Report on Junior Research Fellowships

2019-2020 has been another busy year for the Somerville Junior Research Fellows, who have been undertaking research into a very wide range of fields. Most of our Junior Research Fellows are Fulford JRFs, selected in an annual exercise. They hold postdoctoral research positions across the University and are welcomed into the Somerville community after a competitive selection process

Thomas Nicol has been exploring the role of nitric oxide in the activity of macrophages (immune system cells in our bodies that ‘eat’ invading microorganisms).

Priya Subramanian is a Hooke Fellow at the Mathematics Institute. Priya develops new mathematical tools to describe and analyse soft matter and complex fluids.

Joulia Smortchkova works in the Philosophy Faculty on questions relating to mind and metacognition (awareness of your own thought processes), such as ‘can we perceive social traits?’; ‘what are mental representations?’; ‘what role does metacognition play in conceptual change, especially in schoolage children who learn new scientific concepts?’.

Robert Beagrie works in the Weatherill Institute for Molecular Medicine, investigating the early development of red blood cells, focusing on how they switch on the genes responsible for producing haemoglobin, which is vital for distributing oxygen around the body.

Ritu Raj works in the Department of Chemistry, developing new techniques for studying how cholesterol interacts with cell membrane proteins, which will help further the understanding of cholesterol metabolism, deregulation of which causes diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Ferenc Mózes explores ways to optimise scanning techniques that will improve diagnosis and treatment of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

As a new Fulford JRF, Susan Dunning has been conducting research for her project ‘Humans As Gods in the Roman World’, working on datasets for her monograph and presenting a few papers on the subject at Somerville and to the Oxford community. Susan has so far catalogued several hundred examples of common Romans portraying themselves or others as gods in funerary monuments or in literature, a practice that extended far beyond imperial divine pretensions. She was delighted to teach tutorials as well, even though the disruptions of this year meant that they had to be conducted remotely. Susan has been grateful for the college’s warm welcome, and looks forward to a return to its fellowship and opportunities for outreach.

Ana Laura Edelhoff is the Mary Somerville Junior Research Fellow, employed by the college to conduct research in Ancient Philosophy. Ana Laura has had a particularly productive year, having submitted a book manuscript, Aristotle on Ontological Priority in the Categories, to Cambridge University Press, and currently revising another book manuscript, Aristotle on Ontological Priority in the Metaphysics, for Oxford University Press. In addition, Ana Laura worked with Karen Nielsen, our Tutorial Fellow in Ancient Philosophy, to organise events to celebrate the centenary birthdays and achievements of two of the most famous female philosophers and members of Somerville, Elizabeth Anscombe and Iris Murdoch. At the time of writing Ana Laura is due to give birth to twins any day now. Finally, Ana Laura has been appointed to a teaching fellowship at the University of Konstanz, which has one of Germany’s strongest Philosophy departments.

Peaks Kraft works at the Oxford Internet Institute, examining the ‘materialities’ (practical implications) of software and the digital world. Peaks publishes in both social science and computer science journals.

Martin Walker is the Mary Ewart Junior Research Fellow, employed by the college to conduct research into Structural Engineering, specifically looking at how localised features, such as creases, form during the deformation of thin shells. Martin has recently accepted the offer of a lectureship at the University of Surrey.

Justin Lau works on developing imaging techniques to study the broken heart. Going beyond standard magnetic resonance imaging, Justin works in the research group headed by our own Damian Tyler, exploring the benefits of using hyperpolarised carbon-13 to yield data on the metabolism of the heart with unprecedented accuracy.

Xiaowen Dong works in the Engineering Department and the Oxford Man Institute for Quantitative Finance. His main work focuses on developing novel techniques in the fast-growing fields of graph signal processing and geometric deep learning. Recently, he has worked with our very own Renaud Lambiotte (Tutorial Fellow in Applied Mathematics) and others to launch the Oxford Covid-19 impact monitor – see https://www. oxford-covid-19.com/ for details.

Gabriel Cler works in the Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging. His research focuses on neuroimaging in people with speech and language disorders, especially concentrating on people who stutter. Gabriel has recently accepted a tenuretrack post at the University of Washington in Seattle.

Godelinde Perk is a Marie Skłodowska Curie Fellow in the Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages, but her research sits at the intersection between medieval studies, literary studies and gender history. Godelinde explores how vernacular