̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge - graduates

Postgraduate Pioneers 2017 #2

ta385 — Wed, 25 Oct 2017 12:39:35 +0000

Second in the series is Sarah Harrison, a final year PhD student in the Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, whose research highlights the importance of extra-embryonic cells and cell interactions.

My research sets out to

My research tries pick apart what takes you from a single fertilized egg through to a body with head, tail and limbs and internal organs through embryonic development. And we mostly look at the mouse embryo to answer these questions and look at changes in cell shape, cell behavior and cell fate decisions along the way.

Day-to-day

Rather than using whole mouse embryos to answer these questions about development, I derive stem cell populations from the embryos and maintain these in culture. What this means is that most of the time I’m standing in a small tissue culture room with my arms underneath a tissue culture hood to keep the cells happy and sterile. And then we grow the cells up and perform assays on how gene expression is changing when we change their culture conditions and try and plate them in scaffolds of 3D to generate embryo like structures. When I’m not in the culture room, I’m dissecting embryos, I’m down at the animals house looking after our transgenic mouse colonies and some of the time I’m sitting down doing data analysis. I’m in quite a collaborative group, so it’s rare that it’s just one person working on one question. Actually we’ve got lots of questions and we try to use all of our tools and expertise to answer them most effectively.

My best days

My favourite period in the lab was when I was just starting to put together the work that went on to get us a first author publication. That was when I was combining embryonic stem cells with stem cells that I’d derived from extra embryonic tissues, so tissues that would go on to form the placenta. Combining these two cell types in a dish started to generate, through self-organisational processes, structures that looked like embryos. And when I first saw this I couldn’t believe my eyes, it was amazing, and I couldn’t wait to tell my supervisor. And even though it was still quite early days, it showed that our hypothesis about interactions between embryonic and extra-embryonic cells being really important in generating a body, was working, so that was great.

I hope my work will lead to

I hope my PhD research will help the mouse embryology field at least to see the importance of cell interactions, and that it’s not just about the cells that go on to make the body but also the extra-embryonic cells that nourish the embryo. So hopefully it will provide a new slant on early embryology. For me personally, I feel I’ve drilled right down into an incredibly precise area of life science. Now I’d like to broaden out a little bit and perhaps go into science publishing to be able to communicate these really interesting discoveries, many of which are happening right here in Cambridge.

It had to be Cambridge because

In terms of developmental biology, there is nowhere like Cambridge. ̽��ֱ��building I’m in now is where scientists pioneered IVF, for instance. So that history is a major factor for people, but it’s not just about past breakthroughs, it’s about what’s going on now. I can go across the road to another building and chat to someone who is developing ways to encapsulate cells in tiny beads of gel, and really high tech, high through-put methods are being developed all around. And so it’s a great place to develop your research, not just in the techniques you know and love, but to expand and be more collaborative. On top of that, socially it’s great. We can go to lots of different institutes, and develop not just professional collaborations but also social collaborations, where we share ideas and results to get feedback. Having all these clever people around is a big benefit for developing.

With our Postgraduate Open Day fast-approaching (3 Nov), we introduce five PhD candidates who are already making waves at Cambridge.

I couldn’t believe my eyes, it was amazing, and I couldn’t wait to tell my supervisor.

Sarah Harrison, final year PhD student

Sarah Harrison

Postgraduate Open Day

For more information about the ̽��ֱ��'s Postgraduate Open Day on 3rd November 2017 and to book to attend, please click here.

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. For image use please see separate credits above.

Yes

Postgraduate Pioneers 2017 #1

ta385 — Tue, 17 Oct 2017 10:00:00 +0000

First in the series is Himansha Singh, a Pharmacologist from India whose research aims to help tackle antimicrobial resistance.

My research sets out to

Today, we can survive an organ transplant but then die because of a bacterial infection. ̽��ֱ��rise of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and ‘superbugs’, along with the lack of antibiotic development in the last decades, is a major concern for global healthcare. Whilst there are several mechanisms responsible for AMR, our research group is examining multidrug efflux pumps or transporters that expel drugs rendering bacteria resistant to a broad range of antibiotics.

While we know some things about the architecture of bacteria, we don’t fully understand how they conduct transportation of antibiotics. If we could understand their operating system, we could develop compounds, which might help switching off the system and stop them from rejecting antibiotics. In particular, my project is looking into a very interesting E.coli ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter MsbA. We are working towards characterising how this protein uses energy to operate dynamic changes in its structure to facilitate drug transport.

My Motivation

During my master's degree, I worked with AstraZeneca and my neighbouring lab was working on transporters in drug development. Their work caught my attention. I also visited India that summer and my hometown, Gwalior, in Madhya Pradesh, was suffering a severe outbreak of tuberculosis and typhoid. These experiences exposed me to the seriousness of antibiotic resistance. Transporters play a huge role in this and after reading up on the topic, I looked for a relevant PhD project and was delighted to be accepted into Dr Hendrik W. van Veen's lab to work on various transporters, both in humans and bacteria.

Day-to-day

I am based in the Department of Pharmacology, which is in the city center – it’s a great location. I work in a team of ten and my average day in the lab is spent working on culturing liters of bacterial cells to extract MsbA and reconstitute it in artificial lipid membranes. I then test MsbA activity under different energy conditions and drugs, or test different inhibitors.

My best days

That has to be when we first noticed that the ATP dependent transporter MsbA could also work without ATP. ATP is an energy currency of cells and ABC transporters, such as MsbA, utilize it as their main source of power for drug transport. But we showed that MsbA is also dependent on another form of energy source, an electrochemical gradient. In fact, MsbA cannot function without the involvement of both of these power sources. That brought a paradigm shift in our understanding of translocation by MsbA, which may lead us to new ways to tackle bacteria.

I hope my work will lead to

Apart from being a multidrug transporter, MsbA is an essential membrane protein that transports phospholipids in E.coli to form its cell membrane; so inhibiting this pump is clinically important to develop or establish foundations for a new class of antibiotics against E.coli. We can only design inhibitors if we know the fundamental basis of their transport mechanism and I hope my PhD research will provide some insight into this. We believe that our findings will be of great interest to the wider scientific community.

It had to be Cambridge because

My supervisor, Dr. Hendrik W. van Veen has played a crucial role in developing my enthusiasm for scientific research. And Cambridge has provided a tight-knit, supportive and stimulating intellectual environment which has shaped my career and understanding of academia in really important ways. Other than benefiting from the world-class research facilities in my lab and department, I’ve been able to immerse myself in Cambridge’s rich culture and exciting critical atmosphere. ̽��ֱ��collegiate system also ensures a thriving social life and this paved the way for me to develop interests in various other disciplines over formal dinners and drinks in our college bars.

In 2017, Himansha Singh was one of twelve PhD students to win an award from the Cambridge Society for the Application of Research.

With our Postgraduate Open Day fast approaching (3 Nov), we introduce five PhD students who are already making waves at Cambridge.

I have benefited from world-class research facilities and immersed myself in Cambridge’s rich culture.

Himansha Singh

Himansha Singh, Dept of Pharmacology

Postgraduate Open Day

For more information about the ̽��ֱ��'s Postgraduate Open Day on 3rd November 2017 and to book to attend, please click here.

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. For image use please see separate credits above.

Yes

Cambridge's postgraduate pioneers

ta385 — Wed, 12 Oct 2016 11:40:00 +0000

But as Cambridge prepares to welcome prospective students to its first Postgraduate Open Day on 2 November 2016, we catch up with eleven new generation thinkers who are already making exciting advances in a wide range of academic fields.

Olivia Remes, Cambridge Institute for Public Health

Olivia’s research focuses on mental disorders and draws on the European Prospective Investigation of Cancer (EPIC) study, one of the largest, European cohort studies looking at chronic diseases and the way people live their lives.

Olivia’s research has already attracted widespread interest. In a recent review of scientific literature published in the journal Brain and Behavior, Olivia revealed that women are almost twice as likely to experience anxiety as men. ̽��ֱ��study also found that people from Western Europe and North America are more likely to suffer from anxiety than people from other cultures. Olivia has also explored the relationship between deprivation and anxiety disorders.

Olivia said: " ̽��ֱ�� ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge is a great place to study at, because it is committed to excellence in research and teaching, and is dedicated to inspiring innovation. I've worked with and learned from some of the brightest minds in the mental health field and met so many inspiring people. ̽��ֱ��college system also makes it easy to meet people from all over the world and make many friends - you feel like you are part of a community. I have enjoyed and continue to enjoy every moment here."

Jonny Hanson, Department of Geography

Jonny came to Cambridge from Northern Ireland and his research explores the relationship between people, snow leopards and snow leopard conservation in two protected areas in Nepal: the Annapurna Conservation Area and the Sagarmatha (Everest) National Park. Jonny is identifying the human factors which are both critical for and detrimental to snow leopard conservation, including assessing household conflict with snow leopards and conservation efforts. In particular, Jonny’s study examines how attitudes vary under the contrasting management regimes at his two field sites, as well as varying degrees of livelihood dependence on livestock. Jonny’s work in Nepal has included surveying 705 households and conducting seventy qualitative interviews with local people who share the mountains with snow leopards.

Jonny said: “Cambridge offered me the opportunity to pursue my twin passions for big cats and livestock farming in what is arguably the best place to study conservation in the world. ̽��ֱ��unique interdisciplinary setting, crossing both academic boundaries and the divide between research and practice, also helped me to expand my own intellectual and personal horizons. I feel that my time at Cambridge has helped to prepare for me for a lifetime of promoting coexistence between people, other animals and the rest of nature.”

Rosie Freer, Department of Chemistry

Rosie works in the Vendruscolo Laboratory which seeks to understand the molecular origins of neurodegenerative disorders, including the Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. In 2016, Rosie was the lead author in the discovery of a gene signature in healthy brains that echoes the pattern in which Alzheimer’s disease spreads through the brain much later in life. ̽��ֱ��findings could help uncover the molecular origins of this devastating disease, and may be used to develop preventative treatments for at-risk individuals to be taken well before symptoms appear.

Rosie said: “Taking the next step in my academic career and beginning a PhD at Cambridge was in some respects a daunting prospect, but my colleagues here have created a supportive and inspiring environment where I have been able to thrive. Even as a new member of my team, people took the time to listen to my ideas and help with my projects, which meant a great deal to me. From learning new languages to attending talks on fields I never even knew existed, Cambridge has broadened my horizons in many unexpected ways - the past few years have been an adventure which I am excited to continue on.”

Robert Green, Department of Earth Sciences

Robert has studied at Cambridge at undergraduate (Natural Sciences), Masters and PhD level. He is now a Post-Doctoral Research Associate in Seismology at Cambridge. In 2014, as part of his PhD research, Robert assessed the tremors around Barðarbunga volcano at the start of Iceland’s biggest volcanic event for 200 years. This involved installing a seismic station just hours before the magma erupted at the surface.

Robert said: “Most people think of a volcano as being a large mountain where molten rock comes straight up from under the ground and erupts directly from the summit … but this one was different. Instead the molten rock moved 46 kilometres underground away from the volcano before it emerged in a completely different place. When it did, the eruption formed a curtain of fire the height of Big Ben.”

"My best experiences of research life in Cambridge have been how students were always seen as a central part of the group, rather than small cogs in the large machine. We were never allocated uninteresting side-projects to do, we were always central to the most active and exciting research ideas within the group. I was trusted to lead our fieldwork campaigns and make important decisions, and the vast range of skill I learnt from this, besides my scientific ones, have been absolutely invaluable."

Robert is now part of a team using the data collected in 2014 to investigate the process by which the Bárðarbunga-Holuhraun magmatic dyke fractured its way through country rock and how it came to the surface.

Victoria Bartels, Faculty of History

Victoria is working on masculinity, arms, armour, and the culture of warfare in Sixteenth-Century Italy and Germany. Victoria came to Cambridge after obtaining an MA in Italian Renaissance Art at Syracuse ̽��ֱ�� and a position in the Valuations Department at Sotheby's, London.

Victoria’s research has already gained numerous plaudits, and raised some eyebrows along the way. In 2015, the Guardian newspaper revelled in Victoria’s work on the evolution and demise of the codpiece, as part of their coverage of the TV adaptation of Wolf Hall.

Victoria has also explored the vast archives of the Otto di Guardia, a powerful magistracy in Renaissance Florence. Weapons were prohibited in Florence in an effort to maintain peace but Victoria found that men often wrote to ask the Otto for permission to wear or carry, in public, banned weapons. Speaking at the 62nd Annual Meeting of the Renaissance Society of America in Boston, Bartels used this research to shine a light on the ways in which Renaissance men used weapons and armour in their daily lives to promote a masculine image.

Victoria said: "I chose Cambridge because I really admire the work of my supervisor, Professor Ulinka Rublack. Having the opportunity to work with her, in addition to the other historians and graduate students at the History Faculty made Cambridge the ideal place for doing my PhD. ̽��ֱ��Fitzwilliam Museum is another incredible asset to have on hand, as their rich collections are extremely useful for my field of study.”

Christopher Moore, Institute of Astronomy

In 2015-16, Christopher was part of the LIGO Collaboration, an international discovery team which observed ripples in the fabric of spacetime called gravitational waves, arriving at the earth from a cataclysmic event in the distant universe. This confirmed a major prediction of Albert Einstein’s 1915 general theory of relativity and opens an unprecedented new window onto the cosmos.

Christopher said: “This team has been looking for evidence of gravitational waves for decades – a huge amount of work has gone into it, and I feel incredibly lucky to be part of the team. This discovery will change the way we do astronomy.”

Christopher has since been involved in developing a new method for detecting and measuring one of the most powerful, and most mysterious, events in the Universe – a black hole being kicked out of its host galaxy and into intergalactic space at speeds as high as 5000 kilometres per second.

Alex Kendall, Department of Engineering

Alex came to Cambridge after studying mechatronics engineering at the ̽��ֱ�� of Auckland, and is now a member of the Engineering Department’s Machine Intelligence Lab. Alex’s broad research interests lie in artificial intelligence, robotics, control, mechatronics, computer vision and related technologies. Alex is teaching machines to see and has helped design systems for driverless cars, using deep learning techniques, which can identify a user’s location and orientation in places where GPS does not function.

Alex said: "I came here because of the fantastic history of cutting-edge research. ̽��ֱ��resources are amazing and I have a brilliant supervisor - he has been the perfect mentor to get me started in the field. I've also had great support from my College and being at Cambridge has opened doors to present my research on the world stage."

Josephine Hughes, Sensor CDT team

An international team of Cambridge Masters students (including British, Chinese, Swiss and Italian members) recently published research with the potential to transform the lives of millions of older people around the world. As part of their Master of Research programme at the ̽��ֱ��’s EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Sensor Technologies and Applications last year, the ten students were given 12 weeks to develop an integrated suite of wireless devices to enable family members and carers to monitor the wellbeing of an older person, remotely and with minimal invasion of privacy.

Professor Clemens Kaminski, Director of the Sensor CDT, Cambridge said: “ ̽��ֱ��team has made a genuine contribution to society by sharing the advances which it has made. ̽��ֱ��experience will stay with them for the rest of their careers.”

Team member Josephine Hughes said: “ ̽��ֱ��opportunities which Cambridge has offered have been phenomenal. In my masters, I had the unique opportunity to work on a team challenge with 10 other students from other disciplines to develop a full prototype of a wireless monitoring system. This has led onto a PhD in Robotics, which is a fascinating research area, with opportunities to present at conferences, teach, supervise and work on a myriad of robots!”

Olivier Grouille, Department of Politics and International Studies (POLIS)

Olivier is examining key differences between French and British anti-jihadist counter-terrorism from 1975 to the present day. Drawing on a wide range of evidence, including interviews with senior figures in Government, the military, intelligence services and policing – in Britain, France and the United States – Olivier seeks to explain the complex internal and external drivers of French and British policy in this area. Central to Olivier’s work is an in-depth comparison of domestic and overseas approaches, relations with the United States, and relevant policy, legal, military, intelligence and policing aspects. Among other subjects, Olivier is examining the UK’s current use of drones in counter-terrorism and France’s reaction to recent lone wolf attacks at home.

Olivier said: “One of the greatest challenges I face is the speed with which the situation is changing in both countries. But this is also what drives me and makes the work so interesting. After studying languages at Cambridge as an undergraduate, I began a career as a defence and security professional. It’s great to come back to Cambridge to pursue my academic interest in this area – one of the key attractions for me was the flexibility and encouraging attitude at POLIS. While there are other universities with impressive counter-terrorism specialisms, POLIS gives me access to a wide range of experts, including specialists in EU defence policy and the Middle East.”

Markus Kunesch & Saran Tunyasuvunakool, Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics (DAMTP)

Markus and Saran are both members of the Relativity and Gravitation research group in the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics. They were recently part of a team of researchers, from Cambridge and Queen Mary ̽��ֱ�� of London, which successfully simulated how a ring-shaped black hole could cause general relativity to break down. ̽��ֱ��pair helped show how a bizarrely shaped black hole could cause Einstein’s general theory of relativity, a foundation of modern physics, to break down. However, such an object could only exist in a universe with five or more dimensions. Ring-shaped black holes were ‘discovered’ by theoretical physicists in 2002, but this is the first time that their dynamics have been successfully simulated using supercomputers. Using the COSMOS supercomputer at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge, the researchers were able to perform a full simulation of Einstein’s complete theory in higher dimensions, allowing them to not only confirm that these ‘black rings’ are unstable, but to also identify their eventual fate.

Postgraduate students at Cambridge walk in the footsteps of giants – Francis Crick, Elizabeth Blackburn, Stephen Hawking, Iris Murdoch and Eric Hobsbawm all pursued PhD research at the ̽��ֱ��.

I've worked with and learned from some of the brightest minds in the field and met so many inspiring people.

Olivia Remes, Cambridge Institute for Public Health

Cambridge's postgraduate pioneers

Postgraduate study at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge

Cambridge’s postgraduate student body comprises more than 9,500 students and is more diverse than ever. Over half of Cambridge graduates come from outside the UK and the ̽��ֱ�� offers more than 300 postgraduate courses across more than 50 Faculties, Departments and Centres.

More information about the Postgraduate Open Day on 2 November 2016.

A series of short films about Postgraduate Study at Cambridge is also available here.

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. For image use please see separate credits above.

Yes

Graduate earnings: what you study and where matters – but so does parents’ income

fpjl2 — Wed, 13 Apr 2016 09:27:34 +0000

Latest research has shown that graduates from richer family backgrounds earn significantly more after graduation than their poorer counterparts, even after completing the same degrees from the same universities.

̽��ֱ��finding is one of many from a new study, published today, which looks at the link between earnings and students’ background, degree subject and university.

̽��ֱ��research also found that those studying medicine and economics earn far more than those studying other degree subjects, and that there is considerable variation in graduates’ earnings depending on the university attended.

̽��ֱ��study was carried out by the Institute of Fiscal Studies and the universities of Cambridge and Harvard, including Professor Anna Vignoles from Cambridge’s Faculty of Education. It is the first time a ‘big data’ approach has been used to look at how graduate earnings vary by institution of study, degree subject and parental income.

̽��ֱ��researchers say that many other factors beyond graduate earnings, such as intrinsic interest, will and should drive student choice. However, they write that the research shows the potential value of providing some useful information that might inform students’ choice of degree – particularly to assist those from more disadvantaged backgrounds who might find it harder to navigate the higher education system.

“It would seem important to ensure there is adequate advice and guidance given that graduates’ future earnings are likely to vary depending on the institution and subject they choose, with implications for social mobility,” write the researchers in the study’s executive summary.

̽��ֱ��research used anonymised tax data and student loan records for 260,000 students up to ten years after graduation. ̽��ֱ��dataset includes cohorts of graduates who started university in the period 1998-2011 and whose earnings (or lack of earnings) are then observed over a number of tax years. ̽��ֱ��paper focuses on the tax year 2012/13.

̽��ֱ��study found that those from richer backgrounds (defined as being approximately from the top 20% of households of those applying to higher education in terms of family income) did better in the labour market than the other 80% of students.

̽��ֱ��average gap in earnings between students from higher and lower income backgrounds is £8,000 a year for men and £5,300 a year for women, ten years after graduation.

Even after taking account of subject studied and the characteristics of the institution of study, the average student from a higher income background earned about 10% more than other students.

̽��ֱ��gap is bigger at the top of the distribution – the 10% highest earning male graduates from richer backgrounds earned about 20% more than the 10% highest earners from relatively poorer backgrounds. ̽��ֱ��equivalent premium for the 10% highest earning female graduates from richer backgrounds was 14%.

̽��ֱ��study also showed that graduates are much more likely to be in work, and earn much more than non-graduates. Non-graduates are twice as likely to have no earnings as are graduates ten years on (30% against 15% for the cohort who enrolled in higher education in 1999).

Partly as a result of this, half of non-graduate women had earnings below £8,000 a year at around age 30, say the researchers. Only a quarter of female graduates were earning less than this. Half were earning more than £21,000 a year.

Among those with significant earnings (which the researchers define as above £8,000 a year), median earnings for male graduates ten years after graduation were £30,000. For non-graduates of the same age median earnings were £21,000. ̽��ֱ��equivalent figures for women with significant earnings were £27,000 and £18,000.

“ ̽��ֱ��research illustrates strongly that, for most graduates, higher education leads to much better earnings than those earned by non-graduates, although students need to realise that their subject choice is important in determining how much of an earnings advantage they will have,” said Professor Vignoles.

̽��ֱ��researchers also found substantial differences in earnings according to which university was attended, as well as which subject was studied. They say however that this is in large part driven by differences in entry requirements.

For instance, more than 10% of male graduates from LSE, Oxford and Cambridge were earning in excess of £100,000 a year ten years after graduation, with LSE graduates earning the most. LSE was the only institution with more than 10% of its female graduates earning in excess of £100,000 a year ten years on.

Even without focusing on the very top, the researchers say they found a large number of institutions (36 for men and 10 for women) had 10% of their graduates earning more than £60,000 a year ten years on. At the other end of the spectrum, there were some institutions (23 for men and 9 for women) where the median graduate earnings were less than those of the median non-graduate ten years on.

However, the researchers say that it is important to put this in context. “Given regional differences in average wages, some very locally focused institutions may struggle to produce graduates whose wages outpace English wide earnings, which includes those living in London where full time earnings for males are around 50% higher than in some other regions, such as Northern Ireland,” they write.

In terms of earnings according to subject, medical students were easily the highest earners at the median ten years out, followed by those who studied economics. For men, median earnings for medical graduates were about £50,000 after ten years, and for economics graduates £40,000.

Those studying the creative arts had the lowest earnings, and earned no more on average than non-graduates. However, the researchers say that some of these earnings differences are, of course, attributable to differences in student intake – since students with different levels of prior achievement at A-level take different subject options.

“When we account for different student intakes across subjects, only economics and medicine remain outliers with much higher earnings at the median as compared to their peers in other subjects,” write the researchers.

After allowing for differences in the characteristics of those who take different subjects, male medical graduates earn around £13,000 more at the median than similar engineering and technology graduates, the gap for women is approximately £16,000. Both male and female medical graduates earn around £14,000 more at the median than similar law graduates.

“Earnings vary substantially with university, subject, gender and cohort,” said study co-author Neil Shepherd of Harvard ̽��ֱ��. “This impacts on which parts of the HE sector the UK Government funds through the subsidy inherent within income contingent student loans. ̽��ֱ��next step in the research is to quantifying that variation in funding, building on today's paper.”

Reference:
Institute for Fiscal Studies working paper: 'How English domiciled graduate earnings vary with gender, institution attended, subject and socio-economic background', Jack Britton , Lorraine Dearden , Neil Shephard and Anna Vignoles.

First ‘big data’ research approach to graduate earnings reveals significant variations depending on student background, degree subject and university attended.

̽��ֱ��research illustrates strongly that, for most graduates, higher education leads to much better earnings than those earned by non-graduates, although students need to realise that their subject choice is important in determining how much of an earnings advantage they will have

Anna Vignoles

Sir Cam

Sidney Sussex General Admission, Cambridge 2012

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. For image use please see separate credits above.

Yes