LAIDLAW SCHOLARS PROGRAMME
Yearbook 2018
“I found the Laidlaw Programme to be an outstanding opportunity for both me and my student. Most importantly, it supports the goals all world-leading universities should aspire to: actively training and developing the leaders of the future, academic exchange of ideas, and solving central problems faced by modern society. By operating outside the standard curriculum, the Laidlaw Programme allows the students to make their own choices and to work at the forefront of research very early during their education.”
Peer Nowack, Imperial College London
“It was a pleasure to host our Laidlaw Scholar. Everything seemed to be well-organised and smooth. I think he also had an enjoyable and effective time. We will keep on working together!”
Jörg Lippold, Heidelberg University
LAIDLAW SCHOLARS 2018
Left to right: Maurice McCartney (leadership trainer), Kishan Makwana, Thomas Stevens, Joshua Downe, Adam Bush, Ryan Ellison, Sasha Thompson, Ellie Ong, Alexander Morch, Dominika Durovcikova, Michael Pears, Alicia Hunter, Thomas Campbell, Johanne Nedergaard, Samuel Cole, Connor Beattie, Kieran Marray, Isabel Galwey, Lachlan Hughes, Dominykas Lukauskis, Laurence Wroe, Jack Foden, Thomas Gate, Noam Vogt-Vincent, Stanislau Yatskevich, Karen Walker (programme administrator).
2018 NEWS Laidlaw Leadership Lecture – and other valued guests! On 16 November, we welcomed Carolyn Downs, Chief Executive of the London Borough of Brent, who came to speak at our inaugural Laidlaw Leadership Lecture. Carolyn gave us an overview of her extraordinary career in the public sector, inspiring those present to think differently about the challenges and opportunities of local government. We look forward to seeing what other insights this new lecture series will bring.
We also welcomed a fascinating trio of speakers to our leadership week in March. Scholars heard from social scientist Professor Denise Lievesley CBE, former civil servant Sir Jonathan Phillips, and Helen King QPM, previously an Assistant Commissioner in the Metropolitan Police. The three guest speakers brought an additional dimension to the leadership training by discussing their own very varied careers, and the leadership roles they have undertaken.
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“The scheme enabled my Laidlaw Scholar not only to develop as a researcher and leader, but also to make a true impact on a very important problem. This has benefited not just one student in this case, but potentially an international, multi-disciplinary collaboration and the millions of cancer patients they hope to help in future.”
Suzanne Sheehy, University of Oxford
A welcome from Lord Laidlaw... I don’t know anything harder to get right than successful philanthropy. Over the last twenty years I have made many philanthropic journeys before knowing enough to create and implement giving that works. Making money is easy compared to giving it away successfully. How do you define success in philanthropy? Others could have a different opinion but I measure all my giving on whether it generates a long term difference for the recipient. It is not enough to spend money as planned and deliver on a promised programme. What matters is whether the client’s life is changed. Does the Laidlaw Scholars programme measure up to this standard? While the programme hasn’t been existence long enough to quantify results, subjectively the answer is an overwhelming yes. As shown in Oxford’s yearbook all the scholars are enthusiastic about what they learnt in their research programmes, about how they can use the skills acquired from the Leadership Development programme both now and in the future, and for those who travelled, their international experiences.
When I have been able to meet with Scholars, I am humbled by the excitement that they have for the programme. It’s phrases such as ‘I never knew that I could achieve so much’, ‘I didn’t think of myself as a leader before completing the leadership training’ and ‘This has changed my life’ which make me feel that the investment and effort is so worthwhile. Now that you are close to graduation, I hope that you will also want to give something back to other young people less fortunate than yourselves. I am proud of all the scholars and what they have achieved. My congratulations and thanks to everyone who has become part of the Laidlaw Undergraduate Research and Leadership Scholars.
Lord Laidlaw of Rothiemay
...and from the Careers Service! Sciences and expelling ignorance from the University. Our scholars had applied themselves across the whole range of subjects to research new truths, make new discoveries, and expand our understanding of the world – from classical Rome to cutting edge genetics. We are proud of what our Scholars have achieved in such a short time, and the energy and dedication with which they have worked on their leadership training and academic research. Our guest speakers from Oxford colleges, shared their insights into leadership at the heights of varied organisations – from the Metropolitan Police, to the Civil Service, to the British Library. This autumn, we gathered in the Sheldonian Theatre to celebrate the success of the second cohort of twenty-five Laidlaw Scholars at the University of Oxford. As the Vice Chancellor remarked in her speech, the location was most appropriate as Robert Streater’s ceiling painting in the theatre depicts Truth descending upon the Arts and
We are grateful to the Irvine Laidlaw Foundation for so generously supporting the programme and for enabling these Scholars to make personal and professional connections which will give them the very best start as they go from the University into their careers. Opportunities such as this are vital for students’ development and we are delighted that this second year has been so successful.
Jonathan Black
Director, Careers Service & Internship Office 3
CONNOR BEATTIE Faculty of Classics, University of Oxford
Supervisor: Professor Jonathan Prag Second year undergraduate, BA Ancient and Modern History, Magdalen College
PROJECT
I spent my summer researching the political dynamics of the Roman mid-republic, with a specific focus on the individual in intrasenatorial decision-making from 200-180 BC. Originally, I had envisaged a broader chronological focus, but I quickly found that by narrowing the chronology down, the depth of understanding and, most importantly, the exploration of interconnections would lead to a much more convincing analysis. I was convinced that to fully get to grips with Roman politics exploring how individuals acted within the political arena was necessary. The main argument I advanced was that each individual within the senate had agency and potential political capital to affect this process through the employment of various political tactics. The outcome of my project was an academic article of 10,000 words which I will be submitting to journals in the field of Ancient History. I was helped immensely thought the project by my supervisor, who gave me guidance on what to read, how to structure my research, and most importantly feedback on what I had written during and at the end of the project. His advice helped give a more definite structure to my ideas and was invaluable in the writing process.
DAILY LIFE
My placement was in the Classics Faculty at Oxford University, and I lived at my own college, Magdalen. Therefore, I was very much at home from the start. My time was divided into 4 weeks researching and 4 weeks writing. Most of this period was spent in three places: my room, the Sackler Library and Magdalen’s Longwall Library. For a majority of the period I followed quite a strict working regime, working between the hours of 9-12, 1-3, 4-6 and 7-10. Despite these long and extremely intense hours, research provides an extremely fulfilling activity and allows the flexibility to mould the period of research to how it best fits the way you work. Still, it was not all work. I had a number of days off which involved a weekend trip to see my family, a day trip to Witney, and a day kayaking along the Cherwell with a beer stop at one of the pubs along the river. I also managed to make strong friendships with a group of American students, who were studying in a summer school at Magdalen, by teaching them how to punt and play croquet.
LEADERSHIP
The leadership training aspect of the Laidlaw Scholarship was very rewarding and a great chance to reach outside my normal academic life, to appreciate the skills needed and expected in managerial job
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roles. The training programme that took place over a week during the Easter vacation was extremely enjoyable; hearing the views and perspectives of some of the most intelligent people at Oxford, from a diverse range of academic backgrounds, gave us all some in-depth understanding of what it means to be a leader. Particularly impactful for me personally were the talks given by some of the Oxford Heads of House. They illustrated the way one could sell oneself as an individual and use both academic and leadership skills to be successful in the world of work. Having had some experience in the automotive logistics industry in the summer before I came to Oxford, it was extremely rewarding to find that much of what I had experienced there was directly relevant to the leadership training we received.
LASTING IMPRESSIONS
Research is very different from being a student. The amount of individual motivation required is definitely increased without the guiding force of tutorials, lectures and weekly reading lists. The thing that struck me the most was how hard it is to control a piece of writing of 10,000 words, especially when trying to write at a sophisticated and complex level required when aiming for journal submissions. By control I mean making sure the whole body is coherent: that the central argument runs throughout the piece, that sub-arguments are connected and work logically together, that all the interconnections between the material are explicitly drawn-out, that the facts don’t simply run away from you but always remain a part of the analysis and argument. Jumping suddenly from writing 2,000 word essays to an academic article was a big leap but has given me a much greater appreciation of the skills required in academic writing.
IMPACT
The experience of a research project has helped confirm that the academic path is the one I wish to pursue. In particular, this is what is great about the Laidlaw Scholarship: it gives those who aspire to be academics the chance to engage in their field and gain experience, just as internships do for those wanting to pursue such things as law, banking or media work. Certainly, having completed a full research project I now feel a lot closer to the academic world, for the first time being able to engage independently with the primary sources and the historiography in somewhat equality. It has also confirmed my desire to continue with postgraduate work. Overall, the Laidlaw Scholarship enabled me to mature as an academic at a much earlier time than I expected, and has given me extremely valuable tools and experiences to help my academic career to progress.
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ADAM BUSH
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta GA, USA Supervisor: Dr Costas Arvanitis Third year undergraduate, M Engineering Science, Keble College
PROJECT
Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) is characterised as a high-grade recurrent glioma; it is the most aggressive form of brain cancer and the prognosis of patients remains extremely poor despite therapeutic advances. The five-year survival rate for those who develop it is ~12%, with a median survival time of 14 months from first diagnoses. The Blood-Brain Barrier (BBB) is a network of specialised capillaries within the brain which maintain homeostasis by only allowing select molecules to be transported across the vessel walls. Large chemotherapeutic molecules cannot pass through the barrier resulting in limited penetration into the tumour, and thus poor cytotoxicity (cell death caused by the drug). A novel strategy for enhancing GBM chemotherapeutic delivery uses focussed ultrasound (FUS) disruption; restrictive tight junctions within the BBB are transiently widened to enhance drug transport, and thus therapeutic effect. Existing studies by the Arvanitis Laboratory at the Georgia Institute of Technology have demonstrated the efficacy of FUS-BBB disruption for Doxorubicin and TDM-1. Expanding the field of study to incorporate Carboplatin (MW: 371.249 g/mol), a DNA-binding drug currently undergoing clinical trials using FUS in France, will shed light on a potential pathway for superior treatment. The study was conducted using a mathematical model in COMSOL Multiphysics, with a network of coupled partial differential equations representing physical, pharmacokinetic (drug transport) and pharmacodynamic (cytotoxicity) mechanisms. A random-walkgenerated vasculature was employed to represent the heterogeneity in perfusion in GBM due to abnormal angiogenesis (irregular blood vessel formation), and boundary conditions from experimentallyvalidated models were incorporated to ensure a physicallyrepresentative study. Parametric sensitivity analyses were undertaken to gain a mechanistic understanding of Carboplatin transport within the GBM tumour microenvironment and to explore the impact of FUS-BBB disruption. This was used to ascertain a prospective design for FUS-BBB protocols and, once developed, to be utilised in clinical trials thereafter. Beyond the scope of my individual project, using the results from the mathematical model, murine (mice)-scale experimentation is to be conducted in the laboratory for experimental validation and further testing.
DAILY LIFE
My research project was conducted in the Arvanitis Laboratory at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, GA. Supervised by
Professor C. D. Arvanitis and Y. Guo, I was given constant support, direction and an expert perspective through my tenweek placement. The lab was small (one post-doctoral fellow, three PhD students and five undergraduates) and highly multidisciplinary, providing an environment where academic questions could be approached multifariously whilst also providing ample focus on the individual when it was needed. It was a fantastic group to be a part of. Outside of my studies I spent my weekends exploring the Deep South of the U.S.A., visiting Nashville TN; Savannah GA; Tybee Island GA; Birmingham AL; Houston AL; Athens GA and Columbus GA and taking over 5,000 photographs along the way.
LEADERSHIP
Working as a research student was an enlightening experience; being part of a multifaceted lab pursuing the same overarching goal (investigating the therapeutic applications of ultrasound) exemplified many of the teamworking, communication and leadership tasks highlighted in the informative ILM course. Having a close interaction with my supervisor led to multiple conversations about the life of an academic, particularly highlighting the management and coordination required to lead a research group. This added due weight to the syllabus of the ILM Level III qualification.
LASTING IMPRESSIONS
I have always been curious about academia, the college environment, and the way of life on the other side of the pond. The opportunity to experience living on another continent in this manner is truly unparalleled as an undergraduate at Oxford and, without wishing to sound clichĂŠd, I will never forget the memories made during my time in the U.S.A.
IMPACT
This project has been the perfect way of exploring the realm of academia from an undergraduate perspective. Being in such close proximity to world-class researchers working at the absolute cutting edge of their field meant that every result will have resounding applications within the wider research community. It has also allowed me to experience the pioneering forefront of the fight against cancer. The ability to focus wholeheartedly on the research at hand without the stress of looming examinations resulted in an incredibly immersive project, and one which I hope to use as the first step to starting an academic career.
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THOMAS CAMPBELL
Department of Physics, University of Oxford & FLASH Center for Computational Science, University of Chicago, USA Supervisor: Professor Gianluca Gregori
Third year undergraduate, M Physics, Lincoln College
PROJECT
My research project was grounded in high energy plasma physics. I worked with experts both at the University of Chicago and here at Oxford that generate high energy plasmas in the laboratory with lasers. My specific task was to use two-dimensional simulations of these plasmas to determine whether an astrophysical effect called the Turbulent Dynamo Mechanism could in principle be achieved in a cylindrically symmetric, compressible, laboratory-produced plasma. This mechanism is generally thought to be responsible for producing the large magnetic fields we observe near violent astrophysical phenomena such as supernovae remnants and active galactic nuclei. It also has importance in laser-driven fusion projects. I spent the first two weeks of my project at the University of Chicago, where I developed the necessary computing skills to use the simulation code called FLASH. I received specific instruction from researchers (Petros Tzeferacosand Scott Feister in particular) in the FLASH Center for Computational Science (part of the astrophysics department) in how to compile, run and then analyse the results of the FLASH code. This also included tackling how to run the code on supercomputing clusters. Upon my return to Oxford, working under Gianluca Gregori, I then worked on setting up and running these simulations, with a specific focus on investigating the optimal target thickness for the lasers to be fired at. The optimal target thickness was thin enough such that the laser could accelerate the plasma to the required velocity, but was not so thin that the laser shone through all the way through the target and broke the cylindrical symmetry. Having determined the optimal thickness, I set up the full scale simulation to be run by researchers at the University of Chicago.
DAILY LIFE
I particularly enjoyed the contrast between my daily life as an undergraduate and with what I experienced as a Laidlaw scholar. As an undergraduate my days would often be quite hectic, charging from lectures, to a laboratory, to a tutorial. While I found this invigorating, it also precluded sitting down in the library for long stretches at a time and being able to fully immerse myself in a topic. The Laidlaw Scholarship provided the perfect opportunity to do this, and I loved being able to spend the entirety of my day focused on my research. A great aspect of my daily life was being surrounded by professional scientists who were clearly very passionate about their work. Lunchtime discussions abounded with debates, ranging from the future of fusion research, to the ethics of working on nuclear weapons programmes, and to scientific education at school. I also really enjoyed the international aspect of science, not least having the opportunity to travel to the United States, but also meeting a huge variety of people who hailed from various different countries.
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LEADERSHIP
The leadership training was a very valuable element of the programme. The training was holistic, encompassing things such as intra-personal relationships, communication skills, and branding, as well as outlining the theory of prominent leadership models. There were three parts of the training that stood out to me. The first was having prominent leaders based in Oxford relate to us their experiences in their respective fields, Helen King in the police force, Sir Jonathan Phillips as a civil servant, and the statistician Professor Denise Lievesley. Hearing anecdotes from their careers gave real colour to the material we were studying. The second part was the role-playing exercises where we had to deal with very difficult personalities. I think it’s true of all work places that there can be conflict and people can be challenging, so I’m reassured that I’ve learnt a few skills to navigate those tricky situations. Finally, the exercises in public speaking were excellent. Upon arriving at my host institution I was asked to deliver a talk about my research plan for the summer, and it proved much less daunting having already practiced it as part of the leadership training!
LASTING IMPRESSIONS
The Laidlaw Scholarship has left me with several strong convictions, namely: the desire to live and work abroad, the ability to have creative freedom and agency in my work, and the decision to pursue a PhD. While in Chicago it was so exciting to get acquainted with the new people, culture and climate, such that I now enthusiastically entertain the prospect of living there more permanently at some time in the future. The second conviction is a little more nebulous, but equally strongly held. I pursued the Laidlaw Scholarship because it enabled me to completely design my own research project. This creative independence is rare for an undergraduate student and was certainly not something that many of my peers enjoyed at their industry internships. My final conviction, to pursue a PhD is linked to this, but also goes further. Not only did I enjoy my independence on the scholarship, but I enjoyed the whole experience of being a professional researcher. I will thus be applying for PhDs in the coming months.
IMPACT
I have no doubt that my experiences on the Laidlaw Programme will be useful in my future career. It has confirmed in me the desire to have a tangible impact with my career, whether that be as a professional scientist or in industry, I feel more equipped to do so with the skills that I’ve learnt over the last six months.
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SAMUEL COLE
Department of Economics, University of Oxford
Supervisor: Dr Christopher Bowdler
Second year undergraduate, BA Philosophy, Politics and Economics, Worcester College
PROJECT
The aim of my project was to test the predictions of a model commonly taught in undergraduate economics, the IS-LM model, in specific economic circumstances. These circumstances, called the liquidity trap, are where interest rates fall close to zero. To that end, I used a statistical analysis on UK data in these circumstances and in more normal circumstances to simulate the effects of different macroeconomic policies. I then compared the results of these simulations to the predictions of the model to conclude that the model could only partially account for the patterns and empirical relationships observed in the data. As much project was quite independent, the support I required was often of a very particularised nature -- answers to specific technical questions relating to economic and statistical theory, usually. My supervisor was great in this regard, answering my questions very quickly, and providing an indication of how research in this area of economics is usually done.
DAILY LIFE
I settled in quickly as I started my project after term time, and stayed on at Oxford. My “workplace� was either one of my college libraries or the Social Sciences Library. My daily routine usually consisted of working for 6-9 hours each day on my project, checking my progress against the timetable I had made for myself. In the evenings I would return to my college and either go to the bar or meet a friend in Oxford. I normally just socialised with Oxford friends who happened to still be in the city.
LEADERSHIP
I found the leadership training element of the course surprisingly enjoyable. My main interest in the Scholarship was the research aspect, but I think I surprised myself with just how relevant to my own life the leadership training was. It provided me with ample opportunities to reflect on the leadership roles I had taken on in extracurricular activities and made me realise that I enjoy leadership roles a great deal. The feedback I had to collect as part of my coursework forced me to think constructively about how to improve my own leadership skills. I now feel more confident in being a team leader as well as interacting with leaders or others in positions of authority. My research project was quite solitary so I did not get an opportunity
to apply my training during my placement. However, I believe that I can productively deploy the leadership training I received as part of my Laidlaw Scholarship in future extracurricular activities as well as my future career, since economics research is increasingly collaborative.
LASTING IMPRESSIONS
Overall, I would say that I found the placement to be a highly positive experience. My department in Oxford was a pleasant place to work, if solitary, but I enjoyed the independence and freedom. I found being a researcher challenging in different ways to being a student, mostly in the sense that I had to be far more self-reliant. But I also found significant upsides to research, especially the thrill of finding new results. I found that I also enjoyed interacting with my supervisor and writing up my project, deploying the knowledge I had learned in my studies to the research questions of my project. The experience has confirmed my career ambitions: I am certain I would like to go into a research career. More significantly, it has confirmed that empirical economics is the area I am most interested in. Finally it has persuaded me that (hopefully) staying at Oxford to read for an MPhil degree would be the right choice.
IMPACT
I think the experiences on the Laidlaw Programme will be extremely useful to my future, as I want to pursue a career in academic research and will be applying to postgraduate courses this year. My degree does not have a compulsory thesis but my options are exhausted by papers I need to take for admission to postgraduate courses, and so the opportunity to do sustained research under the Laidlaw Programme was really a lifeline, allowing me to demonstrate ambition, competency and research aptitude to postgraduate courses. Personally, I think that it has increased my self-resilience skills, and made me more confident in my academic writing. It has also definitely confirmed my career ambitions, though it has more steered me away from theoretical economics and towards empirical economics. Finally, the programme was an opportunity to have a fun summer doing something far more interesting than in any other internship; it gives you so much latitude that you can really make it as fun as you want it to be.
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JOSHUA DOWNE
Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
Supervisor: Dr Assaf Gal
Third year undergraduate, M Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry, The Queen’s College
PROJECT
My project was based around a group of organisms called coccolithophores. These are single-celled, photosynthetic organisms found in the ocean and are one of the major players in the global flux of carbon. Of interest are their calcium carbonate scales, named coccoliths. Their intricacy and diversity have fascinated scientists as the biological control over crystallisation is a complex scenario which could inspire synthetic nanocrystal design. The focus of my project was to attempt to understand better the nature of the interaction of coccolith-associated polysaccharides with calcium ions; an interaction that is proposed to lead to a specific localisation of mineral precursor materials at a so-called base plate which acts as a template for mineral formation. Having published several papers in the field my supervisor had a strong knowledge of the research area and was able to support me well throughout the project. His willingness to discuss things with me and his interest in the project aided my progression and has helped me to improve my approach to scientific research. The staff at the Weizmann Institute were also very helpful and supportive throughout the project.
DAILY LIFE
On an average working day I’d take a short, sunny walk from my apartment on campus over to the building where I worked. This would involve carrying out experiments, planning for future ones, and analysing results. The offices in which we worked were adjacent to the lab benches, so one didn’t often have to go too far most days! Most weekends during my stay I did some sightseeing, usually with friends I’d made in the institute. Jerusalem and Tel Aviv were my most visited locations, however I also explored more distant regions such as Haifa and the Dead Sea. It was great to explore these culturally and historically fascinating places, and I also had the chance to see some cities during a festival period (such as the Jerusalem Light Festival) which was a great way to discover them. It was an interesting experience living in Israel, a place which is culturally quite different whilst at the same time being culturally diverse.
LEADERSHIP
The leadership training is a brilliant aspect of the course that I’m sure I’ll continue to refer back to in the future. The tasks encourage you to evaluate yourself by self-reflection and feedback and consider different strategies for self and team management. Maurice, who ran the leadership week, did a superb job of keeping the group engaged and in creating an open, supportive atmosphere which encouraged
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participation. In particular, the presentation practice and feedback activity was highly worthwhile from a skills development perspective, but it was also incredibly interesting learning about each other’s projects! Obtaining feedback from others can feel awkward but it is often informative, and has enabled me to identify specific areas for personal development, while the exercises have provided strategies to go about achieving these. I have been able to consolidate the topics covered by the leadership course and think about how they relate to me as an individual. The leadership and management component was perhaps the more searching part of the course for me, but one that will increase my confidence in any managerial roles I assume in the future.
LASTING IMPRESSIONS
Being part of the Laidlaw Programme at Oxford has been a privilege from start to finish. Right from the initial writing of the research proposal all the way to producing the poster for the presentation day I’ve been taking part in new activities and have gained more insight into aspects of scientific research and project management alike. The opportunity to carry out a placement abroad in particular made this experience all the more unique. I enjoyed working with Dr Assaf Gal and colleagues at the Weizmann Institute and felt very welcome in this working environment. The project enabled me to explore a unique area of research of which I had very little knowledge before starting. It has been insightful to experience science from the perspective of research rather than as solely a receiver of information, something that will hopefully change the way I approach the research that I read. The ability to learn new techniques and explore a particular method of research has enabled me to expand my scientific knowledge and repertoire.
IMPACT
The Laidlaw Programme has had a positive impact on my personal and professional development. The two-tailed nature of the programme and the vision to create a scholarship with lasting impacts make it a special opportunity that will no doubt remain with me and be useful for the future. I have not only obtained a lot of new experience that will help me in my current plans to follow a research career path but have also enjoyed taking part in the leadership & management course, meeting new people, and gaining new life experience. It has enabled me to explore an area of scientific research in a country that was completely new to me, something which I would not have been able to do without this scholarship. More than that, I have taken part in a course that has challenged me as an individual to develop and implement leadership and management skills.
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DOMINIKA DUROVCIKOVA
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA Supervisor: Professor Nergis Mavalvala
Third year undergraduate, M Physics, New College
PROJECT
room for self-reflection and self-evaluation, and what I especially liked was that the assignments motivated us to seek feedback from other coI spent 10 weeks at the LIGO laboratory at the MIT Kavli Institute, workers or students. I realised how hard it is to get honest feedback from Cambridge MA. The LIGO Scientific Collaboration coordinates a worldpeople, but more importantly, how valuable the feedback-seeking habit wide effort to study gravitational waves coming from various astrophysical is. I will definitely try to keep it up and always try to ensure that people sources in the Universe. The first detection of these waves was published feel comfortable to give constructive feedback on my behaviour and in 2016, and since then, LIGO has been improving the sensitivity of its performance. After all, that’s the only way we can hope to become a better detectors to ultimately reach the fundamental quantum-mechanical limit version of ourselves. of what can and cannot be detected with the current observatories. Fortunately, these is a way to manipulate this fundamental limit. This is done by creating special states of light called squeezed states, which can provide additional improvements in precision. In addition, in order for squeezing to be useful, we need to operate on laser light, whose intensity is already at the fundamental quantum-mechanical limit. However, this turns out to be quite challenging, as laser beams are typically very noisy. In many cases, and especially in the context of using squeezed light for gravitational wave detectors, the quantum limits are the exciting part. Hence, the aim of my project was to design and build an electro-optical system to suppress the classical laser noise, thus creating a very quiet laser beam whose intensity stability is directly limited by the quantum nature of light.
DAILY LIFE
LASTING IMPRESSIONS
I would say that the most lasting impression of my placement is that Physics research can be so exciting and cool. Every week, we would have two group meetings where someone would bring up their new idea or explain what a graduate student would be working on, and most of the time it was something I hadn’t even imagined would be possible before that. I was mentored by one postdoc in the group, with whom I would constantly have discussions about exciting Physics research outside of LIGO. His never-ending interest in other frontiers of Physics made me more aware of the broader field and the various possibilities that it provides for investigation. These discussions left a very powerful impression that so many unimaginably cool things can be studied and done, and I definitely want to be a part of it.
When I first came to LIGO and met my supervisor, we agreed on a slight change in my proposed research project. Hence, my first weeks involved a Another long-lasting impression is learning that even tough things can be lot of reading, studying and planning. I was mentored by one postdoc, with achieved. The whole summer has been such an extremely steep learning whom I discussed the theoretical challenges and the design of the system curve that I’m not even able to put into words how much I’ve learned not for laser intensity stabilisation. only about Physics research but also about myself and the whole range of Soon enough, I found myself spending whole days in the laboratory. I took opportunities that lies within reach. In short, I feel hopeful and excited for several weeks to gather and test all the components needed. Once this what future may bring. was done, I was ready to assemble the whole system, and test and improve IMPACT its performance. All in all, I have to say that daily life was a nice balance between theoretical calculations and planning, and actually being in the lab It was very, very useful and extremely enjoyable. Before the Laidlaw turning the screws, assembling a real system and testing it. This way, I was Programme, I had been considering pursuing a PhD and going into able to experience a direct interplay between theory and practice, which Physics research for quite some time. Now, I am quite committed to was extremely engaging. doing so and feel more able to make an informed decision about it in the
near future. I had the opportunity to meet a lot of researchers, professors, and even students like me, and listened to valuable advice and diverse I was very pleased with the leadership training we received as part of the thoughts in this regard. One of the most valuable discussions was with Laidlaw Programme. I especially liked the week-long training after the end my supervisor, with whom I was able to talk about the different PhD of Hilary term, as this enabled all the scholars to get to know each other, programmes in more depth, and who I hope to stay in touch with and while giving rise to very interesting discussions about different leaders, maybe even work with again. leadership styles and behaviours. I very much enjoyed the speaker sessions In addition, the leadership training was a very insightful part of the we had during that week, as these provided different perspectives on what programme. I was part of a lot of great discussions, and learnt a great deal leadership actually means in various settings and situations, for example in not only about the theory of leadership, but about myself. The assignments the police, or in the college setting. provided room for self-reflection and planning specific steps towards
LEADERSHIP
Even though the idea of having assignments does not seem so pleasant at first, completing the assignments was time well spent. They provided
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personal development. My hope is to be able to execute these steps and never stop re-evaluating them.
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RYAN ELLISON
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Marseilles, France Supervisor: Dr Eric Cascales
Second year undergraduate, M Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry, Exeter College
PROJECT
My project was concerned with genetically engineering E. coli, with the aim of hijacking their naturally existing Type VI secretion system, essentially a nanoweapon similar to a needle or harpoon, which the bacteria use to compete with each other. The idea was to modify the E. coli such that they would target colorectal cancer cells with this system. The support I received from the people at the CNRS (where I worked) was incredible, with everyone in the lab being friendly and welcoming, as well as willing to explain and talk about many different aspects of science, from explaining the theory and practice of the procedures I was carrying out in the lab, to what it was like having a career in a research institute, and how the world of publishing scientific literature works. I think that I was incredibly fortunate to have such a kind host group, and thanks to them I was able to learn a lot during my project. In addition, the members of the lab arranged for me to give a presentation at the end of my stay, based on the work I had done during the project, and the follow-up work that I envisioned to be required. They asked me some questions about my research, and gave me feedback on my presentation, my handling of questions, and a poster that I had produced, all of which was incredibly useful.
DAILY LIFE
The time I headed to work depended on what I was working on that day; for example, bacterial cultures take several hours to grow to a suitable level, and so on those days I would aim to be in work by 9am. Otherwise, I would study for about an hour and instead head into work for 10am. My journey to work was very nice, because I was able to rent an apartment close to my place of work, and so my morning walk to work was only about 15 minutes. In terms of what I did outside of work, I really only ventured into Marseilles on the weekends. The transport links great, so I had the option of either taking a short bus trip to the national park Calanques (a sort of rocky cliff-like area near the sea which was very beautiful) or walking a little further to catch the metro to go into Marseilles city centre. I lived fairly close to a huge park that was packed with wildlife, so quite frequently I would spend the day there. Typically, Saturday was my day off and Sunday was devoted to study. My socialising was mostly with my colleagues, since I spent most of my time at work. The atmosphere there was quite relaxed, so
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everyone was pretty willing to chat, and we always went for lunch together at the on-site canteen. I even went to the beach with some of them on the weekend for a swim, and we also played boules together after work.
LEADERSHIP
The training week that we completed together was fun and insightful, with the opportunity to reflect on and identify important aspects of leadership, as well as meet some very interesting speakers. An important aspect of this week though, was that it was an opportunity for all of the Laidlaw Scholars to get to know each other and each other’s projects. One of the key values of the Laidlaw Programme is the importance it places on forming strong and meaningful relationships with the other scholars, and I can genuinely say that I’ve made some great friends among my fellow scholars. The leadership training poses important questions that make you think about the key aspects of leadership that will be important in the future, in a wide variety of situations. I think the real importance of this qualification will be the skills that it will bring me, by making me consider leadership in a meaningful way.
IMPACT
The programme has definitely solidified in my mind the idea that I would like a career in research after my degree, and I’m now almost certain that I’d like to do a PhD once I’ve graduated. It has gone a long way in terms of boosting my confidence, as not only did I manage my own research project for 10 weeks, but I was able to live in a foreign country for ten weeks, where most people outside of my place of work did not speak English. For the first time, I was responsible for my own research project; the fact that any failures would mean a setback for the project was quite a motivating force, as opposed to an undergraduate teaching lab where the lab work carries on for 4 days at most, meaning that there isn’t really such a thing as a major setback. The programme was not just great for developing my lab skills and giving me insight into the life of a researcher, but I was also able to learn the ways in which research and publishing works around the world and in different journals, as well as the differences in research careers between England, France, and America, since the members of my lab had all taken up placements outside of France at some point. This opened my eyes to a career in the wider world, and to the idea that research is a truly international undertaking where there are no borders.
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JACK FODEN Columbia University, New York, USA
Supervisor: Professor Hamid Dabashi
Final year undergraduate, BA English Language and Literature, New College
PROJECT
Conducted primarily at Columbia University, New York, my research analysed the film aesthetics of Islamic State’s propaganda, exploring how it has appropriated the techniques, narratives and conventions of Hollywood cinema to encode their ideology and theology. At first, this involved simply identifying certain visual markers that consistently characterised their videos, such as colour palettes, composition and editing techniques. Next, I expanded the scope of the project to consider how the conventions of the Hollywood action film offered a sort of ready-made template for Islamic State to embed their eschatological ideology - based around violence, apocalypse and struggle - within their propaganda, arguing that the medium and message are tightly bound together. However, I realised that there was huge variation across the quality in videos over time, and noted that IS increasingly relied on directly using scenes from Hollywood films rather than imitating their structural and aesthetic qualities, which led me to argue that IS has moved from imitation to appropriation with their loss of territory and resources, producing far less sophisticated videos which undermine their antiAmericanism and suggest a loss of cohesion. Finally, I considered future actions in counter-messaging, in particular the need for more effective, multicultural storytelling in Hollywood films.
DAILY LIFE
At the start of my project, I worked up at Columbia University on New York's Upper West Side, taking the Subway to get there. I'd usually arrive around 10am and leave around 6pm, having lunch in local parks and trying out all the delis and good restaurants in the area. Most of my research used online resources, which meant I could be very flexible in where and when I worked, but I tried to visit Columbia's many, many libraries and explore the university while working - I almost never worked in the same place twice. Later on in my project, during the write-up period, I decided to work more in cafés and explore New York (I like to write in a busy, buzzing environment) and visited a whole host of cool cafés all around New York. In my spare time, I'd walk my roommate's dog in Central Park (half a block away!) and exercise, and used the weekends and occasional evenings to play tourist around the city. New York can be quite a lonely place, but I was happy exploring it by myself and checking out new areas, visiting museums and reading about American history.
LEADERSHIP
I found the theoretical elements of the leadership training more interesting – particularly considering the nature of leadership – and thinking about it in practice. My research was very independent and so there wasn't a huge amount of scope for implementing the work I'd done for the ILM qualification, but it was interesting to apply things we'd learnt outside of the academic arena - for example, in negotiating conflict. However, as I come to apply for jobs, I increasingly realise that the selfreflection the training promotes and the preparation for key ideas in a
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working environment will be useful, particularly in job interviews. Some of the training week felt like training for job interviews in some ways, and encouraged us to think more creatively about responding to standard questions (e.g. how to resolve conflict, your strengths/weaknesses, the qualities of good leadership, etc.). The assignments were helpful in encouraging you to sit down and think critically about past experiences in teams and leadership roles. The real test will be to ensure that we carry forward this knowledge and self-awareness to future jobs, and not just leave it as a closed book.
LASTING IMPRESSIONS
My lasting impressions are overwhelmingly positive. I hugely enjoyed the research itself - dealing with contemporary material, a new medium (namely, film) and charting essentially new areas of research was exciting and challenging as there weren't canonical critical texts to rely on. Being able to expand my interest in interdisciplinary study was perhaps the best part of the project - I felt really encouraged and free to explore areas that interested me and pick up and drop avenues of interest as I felt fit. Travelling to New York was exciting. It was great to just soak up the city over a long period of time without rushing around, and this was one of the highlights of the trip, besides working in a leading American university. The overall experience has been really eye-opening in indicating my preferred type of work and interests – it is the overlap between culture and politics that I find so interesting. I've now begun applying for jobs as a researcher in film, which is clearly an extension of my project and I really owe that to the Laidlaw Programme!
IMPACT
The Laidlaw Programme has been hugely helpful. I have developed skills and knowledge that I hope to use when applying for jobs, and also developed my experience in conducting independent research and projects more generally. It has made me realise that I thrive best in work which is independent and more academic, but which also engages with pressing contemporary issues and involves policy change at a social and governmental level. I was unsure about which jobs to apply for, but this project has really helped me explore my interests and work styles. It has also encouraged me to reconsider doing a Masters in Global Politics – after loving my project so much, I am returning to the possibility with renewed interest. More personally, it has given me confidence to explore new ideas – even those areas are lacking research, I now feel I have the intellectual self-confidence to explore them. It also has made me realise the colossal cultural weight and soft power that Hollywood and Western cultural products have across the world, and made me want to pursue a career that takes responsibility about narratives coming out of Hollywood and ensures multi-cultural, diverse voices are heard across the film industry.
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ISABEL GALWEY
China Centre, University of Oxford & East China Normal University, Shanghai, China Supervisor: Dr Margaret Hillenbrand
Third year undergraduate, BA Oriental Studies (Chinese), St Hilda’s College
PROJECT
My project was divided into two segments. I spent two weeks in Oxford gathering materials and doing a literature review of current English-language works on my topic. I then spent the remaining 8 weeks in Shanghai. Most of my time was spent looking at primary and secondary sources in Mandarin. These included animations, digital portfolios, websites, blog posts, journal articles and books. I was given a library card, and my supervisor at ECNU also personally lent me some books and films. We met regularly to discuss these sources and to determine the direction of my project. I also emailed my supervisor in Oxford roughly once a week to update her on my progress.
it more than I expected! It was really interesting to meet my fellow Laidlaw Scholars and to find out we all had different ideas about what leadership might mean, especially in the context of our own projects. The most interesting part of the programme were the speakers who came in to talk to us, including an ex-police chief and a diplomat. The leadership assignments have helped me to analyse myself as a leader, particularly when it comes to organisation and strategy. This knowledge has already helped me be a better leader in the various extracurricular projects which I have taken on. I’m looking forward to finishing off my leadership training and continuing to apply the skills I’ve learnt in the future.
I also conducted fieldwork, including visiting galleries and museums, LASTING IMPRESSIONS and visiting artist studios to conduct interviews. My most important I really enjoyed being in Oxford as a researcher rather than as a field trip was travelling to Beijing to interview an artist about his student; it meant that I could take full advantage of Oxford’s amazing animation. library without so much pressure. I got to spend time reading deeply I spent the last few weeks writing up my project as an academic around a topic of my choice, which has been great preparation for article and an interview-based journalistic story. I then sent these my dissertation research. pieces to my supervisor and editors for feedback. I have now finished Being able to go to China to conduct my research was wonderfully the active research period but I am continuing to refine my research immersive, and I learnt much more than I would have if I'd output in preparation for publication. conducted my research from Oxford.
DAILY LIFE
The first two weeks felt like a continuation of my term time life at Oxford, going to my faculty library every day. I met up with other academics for coffee and advice and socialised with friends. My life in Shanghai was similar in some ways and very different in others! I moved into a student dormitory for international students. My roommate was a master’s student in the process of writing her dissertation. The two of us communicated in Mandarin which was good practice for me. My supervisor at ECNU was very welcoming. When I first arrived we met for dinner and had an in-depth discussion about the project. My supervisor also introduced me to her master’s students, who were friendly and supportive. Most of my academic and social networks were also Mandarin-language, which was a bit daunting but very good for my language skills! My life in Shanghai was pleasantly quiet and quickly settled into a routine. I spent most days in the library, although I would sometimes go on trips to relevant museums and galleries around the city. My biggest excursion was a trip up to Beijing to interview an artist in his gallery. This was a great trip for me as I lived in Beijing during my year abroad last year, and so I also got to meet friends and visit my old campus.
LEADERSHIP
I wasn’t sure what to expect from the leadership programme, as I hadn’t done anything like it before. However, I ended up enjoying
It was also interesting to get an insight into life at a Chinese university. I found that the level of research was high but I had to get used to a set of conventions that were quite different to the ones I was used to. For me, this programme has confirmed that I would be interested in pursuing postgraduate studies in the future. It’s also helped me to better understand my own strengths and weaknesses as a researcher. The Laidlaw Programme was a steep learning curve for me but I feel that it has helped me to build both my capabilities and my confidence.
IMPACT
The Laidlaw Programme has been really important in shaping my understanding of both academic research and leadership. It helped me to broaden my perspectives and figure out how my research interests fit into a wider world of academia. One important aspect of the programme is that it made me realise that academic research skills have many applications outside the library and the lecture hall. The aspects of the programme which I enjoyed the most were those which allowed me to communicate my ideas and directly impact others: conducting interviews, for example, and discussing my research with other academics. I’d never particularly considered myself a leader and I was intrigued by the leadership training that we undertook as part of our Programme. It’s helped me to be more conscious of my conduct
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THOMAS GATE Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Cambridge MA, USA Supervisor: Dr Jing-Ke Weng
Final year undergraduate, M Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry, St John’s College
PROJECT
Plants produce a wide variety of small molecules, some of which have therapeutic value. However, at the moment a lot of plantderived possibly therapeutic small molecules cannot be made on an industrial scale. A solution to this problem is to elucidate the biosynthesis pathway in plants and then reconstitute this pathway into an organism which is easier to grow such as yeast. I was involved in the elucidation of the biosynthesis pathway for urushiol in poison ivy, which is the molecule responsible for the dermatitis for which poison ivy is famous, but which also has possible therapeutic benefit. Included within this work was poison ivy collection from a local population, candidate gene identification and cloning followed by expression of candidate genes in E.coli. I received ample support from my host institution for both establishing myself within the institution initially and also supporting my project. The support received included knowledge of how to operate various programmes and equipment necessary for project stages. For example, the project required me to annotate the expression profile of poison ivy, and a gel filtration machine for purification of a candidate enzyme expressed in E.coli.
DAILY LIFE
I travelled to and from work on the subway in Boston taking around 40 minutes which was pretty packed at rush hour, so I tended to start and finish a little later to avoid that. I also occasionally walked home to explore new parts of the city. My work day included carrying out wet lab work most of the morning and afternoon, and then interpreting results and planning experiments for the next few days. There was plenty of time outside of working hours and at weekends to investigate both outside and inside Boston. I travelled around New England, including a lab retreat to go kayaking on a river in New Hampshire and seeing a bear in Vermont. On the weekends I spent a lot of time exploring the Boston area by subway and commuter rail, including going to a sandcastle building competition which was very impressive. Throughout the summer, I socialised a lot with friends based in Boston or the nearby states, and with lab members through a series of parties occurring over the summer.
LEADERSHIP
The leadership training is very well taught and is over a short period of time as to not interfere too much with studies which was
very helpful for me. I found the training programme very enjoyable. Meeting the fellow Laidlaw Scholars and learning about the different leadership models and how they play out in the working environment were particular highlights. Maurice’s training also allowed me to further understand what goes into the choices leaders are making and then assessing the success of their strategy in their environment. The skills I have learnt were very useful in running an independent project, particularly presentation skills and the context-dependent nature of communication with team members. As I move into my PhD I will definitely benefit from the skills I have learnt in the leadership programmes and further into my career I hope to be putting to use the knowledge.
LASTING IMPRESSIONS
The placement was fantastic; an amazing experience to work in a new environment. It was fun to have a leadership role during the project as well, meaning what happened with your project was down to you including deciding how to get past any obstacles in the way. The working environment and attitude towards work was similar to Oxford in many ways, with it being a high-pressure environment. The lab itself was very focussed on supporting the research and career progression. The institution handled a lot of international workers and so made the immigration process very easy for me. Outside of work, Boston was a lovely city, very welcoming and easy to get around and so much nicer than London. The work on poison ivy was very rewarding and emphasised my love for research. In addition, having an independent project focussed my future goals group which decides the avenues of research depending on the amount of knowledge that could be gained, as well as immediate application and possible future applications.
IMPACT
The programme has helped me act as a leader in a more thoughtout manner, seeing the effect of decisions and communication styles and so finding the right one for the situation; for example, what communication style is preferable for group communications versus one to one communication. Personally, I have also become much more open to searching for help from experts when facing problems which is somthing I will take forward into the future.
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LACHLAN HUGHES
The Leeds Centre for Dante Studies, University of Leeds
Supervisor: Professor Matthew Treherne Final year undergraduate, BA Modern Languages (German and Italian), St Hilda’s College
PROJECT
For my Laidlaw project I spent eight weeks at the Leeds Centre for Dante Studies, researching and writing an extended journal article on issues of genre and style in the political laude of the 13th-century Umbrian poet Jacopone da Todi. A lauda is a poetic form, traditionally defined as paraliturgical praise poetry, sung by lay confraternities throughout Tuscany and Umbria. What is striking about Jacopone's corpus is the broad range of themes which he explores under the label 'laude': we find not only religious invocation, but also autobiography, epistolary correspondence, condemnations of vice and, perhaps most unusually, pointed political invective directed at popes. My project attempted to further refine the relationship between Jacopone's poetic corpus and the 'traditional' concept of the lauda. As a visiting research fellow I was given full access to all the libraries of the University of Leeds. I had weekly meetings with my supervisor to discuss progress, and was mainly active in the extensive Italian collection of the Brotherton Library. As part of my project I also undertook a 6-day research trip to Todi in Umbria.
DAILY LIFE
I stayed in an apartment which I had rented from a university staff member. Every day I would walk for twenty minutes to the library, where I would work solidly in the stacks until closing time. It was really interesting to gain experience of a different university in the UK, and to experience a taster of life as a researcher in such an environment. As there weren't many other students about, I spent a lot of my free time exploring the city and meeting up with friends from Oxford who happened to live in the area. The administrator from the Leeds Laidlaw Programme also put me in touch with one of their scholars who very kindly agreed to give me a tour of the campus when I first arrived. As an international student who has never lived outside of Oxford in the UK, it was also really eyeopening to experience life in a completely different region.
task, i.e. how to contribute towards getting the best ideas out of a group in the most efficient way. It also gave me a new perspective on how I should present myself as a researcher. Research is always necessarily collaborative and thinking about what leadership means in a research context was an extremely fruitful exercise which has fundamentally changed the way that I think about academia.
LASTING IMPRESSIONS
I'm sure that my experience of being a Laidlaw scholar will stay with me for a long time, regardless of whether I find myself in an academic career in the future. While my research project was closely related to my degree in Oxford, it also allowed me to take the knowledge which I had acquired throughout my degree and to apply it within a new context, with broader aims. A lasting impression gained from my time as a Laidlaw scholar is that I need to think more critically about how to be an advocate for my own research, and to justify how that research might fit into a broader framework of scholarship. My experience in Leeds was a breath of fresh air in this respect, offering a completely different vision of what a university can be. I would definitely be interested in returning to Leeds to live or work, and I'm keen at this stage of my career to keep a dialogue open with the very welcoming and generous spirit of academic exchange which I encountered there. As I now embark on a Master’s degree in Oxford (with the intention of progressing onto doctoral study) I'm keen to bring some of the lessons I've learnt back to Oxford; I hope to encourage my peers to think about how their research might fit into a broader academic framework.
IMPACT
The Laidlaw Programme is a wonderful opportunity for anybody who's considering a career as an academic or researcher, as it gives you the very rare opportunity to pursue your academic interests outside of the strictures of the university exam system. In many ways the project was something of a research 'internship', an LEADERSHIP opportunity to try my hand at a larger research project before The leadership training element turned out to be one of the most committing to three years of a doctorate. My involvement in the practically useful learning experiences of my entire time at Oxford. Laidlaw Programme hasn't changed my mind about my career Not only was it a good opportunity to bond with my fellow ambitions, but I'll be making a more informed decision when it Laidlaw Scholars and to gain feedback on the early stages comes to applying for doctoral work, and having a journal article of planning my project, it also forced me to think critically under my belt before starting a doctorate is something I couldn't about the way in which ideas are communicated and have dreamt of without the support and resources offered to me disseminated within a research-focused community. by the Laidlaw Programme. I'm also extremely glad to have had The focus of the leadership training was not at all about the opportunity to work in another university, which has given how to be in charge and tell other people what to do, but me a much broader perspective on the landscape of the higher education sector in the UK. much more about how to be an individual in a group-focused
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ALICIA HUNTER
Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford Supervisor: Professor Christoph Tang Second year undergraduate, BA Medical Sciences, New College
PROJECT
Antimicrobial resistance is one of the most pressing problems facing clinical medicine today. Since the first antibiotic penicillin was developed nearly 80 years ago, we have enjoyed a “golden era� of medicines that have allowed us to cure previously fatal bacterial infections. However, inappropriate antibiotic use over the past decades means that we are approaching a dark abyss of untreatable, multi-drug resistant infections. With a stalling supply of new antibiotics from the pharmaceutical industry, we are increasingly having to turn to our last-resort antibiotics and there is an urgent need for novel approaches to tackle bacterial infections, ideally without driving further resistance. My project involved working on the bacterial species Shigella, a leading cause of dysentery worldwide with a particular burden on children under the age of 5. With reported recent outbreaks in Seattle, San Diego and Poland, it is an endemic disease that is not limited to developing countries. A key feature of Shigella is that all the genes encoding the molecular machinery required to infect and harm human cells lies on an extra piece of DNA called a plasmid. This constitutes a genetic Achilles heel for these bacteria, as the loss of the virulence plasmid renders them harmless. Using a geneediting technique known as CRISPR-Cas, I was able to target this plasmid and evaluate its effect in promoting plasmid loss. With reports of Shigella outbreaks in recent years that are resistant to all forms of commonly available antibiotics, this project aimed to provide a proof of principle for an approach to precisely target and attenuate pathogenic bacteria without killing them, thus diminishing the chances of resistance emerging as a result of selection pressure.
DAILY LIFE
My host lab was in the department where penicillin was developed almost 80 years ago. It was inspirational to turn up to the lab every morning in such a historic department, which continues to produce cutting-edge research. A typical day in the lab would start by analysing the data from the previous day, discussing them with my supervisor and planning the experiments for the day based on the results I had produced. Often, I would be running multiple experiments in parallel to make optimal use of the time, which required thinking ahead and being organised. I enjoyed attending weekly seminars at lunchtime where graduate students from different labs gave presentations on their projects. In the afternoon, there would be more experiments, and I usually found myself so absorbed in my project that the hours flew by. Each
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day, I would return to my college accommodation with a sense of achievement and excitement for the next day. I was lucky that my college is a 5-minute walk away from the lab, meaning that I could make the most of the time outside the project to relax and enjoy Oxford in the height of the summer.
LEADERSHIP
As a future doctor, leadership and team working skills will be crucial for working on a busy NHS ward where I will face the pressure of making life and death decisions. I wanted to grasp the true meaning of practical leadership, which should not be just about giving orders. Therefore, the leadership training aspect of the Laidlaw Programme was what had appealed to me when applying for the programme. Through numerous opportunities to give presentations about my project in front of an audience, I became confident in communicating my research to both non-scientists and to specialists in the field. The talks given by guest speakers drew on a wealth of knowledge from handling difficult situations in various career backgrounds, helping me to see how leadership can be applied in different circumstances. In fact, this inspired me to use the travel grant to go and meet world-leading specialists in the fields of my interest: I was fortunate to be able to meet several leading professors during visits to laboratories and universities in Japan. This was a fantastic opportunity to be able to discuss what leadership means in scientific and medical practice. Moreover, the new links I forged have led to opportunities for research placements next year.
LASTING IMPRESSIONS
What struck me the most about my host lab and the department overall was the sheer warmth and enthusiasm of the people who work there. I received advice and encouragement from every person in the lab; there was a lot of laughter and exchange of ideas, contradicting some of the misconceptions that scientific research is somehow cold and detached. It made me realise that science is, after all, about working together with other people, and taught me what research at the highest levels really looks like.
IMPACT
The Laidlaw Programme has exceeded all my expectations. I have gained more than just research experience; but also a network of likeminded individuals and a set of skills to help me take the next step forward to become a future leader in research.
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DOMINYKAS LUKAUSKIS
Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Göttingen, Germany Supervisor: Professor Bert de Groot Third year undergraduate, M Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry, St Edmund Hall
PROJECT
My project was an investigation into how accurately molecular dynamics (MD) simulations can predict changes in protein-protein interactions. MD simulates bonded atoms as balls attached to each other via springs; interactions between non-bonded atoms are treated by simple, well-understood functions. This allows molecules to be simulated using computers in order to calculate the strength of interactions between neighbouring atoms. This breathes life into still images of molecules like proteins that we have determined by other methods. Computer simulations of biological molecules allow us to understand the dynamics of systems that are otherwise hard to study on a single-molecule level, and allows elucidation of function and behaviour of different molecules in varied conditions. In my project, I’ve used MD simulations to investigate how strongly two well-characterised proteins, barnase and barstar, bind each other when the structure of those proteins is changed by mutating their amino acid sequence. To investigate this, I’ve used what are called alchemical free energy calculations, which are a variation of normal, equilibrium MD simulations, but in addition use non-equilibrium steps to induce change in the system and measure the change in enthalpy upon mutation. My supervisor’s lab is world-leading in free energy calculations and so was a perfect fit for me. I got paired up with a post-doc and received not only specific guidance with my project but also great mentoring in terms of career guidance.
DAILY LIFE
I lived in the heart of the old town, sharing a house with other students. In the first few hours at work, I would check whether the work I submitted to the computer cluster ran okay overnight. If hadn’t gone as planned I would fix any bugs and resubmit it. My days varied throughout the stages of my project: in the first few weeks I was testing whether all the steps in the protocol ran properly with my test system, so progress was slow. This involved familiarising myself with Linux OS, the software used for simulations, GROMACS, as well as software developed by the lab, pmx. After the initial troubleshooting period, things went far faster and I was starting to write Python scripts. I was in an office with two post-docs, and every day we would have lunch together and, on the blazing summer days, afternoon icecream. I was made welcome by everyone in the lab and was glad everyone in the lab spoke English, as I knew no German.
LEADERSHIP
I felt like I knew most of the material that was presented in the leadership training classes, but I didn’t know I knew it. It was useful to have it presented in a structured manner and I enjoyed
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participating in team presentations, which made me think of leadership examples. I found the practice in public speaking and presenting my project especially useful when presenting my own completed project in front of my lab. The leadership training helped me put my previous experience in leadership into perspective. Last summer I was a team leader as part of the National Citizen Service and I have realised why and how some of my actions as a leader worked or failed. I think having the qualification and the knowledge about leadership will be useful when applying to any future positions, research or otherwise. It will put me ahead of the curve and be of use when in an interview or any situation that involved taking responsibility and leading others.
LASTING IMPRESSIONS
I was at a German institution and I really enjoyed the change in culture. I was slightly intimidated by the language barrier, but as it turned out everyone in the lab spoke perfect English. Gottingen, the town I stayed at, was small and quiet but charming, with beautiful countryside, and only a 2-hour train ride from Berlin. The Institute itself was large but didn’t have any undergraduates, which was a surprise to me. I felt like I was treated as a peer and not just a summer intern. I would gladly return to Germany but would probably choose an institution with a larger city nearby. Despite the fact that most people knew English, I would have to learn German to fit in fully into the society, which I don’t really mind.
IMPACT
Last year I was unsure about where I wanted to go with my career and was curious about academia. In order to gain more experience and explore my options, I applied for the Laidlaw Scholarship. I got more out of it than I thought I would: the leadership training was useful and engaging and I thoroughly enjoyed doing my project. One of the things that stood out during my time at Prof de Groot’s lab was I was treated as an equal, a peer whose input mattered. I’ve learnt to ask questions and take ownership of my work. At the end of my project I gave a presentation of my results in front of the lab, which was my first real public talk. My supervisor was impressed with how much I managed to accomplish in only 8 weeks and we discussed me doing a PhD in his lab. I really enjoyed my time there so I am now considering further study, which I was on the fence about before. I think the Laidlaw Programme allowed me to break the mindset of an undergraduate, someone who just learns the findings of others, and become a researcher, someone who makes those very discoveries.
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KISHAN MAKWANA
California Institute of Technology, CA, USA
Supervisor: Professor Sandra Troian
Third year undergraduate, M Physics, Wadham College
PROJECT
Liquid nanofilms are very thin films which are prevalent in electronics and biological systems. It remains a challenge to accurately measure their fundamental hydrodynamic properties, namely their dynamic viscosity, a measure of runniness. The Blow-off technique was devised in 1947 to indirectly measure the viscosity of thin films. As experimental measurements improved, discrepancies were found between microfilms and ultra-thin nanofilms; neither case is predicted by the simple theoretical description employed in the deriva al mechanisms have been proposed to help resolve discrepancies between theory and experiment; this project aimed to identify which of the candidate phenomena was responsible. A model where the nanofilm’s viscosity is variable was found to be most successful in reconciling experimental measurements. It is hoped molecular dynamic simulations can verify this behaviour, shedding new light on how liquid nanofilms evolve and respond to their environment. My supervisor guided the course of the research as well as making sense of simulation and experimental data. I received support from graduate students in deriving the mathematical descriptions and running the simulations themselves.
DAILY LIFE
I was housed in campus accommodation so became well-acquainted with many other students conducting summer research. It was relatively easy to settle down and within a couple of weeks I found a good group of students to work and socialise with. I was based in an office with three graduate students. Initially I stuck to normal office hours, but as the results began to look promising, I also worked at night and weekends to see the research through. I met with my supervisor about once a week to discuss completed work and plan further studies. I made the most of Caltech’s sport facilities, from playing tennis to rock climbing and swimming in their outdoor pool. Old Town Pasadena also has a wealth of bars and restaurants: a pleasant change to cooking or campus dining halls. Weekends were the best opportunity to capitalise on the rest of California’s offerings; I was lucky enough to enjoy many adventures stretching from San Francisco to Santa Barbara and San Diego, in addition to numerous excursions to beaches and national parks around LA.
LEADERSHIP
The leadership training reaffirmed the importance of the soft skills necessary when it comes to applying for jobs or internships, such as empathy, communication, responsibility and structure. The programme itself was well-delivered and insightful, generating thought-provoking conversation. It has the added benefit of culminating in an accredited
qualification which provides a tangible demonstration of your understanding of leadership. Three guest speakers were invited to reflect on how their leadership and management styles changed as their careers progressed. This was arguably the most useful aspect as it showed how the theory behind leadership and management techniques manifests in real life contexts. The final parts of the programme focused on developing our presentation skills, emphasising that even in academia, it’s often not what you know but rather how you communicate it. This provided good practice in presenting our research projects to varied audiences and encouraged us to reflect on our demeanour during job interviews.
LASTING IMPRESSIONS
My lasting impression is that working in research is far more exciting and varied than undergraduate study makes it out to be. As a researcher, you enjoy the freedom and excitement of working on problems with no known solution, while balancing this with managing time and money. As such, it introduces an element of risk in pursuing blue-sky thinking but is also extremely rewarding. Caltech places great emphasis on interdisciplinary research and is very international. With so many different backgrounds, it is remarkable to see that everyone has a common foundational understanding, yet when it comes to collaborating on a problem, everyone has a unique perspective to offer. It is encouraging as you can make a pertinent contribution more often than not. Hopefully, this experience will enable me to adapt more quickly to new environments in future.
IMPACT
In short, other than obtaining a degree I envisage Laidlaw being be the single most informative experience from my time at university. I was hesitant about diving straight into a PhD and wanted to gain some experience in academia beforehand, but also acknowledged that the leadership element would be useful regardless of my outlook on research. I am now confident that I can tackle a PhD and possibly a career in academia. The research itself has also been incredibly fruitful; my supervisor suggested there was enough material to publish a paper and present the findings at the American Physical Society Fluid Dynamics Annual Conference. As an undergraduate student these are rare opportunities, hopefully aiding graduate study applications. Lastly, California itself is arguably the most concentrated centre for technological innovation and scientific research globally; working there has changed my outlook on forging a career with science and engineering. I now have a more open mind-set and greater confidence and appetite to work and pursue a PhD abroad.
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KIERAN MARRAY
Center for Social Complexity, George Mason University, Fairfax VA, USA Supervisor: Professor Robert Axtell
Second year undergraduate, BA Philosophy, Politics and Economics, St Catherine’s College
PROJECT
The past decade has been characterised by massive leaps forward in artificial intelligence. Will it last? How should we think about this problem? This is what my research attempted to work out. With the help of my supervisor, I built the first empirical forecasting model for the development of artificial intelligence from the current day up to 2050. More specifically our model, FORTEC, can produce forecasts for the development of automation controlled by computers (a standard definition of artificial intelligence) for each of the nineteen different types of task which make up the jobs which humans carry out. It does this by simulating each of the firms and research labs working on these problems, and how they interact and develop new innovations over time. Unlike current models, we have been able to produce results which validate our approach. Using data from the year 2000 we can reasonably accurately predict the level of development of supervised learning in the present day. We were also able to construct a dataset of all of the firms and research labs in the US and make forecasts for the ecosystem of US firms up to 2050.
DAILY LIFE
I was staying in Tenleytown in North-West Washington DC. My lab however was at the main campus of George Mason University, in a town called Fairfax in Northern Virginia. My commute was a bit of a pain, but I am so glad that I ended up with the flatmates that I did and that I was living in such a great city. Initially there weren’t many other people in the lab as it was their summer break, but as time went on it got busier. Everyone was lovely and made me feel at home straight away. There were occasional events which made me really feel part of the team; for example, one time a colleague brought in tea and scones for everyone. I would generally spend the evening either hanging out with my flatmates, going to the gym, or exploring DC. My flatmates were about the same age as me which was very nice as we quickly became good friends. On the days when I wasn’t working I would either do things with them and their friends or go and see the sights in the US Capitol.
LEADERSHIP
The leadership training was very useful and I thoroughly enjoyed the leadership part of the programme. The training days were fun, and it
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was great to meet and work with the other scholars. The curriculum itself was also interesting and well-taught, and I learnt a lot of things which I had not even considered before. I did use the training during my placement, especially the parts involving communication. Often trying to find out specific pieces of information from different specialists at the lab was hard, and applying the lessons that I learned certainly helped. They will be helpful in the future too I am sure, as will other parts of the training.
LASTING IMPRESSIONS
I really loved my time in the US. Working as a researcher is very different to being a student. It is much more independent; you are responsible for setting your own pace and deadlines, and there is no set curriculum from which you have to find the answers. I found this very exciting and enjoyable as I was able to engage with large areas of cutting-edge research, from complexity science to statistics. This has helped me confirm that I would like a research career. Working and living around the Washington DC area was also great; I really loved both George Mason University and the city of DC. Mason was very different to Oxford; it is a campus university and I was mainly around graduate students and professors as opposed to other undergraduates. The Center itself was also very interdisciplinary in nature, which is very different from my undergraduate experience. While I was there people from many different disciplines were working alongside me, from archaeologists to computer scientists to cognitive scientists, often being part of the same research projects. The weather is better than in the UK too! I would definitely go back to both Mason and DC and am hoping to do some work there after I graduate.
IMPACT
The experiences I had on the Laidlaw Programme have been incredibly useful for me, and I hope will continue to be in the future. I have learnt a lot of useful technical skills which I hope to use in the future. Before I took part in the programme I was unsure about whether I wanted to be a researcher in this area (computational social science). Having some practical experience at it has made me sure that I do want to do this in the future. Seeing what others were working on and talking to my supervisor opened my eyes to different sub-fields within this area and the types of problems people are working on within them. This is helping me form a more specific idea of what I would like to do in the future.
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ALEXANDER MORCH Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Oxford
Supervisor: Professor Simon Davis
Final year undergraduate, M Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry, Worcester College
PROJECT
T cells form a central part of the human immune system, patrolling the body for potential signs of danger. Our immune cells are developed in a manner that makes them exquisitely sensitive to the tiniest amounts of antigen without overreacting to ourselves; a failure to do this results in autoimmune disease or cancer. My project was focused on expanding our understanding of the ability of T cells to discriminate between self and non-self with such a high sensitivity and accuracy. The T cell receptor (TCR) is a surface molecule that allows T cells to dock with and interrogate other cells in your body for signs of danger. Activation of the T cell occurs when the TCR recognises danger and recruits activatory molecules to itself such as the kinase called Lck. A recent model for T cell discrimination suggests that the delay taken to recruit Lck forms part of the discrimination machinery that sensitises the cell to correct signals. This delay is caused by having few molecules of Lck bound to the CD4 co-receptor. Over the course of the summer I used a range of techniques to investigate the CD4-Lck interaction both in isolated protein samples and in live cells. Through co-immunoprecipitations performed in mouse T cells and fluorescence correlation spectroscopy performed on human T cells we were able to show that there were always abundant amounts of Lck associated with CD4. This suggested that the delay in recruiting Lck to the TCR is not a rate-limiting step in activating our immune system, and that other mechanisms must be at play.
DAILY LIFE
For the duration of my Laidlaw project I worked at the WIMM (Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine) by the John Radcliffe Hospital while living in my term-time apartment near South Park. Oxford is a great place to cycle to work, especially in the summer, and I was fortunate to be able to live in a place that was always a 15-minute ride from anywhere in the city. The WIMM has a healthy work/life balance; there is a lot of great
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science being done during the day, but if things aren’t working there’s always time to talk things over with lab colleagues at the nearby pub.
LEADERSHIP
The leadership training provided me with a valuable insight into the dynamics of teamwork and people-management. I was surprised to discover that the training week led by Maurice came in handy several times during the summer when discussing the management of projects or leading small meetings. In a high-pressure lab environment everyone has their own projects and priorities, and I found it incredibly useful to bring people together in a way that allows the sharing of resources, expertise and advice.
LASTING IMPRESSIONS
My Laidlaw placement further developed my interest in biomedical research at Oxford in a way that my undergraduate degree had given me a taste of. By working alongside PhD students and postdoctoral scientists I learned a great deal about undertaking research at a world-leading institution and that was a big factor in my decision to pursue research at a postgraduate level. I am now starting a DPhil in Infection, Immunology and Translation Medicine at the Medical Sciences Doctoral Training Centre in Oxford and I hope to continue a career in basic biological research that has translational aspects for tangibly improving human health.
IMPACT
The Laidlaw Programme provided me with the opportunity to further develop my research interests and confirm the ambitions I had about my career in science. There is so much exciting research going on in Oxford and elsewhere in the world, so any chance to engage with and contribute to it is fantastic. It also allowed me to develop interpersonal and management skills in areas I didn’t even know I was interested in. These are skills I am grateful to have going forward with cutting-edge research.
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JOHANNE NEDERGAARD
Department of Nordic Studies and Linguistics, University of Copenhagen, Denmark Supervisor: Dr Kasper Boye
Final year undergraduate, BA Psychology, Philosophy & Linguistics, Brasenose College
PROJECT
I explored the effect of stroke on West Greenlandic grammar. Individuals with aphasia (a language impairment due to stroke) in general have provided a great source of information for linguists and psychologists alike as observing how language falls apart can help us figure out how it is structured in non-damaged brains. West Greenlandic is particularly interesting in this context because its structure is radically different from the structures of more widely and commonly researched languages such as English. I interviewed West Greenlandic speakers with aphasia and compared their speech with that of control participants. A lot of the preparatory work involved locating and getting access to stroke patients with aphasia diagnoses. Collecting, transcribing, and translating the data proved to be the bulk of the work, during which I worked closely with a translator as well as experts at my host institution. A lot of my work involved close analyses and figuring out on which parameters the individuals with aphasia differed from the individuals without. Getting to grips with West Greenlandic grammar was challenging, but it was well worth it as our findings were surprising and potentially very important for both theoretical linguistics and aphasiology.
DAILY LIFE
My time was divided between data collection, transcription, and translation in Nuuk, Greenland, and further in-depth linguistic and statistical analyses at the University of Copenhagen. In Nuuk, I rented a flat where I could see three mountains from my living room windows. I was mostly busy trying to track down participants and figuring out how Greenlandic grammar is structured, but I also found time to go hiking and sailing. I saw icebergs for the first time in my life although sadly the whales proved elusive. I learned to play kayak polo which was both fun and challenging as I had never even been in a kayak (but a very appropriate place to learn as qajaq is a Greenlandic word). My life in Copenhagen was very different. I cycled to and from work every day along with (it seemed) the rest of Copenhagen, and socialised with my colleagues. The hustle and bustle and heat (!) of a city in August was quite a change from life in Nuuk. My daily life consisted of syntactic, morphological, and statistical analyses and writing up findings. I particularly enjoyed the company of fellow researchers. In Nuuk, I was alone with the entire responsibility for the project and while I could consult my supervisor via email, I often had to make rapid decisions by myself. It was much better having him and other linguists close by so we could work and mull over decisions together.
LEADERSHIP
The leadership training element of the Laidlaw Programme has been extremely helpful to me, aside from being a fun way to get to know the
other Laidlaw Scholars. I was able to use the leadership skills specially during my stay in Nuuk because I had to collaborate with so many different people, and explain my project briefly and simply without seeming patronising or unprofessional. Our discussions on tone, language, and level of formality during the leadership training proved particularly useful in this context, and helped me become aware of how I personally could become a better communicator and team member. Because of the assignments we had to write, I also got into a good habit of writing down my weekly objectives and evaluating them every weekend. I think most of all the leadership training made me more open, confident, and comfortable with showing my skills as well as my weaknesses. Of course, these aspects of personal development are valuable in all areas of life.
LASTING IMPRESSIONS
Although taking full responsibility for a project was intimidating at first, I think it really helped when I realised that it was all for my own development. I chose to consider the project a success if I managed to learn from it, and I really think I did. It really taught me the value of an academic environment where you can share ideas and problems with like-minded people. Discussing my project with other linguists was (and still is) really inspiring because they were all so enthusiastic about it and full of ideas. Another great thing about my research area is that I am now the one person in the world who knows most about how aphasia affects a polysynthetic language. I absolutely loved living and working in Copenhagen and am currently negotiating with my supervisor about going back there either as a research assistant or as a PhD student. The Laidlaw project has opened many doors for me already because it serves as hard evidence of my independence and competence
IMPACT
I think my experiences on the Laidlaw Programme will be extremely useful in the future. Doing my own independent research project has made me more confident in my skills and more determined to go after the kind of career I want. Before I started, I felt intimidated by the task and quite uncomfortable with the fact that so much of my project depended on other people being willing and able to help me. I am now a lot less afraid of unknown variables and of approaching people for help. Even such a simple thing as making phone calls to strangers and explaining my project to them was a huge factor in my personal development. Magically, this no longer scares me. I also enjoyed the research process and now feel more certain about aiming for an academic career, especially because my supervisor in Copenhagen was so encouraging and impressed by my work.
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ELLIE ONG
Grantham Institute, Imperial College London
Supervisor: Dr Peer Nowack Second year undergraduate, M Physics, Jesus College
PROJECT
and committee roles in student societies. This reflection on the leadership qualities required in those situations helped me rethink the I looked at speeding up the models used for calculating changes in ozone kind of environment I would like to work in, which will be useful when concentration in the atmosphere, using machine learning methods. applying for jobs/postgraduate courses. Changes in ozone are important for accurately modelling many atmospheric processes and can affect climate sensitivity calculations; LASTING IMPRESSIONS however, comprehensive atmospheric chemistry models are extremely Regarding the content of the project, I really enjoyed reading up on the computationally expensive. These detailed ozone models are built background of my research topic, and my project’s particular emphasis upon many coupled equations that describe the physical processes and on computer science enabled me to develop new skills and knowledge. chemical reactions occurring in the atmosphere, whereas machine learning regression techniques can enable most processes and reactions Interacting with other students and lecturers allowed me to see the range of research projects within atmospheric physics and most were happy to be represented in a single equation, significantly reducing the to explain their research to me and answer any questions I had. This computational cost of these calculations. I focused on looking at the placement confirmed my ambition of working in modelling, be it in a possible methods to enable a machine learning ozone model to be university or in industry. transferable between different climate models. This project was a direct continuation of my supervisor’s earlier work, so there was a lot of support It was a very useful insight into the life of a PhD student. Especially in getting resources and developing the next steps. My work was mainly earlier on in the project, it was quite isolating as most other students were away on holiday or at conferences. However, the situation improved as computational but I was able to use scripts that were already available they returned and settled back into the office. As the career path I aspire and focus on improving them. to follow usually requires a PhD, it will be useful to be more aware of the DAILY LIFE challenges that I may face. A friend of mine studying at Imperial lives within walking distance to the Living in London was very different as there was a lot more going on, main campus, so I stayed in her room while she was living at home over with exhibitions, shows, and many beautiful parks. Having grown up in a the summer. I walked to work every day and usually worked from 10am cosmopolitan city, it was fun to live and work in a different city. to 6pm, though these hours were flexible. I got along with the other PhD IMPACT and undergraduate students in the office and would often have lunch with them. The Grantham Institute also had weekly coffee sessions, The programme gave me the opportunity to delve into an area I had which were a nice environment to chat with other students. Towards the always been curious about but thought I would not have the chance to end of the placement, a DTP conference was held in Imperial and also explore during my undergraduate degree. The financial aid of being a seminar given by an MIT professor, which gave me more exposure able to travel to attend a conference in addition to the project will be an to possible research areas outside my specific project. After work or on incredible experience as I will have the experience of presenting my work weekends, I would meet up with friends from school or Oxford who to the scientific modelling community and also meet people in the field were living or working in London over the summer. Seeing familiar faces from other countries. However, as expected from research, the project was a nice balance to the new environment and I was also able to spend seemed to result in more questions as soon as I found some answers, time exploring the city outside of work. and I am now even more enthusiastic and curious about the field of
LEADERSHIP
I found the leadership training programme very interesting and definitely became much more aware of the different aspects of leadership and management. The workshops were a nice chance to talk to the other scholars and I enjoyed hearing about the experiences of the invited speakers. Certain elements of the course, particularly those on communication, were helpful during the project, especially when speaking to my supervisor and other students in the department. I also found it very useful when it came to reflecting on past jobs, internships
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atmospheric physics than I was when I started.
This placement has definitely helped me become more aware of the realities of a career in research, specifically in academia. I think that this experience will help me immensely if I were to pursue a PhD, in terms of understanding possible problems that could arise and the best approaches to tackling them. I would say that the placement and the leadership programme has definitely improved my self-awareness, and also exposed me to other possible areas of research within atmospheric physics, both of which will help me make informed career choices.
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MICHAEL PEARS Faculty of History, University of Oxford
Supervisor: Professor Martin Conway Second year undergraduate, BA History, Jesus College
PROJECT
My project started as a comparison between a historical rebellion which took place in 1905 and a present that is still ongoing. This plan however did not survive first contact with the Belgian archives, but I was able to refocus my project as one of memory. While the Belgian atrocities were extensively documented, both at the time and in various academic books they have not made the same headway in the public historical memory as other genocides. The more documents I read the more convinced I have become that people must know about and understand historical episodes like this. The power of Yad Vashem (The World Holocaust Remembrance Center) derives from the directness of its message and the determination by which Jews all over the world have made their experience known. No such equivalent exists for Congo and while I cannot create a museum to the atrocities, I do hope that doing this work brought to light events which would have otherwise been confined to the pages of a few rarelyread academic journals. Throughout my project I received very dedicated supervision, advice and counsel from my supervisor for which I am incredibly grateful.
DAILY LIFE
My daily routine during the project was very diverse. I spent three weeks in Belgium doing primary research and gathering the material that I required to begin to read, write and think. The first two weeks were spent at the Central African Museum, which holds the personal archives for the Congo, in the outskirts of Brussels. I used the third and most fruitful week at the foreign office archives about 20 minutes from my flat. When I returned to Oxford my summer was spent very like any other as I’m an Oxford native. In addition to occasional meetings with my supervisor almost all of my working time was spent in the library translating and digesting the PDFs. This, along with waiting for my brother’s A Level results and trips to the pub with my friends from school, occupied the rest of my time.
LEADERSHIP
I was not looking forward to the leadership training at the end of Hilary term! It was dark and cold, and the last thing that I wanted to do was go and learn to be a leader. It is therefore a credit to Maurice and the rest of the people at the sessions that I actually enjoyed myself. The personality testing was fun but the most useful thing that I learned was about presentation skills. I needed
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to learn how to stand in front of a crowd, how to emote, how to make a presentation that enhances rather than detracts from the talk that you are giving. The most important aspect is timing. We each had to give a presentation during the sessions and I didn’t time mine beforehand. Needless to say, I ran out of time and had this been real I would not have managed to get my point across. In a world that relies ever more on concise public speech I am sure I will use this in my future work.
LASTING IMPRESSIONS
As a historian working by myself for a long period of time, I had very little contact with the faculty or indeed anyone. I had to be self-directed and find ways to keep my determination when there were days that nothing seemed to get done. Some might call the work that I did lonely or even disorientating. To me almost the exact opposite was the case: I felt free. For the first time in my academic career I could pursue any line of argument, any inquiry at all, safe in the knowledge that I was doing worthwhile work about something that I believed in. Oxford is very quiet in the summer and I think that that peace was conducive to the amount of work that I was able to do. Being abroad in Brussels at the archive was also very pleasant. It is a charming city with French food and laid-back German manners. However, the project has complicated my thoughts about careers. Previously I had thought that academia wasn’t for me, but now I am not so certain. I had so much intellectual stimulation and fun that I’m not sure that I will be able to give it up now.
IMPACT
The clearest and most definable way that the Laidlaw Programme has impacted me has been academic. I now have a clearly defined thesis proposal for which I have done all the archival research. This is clearly invaluable. Further, I managed to gather so much that it seems likely that I have the sources now to write a thesis proposal for a Master’s application, something that would have been impossible if I had worked in a job or internship over this summer. This has smoothed my path towards further academic study in the future. It has also equipped me with academic tools. The ability to motivate myself to work hard for something far over the distant horizon will I am sure be very valuable to me. My horizons have expanded outside Oxford and I have begun to see the wealth of opportunities that I have to offer the world and the world has to offer me.
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YIXUAN SONG
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany
Supervisor: Professor David Hunger
First year undergraduate, M Eng Material Science, Mansfield College
PROJECT
My project allowed me to work on the overlapping intersection of physics and materials science. It required knowledge in the field of quantum optics and monolayer materials. I aimed to investigate the behaviour of monolayer materials in a microcavity, which is a cavity created between a specially-fabricated fibre and a silver mirror with a size of a few hundred nanometres to a few micrometres. Measuring and comparing behaviours of different monolayer materials contributes to the development of polaritonics and low threshold lasers. I looked at two kinds of monolayer materials and observed their different behaviours when excited using laser light. I also measured important parameters for the microcavity at the same time. I then investigated the behaviour of the monolayer material in the microcavity under excitation with laser. This work allows for better understanding of the factors affecting this behaviour. My host university, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, allowed me access to experimental facilities including their CO2 laser and white light interferometer for fibre fabrication setup and confocal microscope setup for characterization of monolayer materials. My supervisor provided me with important advice, and other group members also supported me.
DAILY LIFE
Settling in was made relatively easy with the help of the members of the research group I worked in. I was given the key to the labs on the very first day and I was able to access most of the facilities in the university. My apartment was within walking distance of the university, and there was a castle on my way home where I spent a few minutes strolling after work. I also spent a few weekends travelling to other parts of Germany such as Munich and Berlin, and a few cities outside Germany. These short visits gave me the opportunity to refresh myself and get energised for work. I also met a research group from Chinese University of Hong Kong and discussed my project with them. After the experiments, I visited a scientist in the University of Beijing who is working in related field and discussed my project and some possible extensions.
LEADERSHIP
The training programme was very helpful for me to understand some important leadership models and to reflect on how leadership skills can be applied. The guest speaker sessions allowed me to see how they developed and demonstrated leadership qualities in their work. The section that I found very useful was self-evaluation, where I reflected on my own leadership behaviours and gathered
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feedback from peers to help me understand my leadership potential from different perspectives. The training programme allowed me to pay more attention to people around me to observe how they demonstrate leadership qualities and reflect on how I could emulate them. Leadership skills could be applied throughout the research placement including planning the research project, effective communication with the supervisor and forging relationships with group members. These skills helped boost my confidence in leading research projects and allowed me to communicate my ideas effectively and motivate others to work with me. Therefore, this programme allowed me to develop as a leader in scientific research.
LASTING IMPRESSIONS
I would say that Germany is great place for work related to science and technology. People in the research group that I worked in are very passionate about their research and are more than willing to sacrifice their own time for their work. Since the research group is recently established, I had to tackle most of the problems faced during the project myself. I felt more like a researcher since I had lots of freedom to decide on my own schedule and explore new ideas when working on the project. It is one of the places that I would choose for my future work since Germany has many research institutes that are world-leading in the research area that I am interested. This research experience has confirmed my career ambitions as a researcher, since this experience was very fulfilling and allowed me to have a personal taste of research in quantum optics.
IMPACT
This programme allowed me to work with important research leaders in the field that I am passionate about and allowed me to apply the leadership skills that I gained during the training programme. I received a recommendation from the professor to work on a related project in a leading research group next year. I learnt professional skills and knowledge in this field, and more importantly boosted my confidence in leading research projects. I was given the opportunity to grow personally as a research scientist and confirm my personal plan to work in academia. It has made me think differently in terms of how to become a leader in a research group. While the leadership training sessions introduced me to different leadership models, observing how the research leaders work in their group allowed me to reflect on how the leadership skills can be applied in different circumstances. This opportunity was a great stepping stone for me to thrive in research.
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TOM STEVENS Department of Politics, University of Exeter
Supervisor: Dr Stephane Baele
Final year undergraduate, BA History and Politics, Lincoln College
PROJECT
My project looked at the relationship between lone-actor terrorists’ emotions and their ideological beliefs, in order to explore whether there was anything distinctive about their radicalisation. I sought to contribute to the academic literature on the links between cognition and affect in violent conflict by theorising a model for the patterned emotional trajectory of lone-attackers from different belief systems. In terms of real-world counter-terror applications, I hope that my framework may help police and policy-makers more easily identify potential violent extremists and prevent deadly attacks by focussing resources more effectively. My research primarily involved the close reading and analysis of terrorist manifestos using different methodologies. My supervisor was Dr. Stephane Baele at the University Of Exeter’s Department Of Politics, who has conducted related empirical studies in this field. Stephane’s experience was much appreciated and he was particularly helpful in narrowing down the scope of the project, to ensure that my ambition was allied to sensible pragmatism. His assistance in obtaining data for my analysis was fundamental to the success of my project and his feedback on my draft article was invaluable.
DAILY LIFE
I had already done the bulk of the secondary reading that contextualised my research project before the summer as supplementary reading for my final degree examinations. However, I did make good use of Oxford’s vast library facilities both just after I graduated and during my research project to make sure that I covered every angle. I visited Stephane’s office in Exeter to finalise my thoughts with him and kept in constant email communication throughout the process. As most of my work was laptop based, I largely worked at home, in my local library and on the move, which was very similar to my undergraduate life, just in a different location! As such, the hours I worked varied day to day and week to week, as I balanced my Laidlaw project with my own endeavours to pursue career progression. In my downtime I played cricket with friends and joined in Parkruns at weekends, trained for an obstacle course race and watched as much sport on TV as I could!
LEADERSHIP
The leadership training element of the programme was highly rewarding and Maurice McCartney was a superb instructor. Not only were his presentations thought-provoking but the personalised feedback and effort he spent on each of us was fantastic and I felt very privileged to be given such tailored support throughout my
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leadership qualification. I went into the leadership training with a healthy dose of scepticism about theories of leadership, but all of the sessions stimulated fruitful and varied discussions amongst the group. The leadership training gave me confidence to pitch my research to respected academics and journals and to be ambitious in contacting journalists and other stakeholders whose wisdom augmented my own knowledge. Although not directly relevant to the research process itself, the practical advice given by Maurice certainly helped me in my career progression and applications that I pursued alongside my research, particularly in interviews and networking. I have no doubt that my improved skills in people management, communication and greater awareness of my own leadership style will help me in my life and career in the future.
LASTING IMPRESSIONS
I feel very privileged to have been able to undertake this research placement in an area of particular interest to me and very grateful to the Laidlaw Scholarship for giving me the freedom to explore whatever I wanted. This experience has fulfilled my long-lasting desire to harness my sheer curiosity to the intellectual rigour that the social science discipline demands; it has been an opportunity that I have not taken for granted! The process has taught me how to focus on the right material and at the right times in order to deliver a coherent and (hopefully!) meaningful piece of work. Doing research that is almost entirely self-directed and independent was far, far more motivating than reading for obligatory degree modules. I wish I could do it all over again!
IMPACT
First and foremost, the Laidlaw Programme has been an unmatched opportunity that has allowed me to develop my research, writing and presentational skills, which has improved my confidence and professional maturity. During the programme, I was still deciding whether to undertake post-graduate study in this field or to go into a research position in the UK civil service, and the more practical skills gained on the programme tilted me towards the vocational research role. The leadership seminars and feedback were instrumental in giving me the confidence in my application and I am very pleased to say that I have been successful in securing a position in which I hope that I will have meaningful impact on policy in the future! One day I hope that I may apply the specific knowledge gained during my research in my work and broaden the societal impact that my project can have in the long-term.
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SASHA THOMPSON Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, University of Oxford Supervisor: Dr David Levy
Third year undergraduate, BA History and Modern Languages, Jesus College
PROJECT
I focused on the quasi-presidential campaign of Alexei Navalny and his innovative use of the internet and social media to build and maintain a support base. Barred from appearing on traditional mass media in Russia, looking at Navalny’s actions on the internet and assessing their efficacy is a useful way to analyse the impact of the internet on Russian politics as a whole. It has been generally assumed that the internet would provide citizens of authoritarian countries with a powerful tool to circumvent power structures, but in Russia with its predominantly uncensored internet, this has not proved to be the case at all. The first part of my methodology was a systematic content analysis of news and think tank reports, poll data, and interviews with campaign members to build a general picture of Navalny’s efforts and their impact on the Russian population. The second was primary research of Navalny’s videos on YouTube, including analysis of data such as view, like and dislike counts, and using software to examine the presence of manipulation of these factors on Russian YouTube. I wrote an academic article based on my findings, published a website on the YouTube research and will hopefully create a YouTube video of my own in the near future. My host institution provided me with valuable advice and contacts but I was left to my own devices for the bulk of the project.
DAILY LIFE
My work was on the whole independent, which came with a fair share of challenges but a great deal of freedom too. I appreciated creating my own schedule and avenues of research, especially when working to long-term deadlines. I know for sure that this experience of building my self-discipline will be so valuable with future thesis writing and other endeavours involving distant deadlines beyond the academic world. I strove to make my working days as structured as possible with regular working hours. At the start of the project, I made an extensive week-by-week plan of what I hoped to achieve for each section of the project. When it came to writing my article, a summary of what I had done every day helped make the process far less challenging. I quickly learnt to make extensive schedules for each week and to compartmentalise different avenues of research. I was able to exchange emails with and Skype-call leading academics in the field based in Moscow. I was grateful for the opportunity to bounce ideas off other people – essential to formulating the structure and direction of my research.
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LEADERSHIP
The leadership aspect of the programme surprised me in a very good way. I went into our week of training with healthy scepticism and left convinced of its value. Assessing your own personality with its strengths and weaknesses requires complete honesty and the various tools to which we were introduced were very useful in this process. The week also included several challenging discussions which ensured a vibrant and stimulating atmosphere. The fact that the week brought together the whole cohort was in itself an amazing experience. I enjoyed sitting in a room with the other scholars with interests varying from nuclear fusion to the radicalisation of terrorists and just absorbing it all. The days on which guest speakers from the university came in to discuss their own careers and provide advice on leadership were the most memorable part of the training. The speakers came from diverse careers, with their own unique takes on what it means to be a leader. I look forward to discussing what I have learnt in future interviews and putting ideas into practice when it comes to my own employment. The ILM qualification is also a great idea in that it provides something tangible to the process, important when dealing with a largely theoretical topic.
LASTING IMPRESSIONS
The programme has exceeded my expectations in such a huge number of ways. I already knew that I was interested in contemporary Russian politics and opposition movements in authoritarian regimes, but I felt an unprecedented motivation during my work that has ensured I’ll be applying to several Master’s programmes. Encountering the wealth of sources on the topic constantly opened new avenues of research to me, so much so that the final nature of my project was constantly evolving, even while I was writing the article. The opportunity to create professional connections as an undergraduate has also been immensely valuable. The people with whom I spoke were unbelievably generous with their time and saw me as more of a peer than a naive and inexperienced undergraduate. I hope to draw upon all these benefits as I continue my academic career.
IMPACT
I’d like to reiterate just how unique this opportunity is. If you are considering continuing your academic career in your field, then the benefits of this programme speak for themselves. However, if you are like me and want to branch slightly away from your degree, the Laidlaw Programme provides an amazing opportunity to do so. I have now made connections with people who are essentially pioneers in the field and who will be invaluable contacts as I navigate my own progression as a researcher.
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NOAM VOGT-VINCENT Heidelberg University, Germany Supervisor: Dr Joerg Lippold
Third year undergraduate, M Earth Sciences, St Anne’s College
PROJECT
It is widely believed that major changes in ocean circulation may be related to abrupt climate variability in the past, and could trigger dangerous climate change in the future. Understanding how ocean circulation and climate are linked is therefore a crucial piece of the puzzle for predicting future environmental change. However, reconstructing past ocean circulation is not a trivial task. One approach is using palaeocirculation tracers – essentially chemical signals which label water masses as they move around the ocean before being recorded in geological archives, allowing circulation reconstruction. A widely used palaeocirculation tracer is based on isotopes of an element called neodymium, popular because of the assumption that it acts as a conservative tracer, i.e. the tracer is not modified within the water column. However, this assumption has recently come under question. The basis of my project is a set of water column neodymium reconstructions from the last 30,000 years which appear to demonstrate highly non-conservative behaviour, particularly at points in time when icebergs were depositing large quantities of sediment into the North Atlantic, called ice-rafted debris (IRD). It has been suggested that this IRD is a source of nonconservative behaviour, redistributing neodymium throughout the water column through a process called reversible scavenging. To test whether this is possible, I designed a flexible water column geochemical model of neodymium cycling in the open ocean. The model generated the surprising result that if reversible scavenging is a source of non-conservative behaviour in the glacial and deglacial North Atlantic, then scavenging intensities would have to be orders of magnitudes greater than in the modern Atlantic. Since I ended up with some spare time after finishing the model, I also produced a set of IRD and micropalaeontological measurements from another core in the eastern North Atlantic.
DAILY LIFE
The main purpose of my project was to produce the model, so I spent the bulk of my time programming and testing in my office in the Institute of Earth Sciences at Heidelberg University, Germany. I was integrated into the Past Ocean Dynamics research group which I really enjoyed and benefited from, and was also able to attend the regular Environmental Physics seminars. After I was satisfied that the modelling work was complete, I spent the remainder of my time in various laboratories preparing sediment samples, and then several weeks in front of a microscope counting micrometre-sized organisms called planktic foraminifera. Aside from work, Heidelberg is a fantastic area to live in. Because I was kindly lent a bike by a doctoral student in my research group, every day
I cycled from the nearby village I was living in to my department in the main science campus. The town and its environs are stunning, and I spent most of my weekends hiking in the neighbouring Odenwald, or using Germany’s inexpensive public transport to explore south-west Germany, from the Rhineland to Lake Constance on the Swiss border.
LEADERSHIP
Admittedly sceptical at first, I was really pleasantly surprised by how useful the leadership training was. In particular, I found the training on presentations and communication extremely useful and it has changed the way I think about science communication. Making a highly technical presentation to an audience just as informed as you is one thing, but I feel that Maurice’s sessions have taught me how to communicate my ideas to non-subject specialists. I have learned how to structure my presentations to ensure that the relevance of my work is understood, rather than just the technicalities, which I put into practice when I presented the results of my project at the 2018 Ocean Modelling Group conference.
LASTING IMPRESSIONS
This research project confirmed that research is the path I want to follow. The freedom to be able to pursue what interests you and to constantly learn is wonderful, as well as the ability to discuss your research with others as motivated as you are. I had not been sure whether I wanted to specialise in climate physics and modelling, or whether I’d also enjoy a more experimental aspect of climate science, which I had not had the chance to experience before. Due to finishing my planned project early, I was able to carry out some practical research with some sediment cores and learned that in the future I need to stay at a safe distance away from laboratories! Theoretical climate science is the way forward for me. Working in Germany was also a really valuable experience. It is difficult to articulate, but contrasting my time in Germany with my previous research experience in Oxford showed me that institutions can take very different perspectives to similar problems. I am now totally convinced of the advantage of moving around different universities to carry out research because whilst I love Oxford, I also think that there are ideas and attitudes I learned in Heidelberg that I would not have gained here.
IMPACT
I’m so glad that I was part of the Laidlaw Programme. Not only has it acted as a good preparation for a PhD that I hope to carry out in the future, but it has also given me research experience in several aspects of palaeoclimatology, some great contacts, and a wonderful summer! I am sure that I will continue to benefit from these experiences for a long time to come.
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LAURENCE WROE Departments of Physics and Oncology, University of Oxford Supervisor: Dr Suzie Sheehy
Final year undergraduate, M Physics, Pembroke College
PROJECT
Cancer is a global problem that affects all populations, but the treatment available in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) is grossly inadequate; studies have indicated that 5% of global resources for cancer are spent in LMICs yet these countries account for 80% of the disabilityadjusted life-years lost to cancer. Radiotherapy benefits half of all cancer patients and linear accelerators (LINACs) are the most suitable machines for delivering this form of treatment. A collaboration between CERN, Science and Technology Facilities Council and the International Cancer Expert Corps has produced criteria for a potential newly-designed LINAC to operate in LMICs and make cancer care more accessible to underserved populations. A major challenge facing the collaboration, however, was that there was no study on the performance of current generation LINACs in LMIC environments and how this differs from a High-Income Country environment. My aim was to provide such a study and thereby inform the task force on how best to design a new LINAC to function in an LMIC environment. I collected data on the failure modes of LINACs in the UK, Nigeria and Botswana. My supervisors helped me to understand the accelerator physics behind the design of the LINAC and the biology behind cancer and its treatment, and therefore deliver a comprehensive presentation and report on how my results affect the direction of the task force.
DAILY LIFE
My project involved one week at the Churchill Hospital, Oxford (UK), two weeks at the National Hospital Abuja (NHA), Abuja (Nigeria) and two weeks at the Gaborone Private Hospital (GPH), Gaborone (Botswana) as well as further weeks of planning, analysis and presenting in Oxford. All three countries were very different experiences! In Oxford, I lived in Cowley and cycled around the city, visiting friends after work and living much as I did as a student My supervisors were supportive and helpful with my planning and analysis during this time and the LINAC engineers I worked with at the Churchill were very welcoming and helped me to analyse their database of information.
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national stadium and we also visited his friend’s farm where we had a braai (BBQ). Again, a lot of my spare time was spent eating good food!
LEADERSHIP
I have used leadership skills in other roles but never formally thought about how I use or could develop them. I therefore really enjoyed the leadership course, learning about the different ways you can lead depending upon the context. This variation was particularly highlighted by the guest speakers; each had developed different leadership styles to maximise their impact in their different careers. The course was a great way to meet the other Laidlaw Scholars, particularly as the course was taught in a discussion-based way so that we could share and debate ideas. We gave PowerPoint presentations on our research and discussed and gave feedback to each Scholar. I learnt a lot by watching the presentations and then discussing the different techniques that were used to engage the audience. By also receiving feedback I have ideas on how to adjust my presentation style to better engage a future audience.
IMPRESSIONS
Overall, Laidlaw was a great, eye-opening experience. I was looking to do something different in my final summer of university and the Laidlaw Scholarship provided exactly that, giving me the resources and support to contribute effectively to a global project with a worthy cause. Not only did I further my knowledge of physics and engineering, but I also learnt about the oncological, social science, development and economic issues that affect a global problem like this. I would like to use my skills and experience to work on a multi-disciplinary project with a worthy cause, and it was great to get this exposure at this early stage in my working life. The countries and hospitals I worked in were very contrasting experiences; the bustling lifestyle of people in Abuja was the complete opposite to the laidback approach in Gaborone. My hosts in both countries were all incredibly welcoming and I would like to visit them again for either further research and collaboration or as a tourist.
IMPACT
In Nigeria, I was based in Abuja, at the NHA. I also visited the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital in Enugu to talk to their engineer and collect data on their LINAC. My hosts in Nigeria were very welcoming and a lot of my spare time was spent eating Nigerian food and drinking Nigerian beer!
The Laidlaw Programme has had a big impact on my future plans, confirming to me that I would like to continue in research. Particularly, the programme has shown me that I want to use my physics background to work on global problems and I want to learn more about areas of medicine, development and economics so that I am better placed to understand and tackle such projects.
In Botswana, I was based Gaborone. Outside of the hospital work here, I spent a lot of time with a Batswana friend from a previous placement at CERN. We spent a day watching a football competition at Botswana’s
Having written my own research application, then subsequently carried it out, written it up and presented the results to world leaders in this field is a huge benefit for someone in such an early stage of their career.
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STANISLAU YATSKEVICH
Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford Supervisor: Professor Kim Nasmyth Final year undergraduate, M Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry, Christ Church
PROJECT
well-organised information and perspectives on human relationships was enlightening. The seminars were addressed key problems that group leaders encounter daily, making them very useful for my future career. Having a certificate will be useful to enhance my CV as group leaders in science are rarely formally taught management.
I also used biochemical and cell biology techniques to investigate one of the components of cohesin, namely Scc3, in more detail. I discovered that this protein associates directly with the DNA, and that mutating this DNA binding activity compromises loading of the cohesin on the chromosomes. However, while Scc3 association with chromatin was reduced significantly, cohesin itself could still move away from the loading sites. This indicates that cohesin does not need Scc3 itself for movement. My project was useful for the laboratory and for the field, resolving some standing questions regarding cohesin’s mechanism of function.
LASTING IMPRESSIONS
I was working on cohesin, a multiprotein complex involved in holding sister chromatids together during cell division. More recently, cohesin was shown to organise bulk chromatin via an active process of loop extrusion. I aimed to elucidate how cohesin performs these functions on Assignments provided an opportunity to sit down and think about all the molecular level. the problems that leaders have to overcome. This helped to put all the I explored two approaches in order to answer my question. I used theory into perspective, helping to further learn the material. structural biology tools to capture cohesin in different conformational states. Overall, I observed that cohesin exists largely in either a straight, Overall, I not only learned a lot of useful information but I also enjoyed the process along the way. I will definitely come back to both seminars rod-shaped form or in a bent-shaped form. This suggests that bending and assignments when I will need to solve a particular management at a highly conserved region is responsible for cohesin’s ability to problem. translocate along the DNA.
I was taught a number of techniques that will be invaluable for my future career. Lab members were helpful in answering questions and demonstrating all the necessary tools.
DAILY LIFE
I greatly enjoyed my placement. I learned a lot of new techniques and was taught different experimental approaches and designs. I am sure these will be invaluable for my PhD which started in October. I also made a lot of new friends and future colleagues. I am sure the new connections I made will last a lifetime. Having finished my degree before starting the project I could enjoy a stress-free summer. I could focus fully on work in the lab and the assignments. I very much enjoyed this freedom and pure research. It further confirmed my desire to continue research, and now I am confident I chose the right career path. Although I did not have an opportunity to travel abroad, I found spending time in Oxford during summer was very relaxing with a different view of the city.
One of the advantages of staying in Oxford is that you are already IMPACT familiar with the location and know a lot of people. Accommodation was easy to organise through my college and I could cycle daily from college I would not have had this amazing opportunity to do research at a world class laboratory if it was not for the Laidlaw Programme. I learnt a lot to the science site. Having finished my degree, I could properly enjoy during the summer, met amazing people and could perform research of Oxford in summer. my own design. This clearly showed me that I enjoy science and am on I spent most of the time in the lab. Normal working hours were from the right track for my future dream career in academia. 9.30 am until around 6-7 pm. I was lucky to be in a group where weekend socialising was quite common, and there were a number of pub Training in management and leadership was eye-opening. I learnt plenty of subtle details about how to best manage people and a group. nights. In the evenings I met up with friends, or explored restaurants Additionally, having the Laidlaw Programme and Leadership and around Oxford. During weekends I explored places like Blenheim Management certificate on my CV will be extremely useful. I hope to Palace, or simply went to London. benefit during applications for PhD fellowships or for future group LEADERSHIP leader positions. The skills that were taught will be invaluable when managing a research group. I found the leadership training to be one of the most useful elements of the programme. I learned a lot of new information. Doing a science degree, management and soft skills are never taught. Having different,
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I would strongly recommend this amazing programme and encourage everybody to apply!
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ADVICE FROM OUR LAIDLAW SCHOLARS Apply! You will not find a better research opportunity as an undergraduate. I originally did not intend to apply for the Laidlaw Scholarship because I was intimidated by having to design a research project by myself, but you’re not on your own. Research is inherently collaborative, and you absolutely can (and should) liaise with academics to develop your interests and questions into a research proposal. I’d also strongly recommend carrying out your research placement abroad, because it is such a valuable experience and just makes everything more interesting. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have any existing connections to a potential host institution. I sent an email to my eventual supervisor totally out of the blue, and he was completely enthusiastic from the get-go.
Noam Vogt-Vincent
The primary piece of advice is to be prepared for setbacks. This is particularly true for those dependant on apparatus to deliver results but can be generalised to anyone performing research. There will almost certainly come a time when an uncontrollable event hampers your progress, and you will have to be resilient to handle it. This was a sentiment voiced by people in my department when I encountered computing issues with the supercomputing cluster on which I was performing the simulations. Another piece of advice (which you are told by everyone prior to doing your project but which you don’t really heed) is to be prepared for your research to change direction. Such is the nature of cutting-edge research that it’s almost impossible to chart an exact path for your project over the course of the summer.
Thomas Campbell If I had to give some tips, I would say go above and beyond what you think you should do to complete your project. This could be working longer hours, or trying different methods or approaches to see if they yield different results. Ask more questions; don’t be embarrassed, everyone is there to help you. I would have saved a lot of time and effort had I just asked the questions that were on my mind. One of the things I learnt was asking not just the questions that were necessary to complete my project but also to understand fundamentals of the technique or method you are using. This eventually allows you to become a chef (think PhD), someone who is original and can be creative with the tools at hand, not just a cook (undergraduate), and someone who simply follows a recipe. I think this is useful not only in transitioning from being an undergraduate to taking a research role, but also in broader life.
Dominykas Lukauskis
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I would definitely advise fully considering all the practical concerns of the project - can you access the material you need; is it legal and easy to do so; how will you decide which material to use given the time restraints of the project. Do this before you apply, or at least secure written confirmation that it is all okay well in advance of your project. If you're doing an interdisciplinary project, consider carefully who you choose as a supervisor. I picked someone who seemed to chart both areas of my project (film and politics) but realised it may have been better to pick an expert in the area I was less confident about (politics) and seek informal advice from film experts by myself (or even consider requesting two supervisors). On that note, don't be afraid to delve into new disciplines – I was hesitant about studying the Middle East, but it has been so fascinating and I loved that the Laidlaw Programme encouraged me to do so. Also, travel! It is easy to stay in Oxford, as it is familiar and also world-leading, but if you can go to another university or institution that can match/surpass Oxford's expertise, do it – the travel expenses are more than generous and it seems silly not to use it, particularly given we all spend at least three years in Oxford anyway. Travel was one of the highlights of my project.
Jack Foden
I would recommend future applicants to start preparing for the application early. The most important part of the application is to find the host institution for the research project which is also the more time-consuming part. The first step is to confirm the field of research to focus on and look at some literature to have a general idea about the background work done by other researchers. The next thing is to discuss with tutors since they often have more resources as well as a network with other researchers in the chosen research field. They would also be able to help work out which are the projects that are meaningful and feasible. The chances of getting responses from host institutions will also be much larger if recommended by tutors. Having a weekly discussion with the supervisor is also crucial even if there is limited progress, since the supervisor is much more experienced and the advice that they will give can help you to identify the current problem in the project.
Yixuan Song
“A marvellous opportunity for a student to experience the step up to independent professional academic research.”
Jonathan Prag, University of Oxford
The Laidlaw celebration event at the Sheldonian Theatre in October 2019otos by Fisher Studios
Supervisors are typically more than happy to have students that come with their own funding so don’t hesitate to email many different people and get started on developing your proposal early. Even if they don’t have the right expertise to supervise your project they will be likely to know the area well enough to point you in the right direction so ask them for advice. Finally, be ambitious with your proposal, be enthusiastic with your pitch, be confident with your application and be realistic with your project.
Alexander Morch When applying, take some time to read through the application requirements and really think about the kind of project that you can complete within the short timeframe of 8-10 weeks. It seems like a lot of time before you start but once you’ve started your research it will go by in a flash! Set one or two concrete, achievable research output goals and have them in your mind from the very beginning. And don’t be afraid to approach the Laidlaw team at the Careers Service for guidance at any point. As you put your research proposal together, take some time to talk to other academics also working in the field. Not only will this put you ahead when you’re conducting your literature review, but it will also be a source of inspiration as you develop and move forwards with your project. Most academics will be thrilled to discuss their research with you if you ask! Once you’ve been accepted, congratulations! Start planning the logistical elements of your project as soon as you can. Even though summer seems far away, the dates can sneak up on you and you want to be able to stay focussed academically throughout the summer rather than worrying about admin problems. Take full advantage of the support available from your supervisor and from the Laidlaw team and tell someone right away if you’re worried. Make sure that you’ll have at least one person that you can contact both for academic and for pastoral problems at any stage of the project. This is particularly true if you’re conducting fieldwork far away from home. Organise in-person or internet catch-up sessions as frequently as possible. Finally, try to relax and enjoy the project! It’s a great opportunity not only to do academic research but also to build new relationships and grow as a leader and a person.
Isabel Galwey
I would advise starting the process of searching for a project and supervisor as early as possible, as this proved far more difficult and time consuming than I initially envisaged. However, that should by no means a deter you from applying, as by investing more time at this early stage, you can create a project that benefits your career interests at an exciting institution with a supervisor at the forefront of their field. Persistence and patience is key (I emailed just around 20 researchers across 6 research groups, each multiple times over 6 weeks and only got a positive response after phoning the West Coast directly). It also means you can produce a more detailed project proposal as part of the application; although counterintuitive, it is important to have a clear picture of exactly where the research aims to go, before you have actually done the work itself. When it comes to deciding on a research project, it can be beneficial to choose a discipline that you are keen to pursue in the future, as although research is very interdisciplinary, it pays to have specific prior experience. Personally, having enjoyed studying Fluid Dynamics on a previous summer placement, I wanted to gain experience in its academic setting and knew I could use the experience to better choose an MPhys project, so this helped narrow down the research group and project. Lastly, try and do as much reading and literature review as you can before the placement formally begins. Undertaking a complete research project over one summer is a daunting prospect, especially if you have the aim of publishing the work, but much time can be saved by familiarising yourself with field so you can hit the ground running from the start.
Kishan Makwana
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ADVICE FROM OUR LAIDLAW SCHOLARS I would recommend that you start on the Laidlaw paperwork as soon as possible, especially if you’re corresponding with your supervisor by email; both of you will likely be very busy and so it may take several days for a piece of writing to be reviewed by both of you. Additionally, if you’re planning to take your placement abroad (although I guess this applies for anywhere really), start looking for your accommodation as soon as possible, as it’s one less thing to worry about. Basically, be proactive and don’t wait for deadlines; make the deadlines!
Ryan Ellison
It is a good idea to have a solid backup plan if the first plan does not work out. It is very likely that there will be bumps in the road so it is good to be prepared for them, if only because it gives you some peace of mind. Still, you can only plan so much ahead and you must be at peace with the fact that things will go wrong through no fault of your own. For example, the medical and aphasiological diagnoses I was able to obtain for the participants with aphasia were very limited which was very frustrating to me but there was nothing I could have done differently so I just had to accept it. Two ways of thinking that really helped me: 1) if a more experienced researcher (e.g. my supervisor) could not have solved a specific problem better, then I should not feel bad about my solution to it. 2) The Laidlaw project is mostly about the scholars’ development as a leader and researcher. If some nice research comes out of it then that is great, but the main focus should be on the learning experience. This last way of thinking was really useful to me because I sometimes tend to worry too much about the outcome to enjoy the process. A practical tip would be to make sure you have like-minded people around you and a social life outside work.
Ryan Ellison
Johanne Nedergaard Johanne Nedergaard Before applying, I would recommend choosing a particular field which you are interested in and would be curious to explore further. Then I would advise reading a few related articles and noting down which laboratory performed the key experiments. Usually, there are two to three key labs that address a particular problem. You could also look up the techniques that they use. You can then choose a particular laboratory based on the field and techniques. Lastly, you could consider the location of each lab, and choose a particular country you would want to visit and explore in addition to doing a placement. Arranging things in advance and allowing yourself plenty of time to complete everything is key. Beware that supervisors need plenty of time to check draft proposals and arrange meetings etc.
Stanislau Yatskevich
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“I think the Laidlaw Programme is an excellent idea – I wish we had something similar!” Kasper Boye, University of Copenhagen “Great experience. Our Laidlaw Scholar was very smart, with great ideas.”
Eric Cascales, CNRS, Aix-Marseille University
There are two pieces of advice which I think stand out for anyone doing research like this. First, know your niche. It doesn’t make sense to do something that you know has been done before. Once you have read around the topic enough then your course should become clear. Equally, make sure that you are not casting your net too broadly. There is nothing worse than floundering around in documents with no plan for how you are going to proceed because everything you have could enter the project in some form. Learning to focus on the things that matter and ignoring the unimportant is a valuable skill and one that unfortunately only comes with practice. Secondly, do not be afraid to radically reform your project as you go through. Mine is completely unrecognisable from the one that I initially presented. If the first idea proves to be unworkable there is no shame in changing to something else and keeping on doing that until you find something that works. I found that the people at the Careers Service were incredibly understanding in this regard. They understood the need for flexibility and were not worried to allow things to change when they needed to. Be open and honest with them and you will get a full hearing.
Michael Pears The hardest thing I found with the Laidlaw application was exactly defining the best research question that I could answer within the scope of the scholarship. Speaking to my physics tutors and contacting professors about the general problem I wanted to tackle was very useful in helping to define my project and application. I would very much recommend the same!
Laurence Wroe I would advise future Laidlaw applicants to start thinking early about their application and research proposal, ideally in early or mid-Michaelmas term. Reach out to members of your faculty and ask for their advice. Before that, however, try to create a shortlist of possible ideas. Don't underestimate the amount of time needed to do pre-research on your area before you even write the research proposal; I had to comb through a fair number of papers before I came up with my idea. The actual writing of the research proposal may take a significant amount of time as well. As for the project itself, I would advise creating a timetable and trying your best to stick to it; build in some time at the end as a precaution. I would also advise not being afraid to ask your supervisor for help – they are there to supervise you, after all. Finally, try to enjoy the experience and relish the challenges that come your way, as that will make it more likely that you produce a high-quality output in the end.
Samuel Cole
“The programme gave both me and my Laidlaw Scholar a great opportunity to pursue interesting science.”
Assaf Gal, Weizmann Institute of Science
Lord Laidlaw and the Vice Chancellor were amongst the guests at the Laidlaw celebration event The great thing about this scholarship is the freedom of choice given as to where you do your research. If you’re considering applying definitely look around and take some time to consider where would be a good place to carry out your project. Also don’t be afraid to send out multiple emails and see where they lead; you never know who will reply. The sessions run by the Careers Service in Michaelmas term are a good opportunity to ask questions about the programme and talk through your ideas. My general advice would just be that any Oxford undergraduate who has an interest in pursuing a research career or further study in their field should consider applying! As a scientist one thing I learnt during the project is the importance of writing down your methodology in (perhaps painful) detail as you go along: in the small number of cases where you’ll need that piece of information it will save you a lot of time and effort! Another piece of advice is to be organised with your time planning and to ensure you return to and consider implementing any ideas you had during the start-of-project literature search; for example, I had one or two experiment ideas I’d noted down at the start of my research but by the time I came to fully consider them in the scheme of the project it was a bit too late to begin them.
Joshua Downe 57
ADVICE FROM OUR LAIDLAW SCHOLARS
Tom Stevens 1) Be ambitious, be pragmatic: this may sound paradoxical, but you should start off your application by being ambitious in scope, location. The Laidlaw funding is unparalleled and allows you to go anywhere in the world, should you want to. But, for both the application and your ability to complete the project, your focus should be both manageable and impactful. 2) Back your own ideas. Take advantage of the limitless freedom this scholarship offers you to study something that YOU really want to pursue. 3) Be the best version of yourself. You may not get this much funding and support again, so be thorough in your application and research to make the most out of it for self-improvement. Do lots of pre-reading in the application stage if you can to give yourself a good start for the summer.
Tom Stevens There are two main pieces of advice I would give to anyone thinking of applying for the Laidlaw Scholarship. Firstly, make sure you truly love the area you are proposing to research. Researching for 8 to 10 weeks is extremely intense: you will become immersed in the world you are studying, and it will follow you everywhere. Ideas might come whilst on walks or whilst eating, problems with your thesis or article might keep you up at night, or even sneak into your dreams. As long as you really enjoy what you are researching, this will just add to the pleasure. Secondly, especially if you are doing a humanities project, do not have too much of an idea of your argument before you begin. In other words, don’t have a fully developed idea that you are looking to prove with the evidence. Do have a clear focus on what you want to study and have a few expectations but be flexible and work with what the evidence says to you.
Connor Beattie
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My main piece of advice for people thinking about applying for the Laidlaw Programme is: do it! If you have an idea which you want to explore further, or even if you're just passionate about your subject and you want an opportunity to get stuck into a certain topic (even if you're not sure about specifics!), then the Laidlaw Programme is definitely for you. When I was in the process of applying for my project I wasn't immediately sure what exactly I wanted to research, but I had a general idea and it was only through the process of putting together my research proposal that I started to narrow down my focus. Talk to your tutor about your application and get their advice on who (in the world!) might be a good match for what you're interested in researching. Obviously it's a research project, and you're not expected to have all the answers before you even start, so don't let that put you off. Also make sure that you make the most of the Laidlaw application support sessions which the Careers Service offers. It's in their interest to get the best possible applications coming in, and it's in your interest to make sure you're refining your proposal to something which is going to be really interesting for you and also for your future audience. Be pragmatic and clear in expressing what you hope to achieve, and how you're going to go about doing it.
Lachlan Hughes There would be three main pieces of advice I would give to other Laidlaw applicants. Firstly, make use of the opportunity and apply to the best supervisors you can. I was very lucky in this regard. Secondly, make use of the advice sessions the Careers Service runs for applicants. It was so useful to have an outsider’s perspective on your application. Things which seem simple and understandable to the person who has designed a project about it aren’t necessarily as apparent to everyone else! This was especially true with the techniques I was using for the model, further explanation for which I didn’t initially give in my application. Finally pick a project that you are genuinely excited about and care about. This might seem like a bit of a cliché, but it is very important. It is a lot of work, and things will inevitably go wrong during the research, or parts will take longer than you think. So it is important both that you have the motivation to spend those extra few hours on it, and that you enjoy doing it. I could imagine myself not enjoying my project if I hadn’t really enjoyed what I was doing and (nerdy as it sounds) putting in those extra hours to fix bugs or go through data sets..
Kieran Marray
“This was a very positive experience for me and my lab.”
Costas Arvanitis, Georgia Institute of Technology
Advice I would give to future applicants is to get organised for US placements as early as possible because of the extensive process of applying for a visa. There is no need to worry about cost of living as the money provided by the scholarship is adequate, so you can live comfortably and conduct your research in expensive cities like Boston. On a more projectfocussed level, I think during the placement I should have asked experts for guidance earlier in order to troubleshoot my project more quickly.
Thomas Gate
I’d say I have two pieces of advice to humanities applicants that may seem obvious, but that I believe are absolutely crucial to making the most out of your 8 to 10 weeks. The first is to spend a considerable portion of your time thinking about your methodology, including the specificities of what you hope to do each week. This will be quizzed and tested during your interview, but beyond this 20-minute conversation and right up to the beginning of your project, keep working on your methodology down to the specific details. I’d also advise making the topic as specific as possible. Although some people may disagree, I’d recommend starting with a very specific focus for your research and then expanding upon this when you come across new material, rather than identifying a broad area of research and then narrowing from there. If future scholars are anything like me, ideas will come to you in the middle of the night to the detriment of good sleep, but to the benefit of a more extensive and layered project. I would also advise contacting as many relevant academics as possible from day one of your project. Cast a really wide net! Don’t be put off if you are at an early stage in your project as often academics will reply a couple weeks after receiving your emails, giving you plenty of time to build up your knowledge and experience. When you have conversations with them, don’t be at all nervous. The people you talk to will be immensely passionate about your subject, and as your research is fresh in your mind, you will be able to more than hold your own. That said, come up with a specific list of questions you wish to ask the people you contact, and send them over in advance to give them time to think about your conversation. This will also give you a useful structure to your conversation to ensure you get the most out of your time with a leading academic.
Sasha Thompson
Finding the right mentor is key; I was very fortunate in having the support of my host supervisor, Prof Christoph Tang, who has been an invaluable source of wisdom and encouragement throughout the process. This was my second experience of a laboratory-based research project, and having pre-existing skills really paid off in terms of not having to spend time learning everything from scratch. If possible, it would make sense to have some basic laboratory skills before you start so you can get on with the more challenging aspects of your project.
Alicia Hunter
Thomas Gate and Ellie Ong at the Laidlaw celebration event s by Fisher This is a fantastic opportunity to live the life of a researcher in any institution in the world, so if you are interested in pursuing a project, apply! If you would like to learn more about a field related to but not exactly within your area of study, this programme would be a very good opportunity to research that area, as there are no restrictions in the subjects that you could choose. I was personally interested in atmospheric physics and machine learning, so this research project was the perfect blend of both topics. On a more practical note, make use of the funding available, even if you do not want to leave the UK for your project. The funding allowed me to travel to the US for a conference directly related to my project, which is a good option for applicants who would like some experience abroad.
Ellie Ong The application process can definitely seem daunting; how do you even write a project proposal when you’re just an undergraduate student with no experience? How do you find a host institution? Well, everything is a challenge for the first time. In this case, I must say it was the most rewarding challenge. My advice would be not to be scared. Think about what fields or subfields you’re interested in and what kind of working style you’d like to try. Then do a bit of research online to find world-leading institutions and researchers that could be a good fit for you and your interests. Then contact them directly! Some might say no, others might not respond, but there is a high chance that you will find a very good fit and agree on an exciting research project. All it takes is a bit of online research, enthusiasm, determination, and perhaps one email. There is more to the Laidlaw Programme than it initially seems. Yes, you’ll get an exciting research experience, and yes, you’ll get a very insightful leadership training. However, the greatest reward you’ll get is the wonderful people that you’ll meet on the way: the organisers, the other Laidlaw Scholars, and the people at your host research group. These are the people whose views and advice can be so valuable in helping you shape your future.
Dominika Durovcikova
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Laidlaw Undergraduate Research & Leadership Programme The Internship Office The Careers Service University of Oxford 56 Banbury Road Oxford OX2 6PA
laidlaw@careers.ox.ac.uk
www.careers.ox.ac.uk/laidlaw