Our Inaugural Cohort

2014 Cohort

In September 2014, the pilot cohort of Researchers in Schools teachers entered the classroom for the first time. This pioneering group were placed across West London.

	Andrew Stannard
	PhD University	University of Nottingham
	Thesis Title	Pattern Formation in Nanostructured Systems
	Undergraduate University	University of Nottingham
	Masters University	University of Nottingham
Andrew is an early career researcher in the field of Nanoscience, with extensive experimental and computational skills and particular interest in scanning probe microscopy and molecular self-assembly.			School:Barnhill Community High School
			Subject Teaching:Physics

 

	Ashlee Masterson
	PhD University	University of London
	Thesis Title	Postcolonial poetry
	Undergraduate University	University of Natal
	Masters University	University of Natal
Ashlee won the University of Natal’s most prestigious doctoral scholarship to study abroad at a university of her choice, and completed her doctoral studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies. Her PhD thesis was developed into a manuscript and won the University of the Witwatersrand’s Research Committee award in 2010. Her book, “Stranger at Home: the Praise poet in Apartheid South Africa”, was published by Wits University Press in 2011.			School:Brentside High School
			Subject Teaching:English

 

	Bryn James
	PhD University	University of Manchester
	Thesis Title	The Healer’s Tools: A study of Material Assemblages amongst Healing Practitioners in Ghana and their Archaeological Implications
	Undergraduate University	University of Manchester
	Masters University	University of Manchester
Bryn currently works as a Graduate Teaching Assistant/Lecturer in the Department of Archaeology at the University of Manchester. He was also a Researcher in Residence at Manchester Museum where he worked on a project entitled ‘Exploring African Medico-religious Objects in Manchester Museum’. He currently holds the position of Assistant Editor for the Open Archaeology Journal.			School:Lampton School
			Subject Teaching:History

 

	Calum Mechie
	PhD University	University of Oxford
	Thesis Title	Re-Conditioning England: George Orwell and the Social Problem, 1939-1949
	Undergraduate University	University of Edinburgh
	Masters University	University College London
Calum has studied at Edinburgh, UCL and Oxford. Teaching at the University of Oxford made him want to teach in a state school and try to help more of its students into places like Oxford to – hopefully – shake them up a bit.			School:Brentford School for Girls
			Subject Teaching:English

 

	Clara Sousa Silva
	PhD University	University College of London
	Thesis Title	Modelling phosphine spectra for the atmospheric characterization of cool stars and exoplanets
	Undergraduate University	University of Edinburgh
	Masters University	University of Edinburgh
While in New Zealand as a teenager, Clara followed her interests in astrophysics by interning at the Wellington Observatory. She spent the next six years at the University of Edinburgh, and is now finishing her PhD in molecular astrophysics at University College London, with plans to continue researching exoplanets and a potentially habitable Earth 2.0.			School:Isleworth and Syon School for Boys
			Subject Teaching:Physics

 

	Daniel Bulger
	PhD University	King’s College London
	Thesis Title	The high energy asymptotic distribution of the eigenvalues of the scattering matrix
	Undergraduate University	University of Bristol
	Masters University	University of Bristol
During his PhD course at King’s College London, Daniel was awarded the Mathematics Department Research Scholarship for the student with the best academic record. Whilst studying, he worked on the Students in Schools programme, which placed university students in schools with the aim of promoting university access and providing extra knowledge to talented students.			School:George Abbot School
			Subject Teaching:Maths

 

	Hok Man Tang
	PhD University	Imperial College London
	Thesis Title	Developed amorphous porous bioactive glass foams for bone regeneration
	Undergraduate University	Imperial College London
	Masters University	Imperial College London
Hok Man Tang has considerable experience working with masters and undergraduate students at Imperial College as a supervisor and a lab demonstrator. He recently published a paper entitled ‘Glass Polyalkenoate Cements Based on Simple CaO-Al2O3-SiO2 Glasses’.			School:The Bridge Academy
			Subject Teaching:Physics

 

	Jana Marie Say
	PhD University	Macquarie University
	Thesis Title	Novel Nanodiamond Materials: Development, Characterisation and Use in Biological and Quantum Applications
	Undergraduate University	University of British Columbia
	Masters University	N/A
Jana completed her undergraduate degree in Physics/Maths at the University of British Columbia in Canada before moving to Australia to pursue her PhD. Jana’s work was multidisciplinary, looking at Physics, Chemistry and Biomolecular Sciences and working on developing a non-toxic, small scale sensor based on tiny particles of diamond.			School:Brentford School for Girls
			Subject Teaching:Physics

 

	Kathryn Anderson
	PhD University	University of East Anglia
	Thesis Title	Ballet as Literary Form, 1915-1953
	Undergraduate University	College of Wooster
	Masters University	Case Western Reserve University
Kathryn moved to the UK in 2010 to begin her PhD project at the University of East Anglia’s School of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing. She has taught standardised testing skills courses to High School students in Chicago where she also served as a volunteer creative writing teacher in some of the city’s most at-risk communities.			School:Barnhill Community High School
			Subject Teaching:English

 

	Mari Chikvaidze
	PhD University	University of Heidelberg
	Thesis Title	Understanding Structure, Dynamics and Function of Escherichia coli Alkaline Phosphatase by Molecular Modelling and Simulations
	Undergraduate University	Tbilisi State University
	Masters University	Chalmers University of Technology
Mari was awarded a competitive scholarship from the Max Planck Institute for her PhD from a leading European University. Coming from a poor family and disadvantaged background, she feels it is her duty to give back where she has gained, and feels that teaching will give her the unique opportunity to share her knowledge and passion for Maths.			School:Lampton School
			Subject Teaching:Maths

 

	Mauro Mantega
	PhD University	Trinity College Dublin
	Thesis Title	Charging, doping and gating effect of a single dangling bond on a bare Si100-c(4×2) surface
	Undergraduate University	Universitá degli di Cagliari
	Masters University	Universitá degli di Cagliari
In March 2008 Mauro moved to Ireland to start a PhD in Computational Physics which he was awarded in November 2012 from Trinity College Dublin. In October 2012 he also joined Intel Ireland as a Process Engineer. During his undergraduate studies and PhD he worked part-time in projects aimed at popularizing science to secondary school pupils. Teaching has always been one of his passions.			School:Feltham Community College
			Subject Teaching:Maths

 

	Naveed Malik
	PhD University	University of Warwick
	Thesis Title	Frequency-dependent response of neurons to high frequency electric fields
	Undergraduate University	University of Cambridge
	Masters University	Physics, Imperial College London and Mathematical Biology and Biophysical Chemistry, University of Warwick
Naveed is a theoretical neuroscientist/biophysicist with a research interest in understanding how the complexity of the brain gives rise to its functionality. For his doctorate he worked towards gaining a greater understanding of how many neurons interact with electric fields, and developed novel methodologies for furthering this field.			School:Brentside High School
			Subject Teaching:Physics

 

	Nikesh Solanki
	PhD University	University of Manchester
	Thesis Title	Uniform Companions for Expansions of Differential Fields
	Undergraduate University	University of Leicester
	Masters University	University of Manchester
Nikesh’s main areas of interest are model theory, differential algebra and large fields. He is also interested in algebraic geometry and its interplay with model theory. He has been invited as a guest speaker to seminars on Model Theory at the University of Konstanz and the University of Manchester.			School:King’s College London Mathematics School
			Subject Teaching:Maths

 

	Richard Branch
	PhD University	University of Oxford
	Thesis Title	Protein dynamics, using high resolution optical microscopy and computational techniques
	Undergraduate University	University of Leicester
	Masters University	N/A
Richard is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Berg Lab Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology. He was awarded the European Molecular Biology Organisation Long-Term Fellowship. He has worked with and supervised undergraduate students as well as pupils at local schools during his time at the Universities of Harvard and Oxford.			School:Lampton School
			Subject Teaching:Physics

 

	Sarah Jhumka
	PhD University	University of Manchester
	Thesis Title	Super-elastic scattering from laser excited calcium and silver atoms
	Undergraduate University	University of Manchester
	Masters University	University of Manchester
Sarah came to the UK in 2005 to begin her undergraduate studies in Physics. She graduated with an MPhys from the University of Manchester in 2009. She then went on to a PhD in Atomic Physics at the Photon Science Institute in Manchester.			School:Chiswick Community School
			Subject Teaching:Physics