improvements and policy changes.

I enjoy the opportunity being a research student offers of exploring ideas, concepts and literature that I wouldn’t have the time to do in a work environment. I also enjoy the autonomy it brings, though the flipside of this is that it is sometimes quite a lonely endeavour. I was very used to working in small teams in all my previous careers so this feels quite different. I try to make sure that I keep in regular touch with friends and ex-work colleagues to stay connected and engaged with everything else that’s happening in the world, as it’s very easy to become quite insular.

Some of the doctoral training sessions have been really interesting and enjoyable – some of the topics were familiar to me but it was nice to have a refresh and a different perspective and it’s always nice to come into contact with people studying such a broad range of subjects at this level. 

You can’t rely on the research training to answer all your questions though, or solve all your problems, so you have to be prepared to take the initiative and do plenty of your own study whether that’s reading the literature around your subject, or exploring particular theories in depth or learning about new methodologies.

I would like to hope that I can continue to work within the field of pancreatic cancer in some capacity but my plans are quite unformed at the moment.

I was born in Oxford and grew up in a bilingual family with French and British parents so I feel European. I left Oxford in 2001 for a few years only coming back in 2013 to start my nursing degree – in between I lived in York, London and Madrid and also spent    some time in Thailand and Uganda.  

I studied for my nursing degree (BSc hons) at Oxford Brookes University between January 2013 and December 2015.

There was an exciting opportunity to be part of the Oxford Institute of Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Research (OxINMAHR), where I would be able to continue with clinical work whilst also carrying out a PhD with a scholarship I obtained.

Before becoming a nurse I worked in a variety of roles: For the National AIDS Trust as their World AIDS Day assistant, as an MSc student in Public Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. After this I worked in health promotion roles in a    Primary Care Trust, a local authority and charities and community groups. I also worked in Madrid in a community group and worked on a short research project. When I moved back to the UK I started my degree in Nursing.

The transition to research student has been both a challenging and exciting experience. It is very positive that I am based in OxINMAHR HQ where I have access to academic and pastoral support and an encouraging working environment. I have PhD student    colleagues here and we regularly meet to discuss each other’s projects and ideas which is so valuable. We are also extremely lucky to have visiting Professors and Scholars at OxINMAHR who come from around the world to deliver inspiring lectures and workshops. I have also been fortunate enough to attend     one of the OxINMAHR writing retreats where over three days we have the space to write an article or chapter alongside peers and supervisors. This retreat is a fantastic experience and it also means we have regular feedback throughout the stay.

Readmissions to hospital within 30 days of discharge continue to rise in the UK and internationally especially among people aged 65 years and over.   

Returning to hospital can have an impact on the health and wellbeing of the person coming back to hospital and their care givers or loved ones. It can also get in the way of other care being organised in hospital and is costly to the NHS.   

Many different things are said to cause readmission to hospital, for example, problems with the care received during the initial hospital visit or because more support was needed once the individual had left hospital.   

At the moment we do not know enough about this from the perspective of people being readmitted by themselves. We do not know much about how people aged 65 years or over experience being readmitted to hospital nor what is important to them.   

This study aims to address this by interviewing people who have been readmitted to one Hospital Trust in England. They will have the option of being interviewed in hospital or at home. They will also have the possibility of suggesting the researcher speak to other    people that are significant to them. They will also be asked to show any paperwork or information they were given by the hospital when they first left.  

I love being able to read, think, and discuss issues that are central to nursing theory and practice, and that are influential to patient care. As a clinical academic I understand research in the context of clinical work. Simultaneously I can reflect on my clinical    work in light of the research and evidence I read. Being in this position is an absolute privilege and I very much enjoy it.  

However, there are challenges to combining research with clinical work and I have to be extremely organised to ensure I can fit both roles in. I give myself the time to plan weeks ahead as soon as my clinical rota is made available to ensure I can achieve my PhD    deadlines. There is also a need to focus when I am working on the PhD as I may not be able to come back to it for a few days. I have had to try a variety of different techniques to quickly get past writers block – things that help me include chunking my time and giving myself short periods where I shut off all    social media and emails and just focus on the task at hand. Once I have done a few 30 minute blocks I find that I get stuck in and can continue. There are times when nothing seems to work so then I try to focus on more administrative tasks or update my online reference system. Coffee is also a must throughout!      

I have been able to access a variety of workshops at Brookes, in particular I found the sessions delivered by the specialist healthcare librarians useful in understanding how to access different sources. The specialist librarians have also been invaluable at helping with my literature searching. The session on managing stress during postgraduate studies and relaxation techniques have also been helpful. 

OxINMAHR have also provided workshops including how to develop and maintain a social media profile as a doctoral student which was particularly interesting to me as someone who is interested in communicating research via social media. This session was delivered    by an expert and enabled me to discuss the best ways to remain professional and relevant using these platforms.  

At the moment I am enjoying this phase of being a clinical academic. In the future I would love to be able to use both my clinical and research skills in a role. The exact nature of the role I am not sure yet but I know that there will be many exciting possibilities in nursing! Working in a different country also appeals to me and I would enjoy using my language skills and seeing nursing in a variety of different contexts.

Oxford Brookes is my local university. I have lived in Oxford and worked at the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust for 15 years.

I gained a clinical academic scholarship in December 2017 to allow me to study for my PhD.

Working as an Advanced Nurse Practitioner in oncology – I am the nursing lead for the John Radcliffe Acute Oncology team. I continue to work in this role part time whilst doing my PhD. Academically, I did my initial training at the University of Ulster in Coleraine, graduating with a BSc (hons) Nursing with RGN. My first MSc was in advanced practice (palliative care nursing) from the University of Stirling, and I was one of the first cohort of Academic Health Science Network (AHSN) fellows from 2014 – 2017, studying for my MSc in Evidence Based Health Care at the University of Oxford and carrying out a practice-based project (‘Improving the care pathway for newly diagnosed cancer patients at the John Radcliffe Hospital’). I graduated from Oxford with a distinction in Nov 2017.

There is a huge amount of support available to research students. Part of studying at this level is deciding what seminars / teaching sessions to go to and which might be less useful. I feel that the peer support I have received from other research students has been invaluable.

I am looking at the experiences of informal carers (relatives, friends, loved ones) when a patient dies in the Emergency Department (ED). There are several examples in the literature of studies where the experiences of nurses and doctors have been studied, but there are very few examples of studies where the carers have been asked for their experiences.        

As a practice-based clinical nurse, I feel passionately that we need to listen to the voices of the people we care for. When a patient has died, we obviously can’t ask them, so the informal carers are the next best thing; yet, despite concerns being raised about the quality of death and dying in the ED since the 1970s, little has been done to work with the carers to improve things.        

I am planning on using a qualitative case study approach and look forward to getting rich data from the carers I talk to. Ultimately, I would like to design a nursing model for use in the ED with end of life care patients, but the end point will obviously depend on the results I get from my study. Another thing I am passionate about is making my research relevant to practice, and to that end I am involved in the end of life care group at the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust as well as being a member of the clinical ethics advisory group at the Trust (CEAG).        

As a research student, the best thing is having the time and space to think and (attempt to!) develop ideas. It is very challenging working clinically at the same time as studying and I have to be very disciplined with myself so that I use my time as productively as possible. I do find that I am working at University most weekends. Building a support network of friends and colleagues is essential. Luckily my husband is completely supportive; I couldn’t do this without him.

There is a wide range of research training available. Seminars delivered by other PhD students both from Brookes and internationally, have probably been the most helpful training I have had so far! My supervisors are a great resource too!

It’s hard to see beyond my next supervision session sometimes, but I do love teaching and would perhaps like to do more of that in the future, although I feel very strongly that I would also like to continue working clinically – after all, the best thing about nursing is patient contact. At some point in the future I would also like to write a novel and have already got several ideas and jot these down all the time.

Oxford.

While researching Psychology Master’s courses that did not require an undergraduate degree in Psychology – so the MSc in Psychology at Oxford Brookes suited me perfectly. I had always known about Oxford Brookes having grown up in Oxfordshire, and my first impressions on visiting were really positive – the facilities are wonderful and everybody is so friendly and helpful.

I thoroughly enjoyed working with Dr Kate Wilmut as my supervisor for my MSc dissertation project, and when she flagged up that there may be an opportunity to build on this work for a PhD, I jumped at the chance to apply for the studentship! I am really proud to be working as part of the Perception and Motion Analysis (PuMA) Research Group.

Before starting my MSc in 2018, I was a Secondary School Modern languages Teacher, teaching Spanish and French in an Oxfordshire school. I was originally trained as a linguist before doing a PGCE, though Psychology and the world of research have always fascinated me and I decided to make the move after several years of teaching.

I think the atmosphere and resources on offer at Oxford Brookes and in my department have made it quite easy for me to settle into the research environment. It was also great already feeling established within the university from doing my MSc here previously. It’s an environment that I absolutely love and appreciate being in, and the people around me including my supervisory team, other PhD students both in Psychology and across the faculty, as well as everyone in the wider department have made it a really supportive and positive experience.

My research is investigating the role of anxiety, self-efficacy and movement variability (one’s ability to move consistently) in how adults with and without Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) think they will behave (their perceptual judgement) and how they actually behave (their executed action). I am investigating this using questionnaires and lab-based work using motion capture software within the Perception and Motion Analysis Laboratory at Oxford Brookes, using a task based around navigating obstacles in the everyday environment. 

DCD (sometimes known as Dyspraxia) is a condition affecting around 5% of the population where motor coordination does not align with the expected level for an individual’s age. It manifests in fine (e.g., writing by hand or doing up buttons) and gross motor difficulties (e.g., walking down a narrow street without bumping into obstacles) in both childhood and adulthood, which can impact negatively on everyday life (Kirby, Edwards, Sugden & Rosenblum, 2010).

My PhD is building on findings from my MSc research showing that emotional state, and specifically anxiety, influences what typically developing (TD) individuals think they will do (i.e., perceptual judgement of potential action), but not what they actually do (i.e. the physically executed action) (Harris & Wilmut, 2020). This suggests that different factors, including anxiety, constrain perception of potential action compared to perception during the execution of action.

I am first using an online questionnaire to investigate how different psychological factors are related to people’s movement ability. This considers elements of self-efficacy (how well you perceive you can do something), self-concept (ways in which you see yourself), resilience and anxiety among adults with and without DCD. To date very little is known about self-efficacy, self-concept, resilience and anxiety within the DCD population, and how these differ to their typically developing counterparts. This phase will therefore aim to provide valuable insights into the lived experience of adults with DCD, a group among which an urgent need for further research has been identified (Blank et al., 2019). Findings from this will also help create an appropriate task-specific self-efficacy and anxiety scale for subsequent use. This is necessary because a self-efficacy scale focusing specifically on navigating the environment does not yet exist.

Subsequent phases will aim to establish and develop understanding of how different types of anxiety, self-efficacy and movement variability may constrain the ways in which adults with and without DCD perceive their action capabilities and subsequently actually act. Its objective will be to determine the point at which behaviour changes for both perceptual only and action tasks (judging the space you need to walk through a door without bumping into the sides, and then actually walking through) and the way in which this point relates to body size, movement consistency, anxiety and self-efficacy levels in these populations.

This research aims to contribute new, in-depth understanding of the roles of anxiety, self-efficacy and movement variability in the relationship between how adults with DCD perceive their intentions and abilities to act in the world, and how they realise those actions in comparison with adults without DCD. This will be useful in informing interventions, particularly regarding perceived self-efficacy in confidently and safely navigating one’s environment, which aim to improve the quality of functional and emotional life for individuals with DCD.

I very much enjoy being able to plan my own time and also the variety of different skills and areas of focus that form part of the research cycle. I am also really enjoying being able to see the skills that I will need for my future career developing before my eyes through the work I am doing and under the supportive guidance of my supervisors (Dr Kate Wilmut and Dr Clare Rathbone) – it’s a great feeling!

There are challenges however, and I think for me the flexibility of managing your own time effectively and healthily is one of these. I have found that treating my PhD as much as possible like a ‘nine to five’ job - with some exceptions when necessary of course - helps me stay on the right track in terms of productivity, efficiency and establishing a healthy work-life balance.

The research training offered at Brookes is brilliant because it is so multi-faceted and every session runs at multiple times of the academic year. This means that we are able to adapt our training to align with the stage of our own research.

So far, I feel that the training I have attended has helped me both develop new skills, consolidate previous knowledge and build my confidence across various areas including teaching and applying for ethical approval to name just a couple.

I plan to pursue an international career in research and am excited to see what kinds of opportunities may arise from doing my PhD in this field of study. I am keeping a very open mind about this to see where my research could take me in the future.

After studying for a master’s degree at Oxford Brookes University, I worked as a Research Assistant in the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, and found both experiences enjoyable.

Through working here, I was already part of the Prevention Science Group, and knew both my supervisors - Dr Emma Davies and Professor David Foxcroft.  These were important factors in my decision to apply to study for a PhD here.  I’d also heard about the Nigel Groome studentships, and feel fortunate to be one of the students benefiting from this source of funding.

In 2017, I started working as a post-graduate Research Assistant in the Faculty of Health & Life Sciences, which has given me great experience working on prevention and supportive cancer care research projects.  Before that I worked as a market research and customer insight manager in the voluntary and corporate sectors. Whilst working for a national disability charity, I realised that I wanted to develop new skills that could be applied in health research, and this led to me undertaking the MSc in Psychology.

I’ve found the research culture here to be open, welcoming and enabling. People are willing to share what they have learned from their own research experiences, or suggest other sources of advice and support. Recently, the psychology department moved into refurbished offices, giving researchers access to new facilities and equipment. I can see how these will support the different research activities in my PhD project.

Around two thirds of alcohol-related deaths in the UK occur in people who are in their midlife years i.e. aged between 45 and 64 years of age. Even though some people are drinking less than they did 10 years ago, patterns of alcohol consumption for people aged 45+ years are largely unchanged. Currently there is a limited amount of research focused on midlife drinking behaviour, and very few initiatives aiming to reduce alcohol consumption in this age range have been developed and tested.        

Although most adults in the UK know about government guidance suggesting that low risk drinking means consuming no more than 14 units of alcohol each week, there is evidence to suggest that advice such as this has little effect on behaviour. The limitations of using information to drive behaviour change are explained by dual-process models of health behaviour, in which decision making can follow two paths. Cues such as information are considered via a conscious or reflective pathway whilst a second pathway, representing non-conscious or less deliberate decision making, explains responses based on automatic associations, habits and impulses. Results from several research studies show that automatic processes are particularly good at explaining and predicting drinking behaviour. The purpose of my PhD project is to research, develop and test an intervention that aims to help midlife adults reduce the amount they drink, by targeting these automatic processes.        

Organisations such as the Medical Research Council (MRC) want health interventions to be informed by evidence and theory, and to be developed using systematic processes. My project will be using the Behaviour Change Wheel (BCW), which provides a clear eight-step process, to guide the development of a new intervention to reduce the amount people drink.  In line with MRC recommendations, the first four steps of the BCW focus on understanding the problem, resulting in a detailed analysis of issues around midlife drinking.  It is only at this point that decisions about the features of the intervention will be assessed and decided, in steps five to eight of the BCW. Once the intervention has been fully developed, it will be tested in a pilot study, and evaluated. Positive results from the pilot and evaluation studies may indicate that this type of intervention has potential for practical application, following further research and development. 

It’s a privilege to be able to spend time learning and develop new skills, and to be working with people that you respect and with whom you share interests.  Life as a research student means taking on responsibilities, but you’re also given autonomy and flexibility in the way you approach and manage your work. There are bound to be challenges along the way, and learning how to deal with these, and where to go for advice and support, is all part of the experience.

There are plenty of training opportunities at Oxford Brookes University, and students are encouraged to get involved with different development activities that are available at a department, faculty and university level. My development program to date has been excellent, and I feel well supported and thoroughly prepared to undertake my first research study.

Like many other countries, the UK is facing some considerable challenges in responding to changing healthcare needs. We need good quality research, and skilful researchers to help us understand and address those needs. I’d like to be a part of that, and continue to build experience and expertise in developing health interventions.

I completed the Psychology Qualifying Certificate and MSc at Oxford Brookes University, allowing the conversion of my original degree in Philosophy (from Sheffield University). I then applied for a Nigel Groome Scholarship, giving me the opportunity to continue my research here at Brookes and work towards a PhD.

I had studied here before and worked closely with Dr Gonzalez-Gomez, completing my MSc dissertation project on the Constraints on Statistical Learning in Adults. I really enjoyed my time at Brookes and my dissertation topic, so I jumped at the opportunity to come back and continue my studies. Working with Dr Gonzalez-Gomez, an expert in exploring language acquisition, and with Dr Pilling as my Director of Studies, I felt this was an excellent opportunity in a supportive environment to develop my skillset and face the challenges that come with completing a PhD.

Over the last few years, I have worked in the charity sector. Initially with the Oxfordshire mental health charity Restore, where I helped to support people with mental health problems find and keep work, and later acted as Tutor Lead at the Oxfordshire Recovery College (at the time a new project providing collaborative courses written both by mental health professionals and those with lived experience). On completing my MSc, I moved back to Sheffield, where I worked as a service supervisor with Sheffield Mind before joining the homelessness charity Crisis. At Crisis, I worked directly with individuals facing a variety of barriers relating to their homelessness; for example, mental and physical health problems, financial difficulties, abuse, unemployment and addiction. I also had the opportunity to apply my research skills at Crisis, coordinating a project in South Yorkshire aiming to increase the efficacy of homelessness services.   

I have worked for some incredible charitable organisations over the past few years, and I will seek to continue to help people who are vulnerable, marginalised and disadvantaged throughout my career, in whatever capacity I can. I gained invaluable experience and awareness by supporting individuals fight to overcome acute hardship. This means that each day I fully appreciate the opportunity to study towards a PhD here at Brookes.

Having previously studied here, I knew the excellent facilities and supportive staff would help me to settle back into research easily. From the JHB building to the psychology department, psychology research students have every opportunity to conduct their research in an excellent environment.

We know from previous literature that Statistical Learning helps us to make sense of what we see and hear. Put very simply, in language acquisition this means that we can learn rules about a given language based on the statistical properties present. This could be in terms of single sounds (like, in English, the consonant /g/ frequently occurring at the end of words) but also about multiple sounds having a statistical relationship with one another (for example, /q/ and /u/ almost always co-occurring; /quest/ /quiz/ /queue/).   

Although we know that statistical learning can help us to determine language rules, it’s still unclear how this learning truly works. This is particularly interesting in phonological acquisition (that is, learning rules around the speech sounds in a given language) because research suggests that some statistical cues are more important than others in determining what we learn. This implies there are underlying constraints on our statistical learning mechanism. My research aims to explore these constraints in more detail and try to discover a pattern in our phonological statistical learning.      

For my method, I will develop several artificial languages using computer software. Artificial languages are often used to test language acquisition because they can test exclusively what you would like. In my case, this means developing a language with complete control over the statistical cues and accompanying phonological rulings. I can develop a language to focus on different levels of statistical cue: co-occurring consonant sounds can provide word-level statistical information, but I can also include overarching biases, like all words ending in a voiced consonant (i.e. using vocal chord    vibrations). By using different languages to explore which statistical cues seem to hold more importance, we can begin to build a picture of the constraints under which statistical learning operates.   

I really enjoy the unique experience of conducting your own research full-time; having the opportunity to dive right into a complex topic and try to produce valuable contributions to the field. I get the feeling that no other time in my life will be like the next three years, and this is both exciting and challenging. A huge difficulty that many research students face is the scale of work, even at the very start of the study programme. Right away you need to map out the next three years, and this can be intimidating. Because I’ve come straight out of full-time employment, my approach to try and reduce stress and tackle the workload is to treat the studentship like a job. Often you’re in charge of your own calendar and, with some exceptions, may have few commitments during the week outside of your own research. Being strict with my daily and weekly structure has helped me to overcome the initial hurdles of the studentship, such as registration and gaining ethical approval to carry out studies. Having a strict structure also needs to include time away from your project.

The ongoing departmental and university wide training at Brookes has helped me to face specific milestones along the PhD journey, like registration mentioned above. Training sessions directly discussing these topics helped to let me know what was expected, and potential pitfalls to avoid. There are also broader sessions to help you think about the wider implications of completing a PhD, such as the transferable skills you’ll develop along the way. As part of my studentship, I also have the opportunity to attend external training relevant to my research area.

I’ve recently moved back to Oxford after a spell in Sheffield, and I’m currently enjoying the challenge of completing my PhD. I am approaching my future with an open mind, because I’d like to make the most of the opportunities that may arise over the next three years. My short-term plan is to complete my PhD to the best of my ability and to try and enjoy the process as much as I can. My long-term thinking is not concrete, but I really enjoy studying psychology and, in particular, I find language acquisition fascinating, so I’m incredibly motivated to continue my research after finishing my PhD. I would like to move back up North eventually, but we’ll see.

My degree is a cotutelle PhD programme concerning the mathematical modelling of metabolic systems. It is split equally between Oxford Brookes (supervised by Dr Mark Poolman) and the University of Malta (supervised by Prof. Cristiana Sebu).

I learned of the opportunity during a presentation held by my supervisors at the University of Malta. I gained interest in Systems Biology due to its multidisciplinary nature, which incorporates skills from Applied Mathematics, Computer Science, and Biology.

When I first visited Oxford Brookes, I found the environment and support services provided to very welcoming, and the training offered interesting and extensive. Moreover, being able to live in the beautiful cosmopolitan city of Oxford is an amazing experience.

I obtained a BSc (Hons) in Mathematics and Physics from the University of Malta in 2018. My dissertation consisted of developing a Machine Learning algorithm aimed at planning the fastest set of routes for a fleet of delivery vehicles to traverse in order to deliver goods to customers. Prior to embarking on my PhD, I worked at an accounting firm where I assisted in Data Science and IT Auditing projects.

Cellular metabolism consists of all the chemical reactions performed by a cell in order to live and grow. It can be regarded as a network of reactions connected through common intermediate molecules called metabolites. As one would expect, the large number of reactions and relationships involved within a cell make insights difficult to obtain through eye inspection alone. Hence, mathematically devised algorithms are used to inspect the structure of the system by studying the interactions between the different components.

Throughout the years, many algorithms have been developed to generate such insights. However, many are hindered by high inefficiency when studying big models. This project aims to develop techniques and tools that enable analysis to be carried out in a more efficient manner, thus requiring less computational costs. More specifically, it aims to do this by extracting insights from the basic mathematical structure of the system, which, while resulting in less extensive information, can be carried out very quickly. I aim to study multiple optima instances in linear programming, and the relationships revealed through the left null-space of the stoichiometry matrix. 

I love the collaborative aspect of my PhD where, apart from having access to the resources of two universities in two different countries, I am also able to travel and meet researchers from different parts of the world. One of my favourite aspects is the freedom to conduct my own research whilst working in a team and benefiting from the extensive knowledge of my supervisors. I like to stay motivated through being inspired by my hard-working colleagues, and by organising my tasks using daily to-do lists.