PHD SPOTLIGHT
WEDNESDAY 15 JANUARY 2025
11AM - 4PM
RON COOKE HUB ATRIUM
About phd spotlight
The Competition
The PhD Spotlight competition challenges postgraduate researchers to engage the public with their original and cutting edge research, through the medium of an interactive display/experience.
Created by the York Graduate Research School (YGRS) in 2015, PhD Spotlight originally began as a poster competition, and has since evolved to allow for greater creativity and range of mediums.
Today, finalists are provided with limited resources (a table, a screen, a display board, and a poster), and are tasked with transforming these resources into interactive and engaging experiences.
A celebration of research
The PhD Spotlight competition forms part of the University's annual YorkTalks event: a fascinating exploration of research happening at York. PhD Spotlight specifically focuses on researchers who are at the beginning of their research journeys, showcasing the exciting future of research.
2025 FINALISTS
Transform your life at the gothic university
d.a. everett
Summary
Dark academia.
The term conjures images of dusty halls, Gothic architecture, dogtooth blazers, and black coffee. It also encapsulates an aesthetic atmosphere, one which has origins not in the recent subculture, but in the depths of the eighteenth-century Gothic.
My research seeks to understand the recent rise of the literary subgenre, dark academia, as a development of the Gothic for the modern day. Betraying contemporary anxieties, playing with gender roles, and obsessively cultivating one’s lifestyle around art and literature, the subgenre points to a nostalgia for a past that never existed – one within which technology is limited, and study is infinite.
About Dion
Dion is an MA (by research) student with the Department of English and Related Literature. His interests lie in the relationship between contemporary literature and politics, and the literary lineages which lie beneath our current cultural output. He is currently running a reading group titled 'Reading the University', encouraging other postgraduate students and researchers to engage with issues facing the current literary landscape.
His current thesis is provisionally titled ‘Secret Histories and Haunted Halls: Dark Academia and the Contemporary Gothic’, and he is supervised excellently by Dr Lola Boorman.
"nostalgia for a past that never existed... within which technology is limited, and study is infinite."
"nostalgia for a past that never existed... within which technology is limited, and study is infinite."
"My project aims to design such a device... to detect a specific, but very faint, glow emitted by the bacteria"
"My project aims to design such a device... to detect a specific, but very faint, glow emitted by the bacteria"
Keeping liquids free from contamination
minahil khan
Summary
Water contamination remains a concern in most countries without sufficient resources for proper treatment. The bacteria in contaminated water can be severely harmful to humans, causing diseases and even death. Detecting bacterial contamination in water used for consumption is a way to alleviate this issue while keeping costs accessible. For instance, an in-flow and real-time monitoring system could be a simple yet powerful solution for this problem.
My project aims to design such a device using nanotechnology to detect a specific, but very faint, glow emitted by the bacteria due to the process of “auto-fluorescence”. This faint glow is very difficult to detect on its own, requiring expensive and sensitive instruments. I am designing and fabricating small chips with nanostructures that can enhance this faint glow, making the bacteria glow brighter. This device will be compact and can be installed on the liquid flow pipes for real time monitoring.
About minahil
Minahil Khan is a third-year PhD student in the School of Physics, Engineering and Technology studying Bio-photonics, funded by Procter & Gamble.
She has a Masters in Materials Science and Engineering from Istanbul, Turkey, and her present research focuses on development of sensitive photonics-based biosensors that rapidly identify bacterial presence, ensuring immediate response and intervention. Besides research, she likes to practice photography.
Let's Work Together! Partnership working in the NHS
Sarah Exall
Summary
How long are A&E waits in your local hospital?
How easy is it for you to see a GP?
In England, a baby born in one of the poorest 10% of areas can expect to live around 19 fewer years in good health than a baby born in the richest 10%. There are many reasons for this, one of which is access to good quality healthcare. In 2022, the NHS was reorganised, bringing together all the organisations working to improve health in each area into Integrated Care Systems (ICSs). They were instructed to work together to make decisions about how services are organised and how money is spent. One of the aims of this reorganisation is to reduce inequalities in health and healthcare. My research focuses on how these partnerships are working, and how the different ways of working might improve outcomes for patients and the wider public.
About Sarah
Sarah started her career as an NHS doctor. Wanting the chance to have a broader impact on people's lives and the environments in which they live, she moved into Public Health. Sarah trained in a large range of organisations and became a consultant working in Local Authority Public Health teams in the North of England. During COVID and beyond, Sarah grew increasingly aware of the influence of systems, governance, and relationships on outcomes. She chose to take up PhD research into healthcare systems in England in an attempt to improve how health services are run, and to reduce healthcare inequalities.
"...different ways of working might improve outcomes for patients and the wider public."
"...different ways of working might improve outcomes for patients and the wider public."
"...our wellbeing capacities aren’t fixed - they can grow and strengthen."
"...our wellbeing capacities aren’t fixed - they can grow and strengthen."
Inside the Brain: Mapping the Power of Wellbeing Capacities
Cong Wang
Summary
Our brains are constantly working to manage our thoughts, emotions, and how we connect with the world around us. These mental abilities, known as "self-regulation" and "self-world capacities", are essential for our wellbeing and develop over time, giving us the power to improve our mental resilience. My research examines these "wellbeing capacities" at a neural level, using brainwave patterns called event-related potentials (ERPs) to see how our brains respond to attention and emotional challenges. By focusing on two specific brain responses - P3 and LPP potential in brainwaves, I’m investigating how these responses relate to depression and anxiety and whether they reveal growth in our wellbeing capacities. Additionally, I explore how meditation practices like loving-kindness and mindfulness could support these capacities. This research could open doors to innovative, brain-based strategies for nurturing wellbeing, especially in college students, by showing that our wellbeing capacities aren’t fixed - they can grow and strengthen.
About cong
Cong Wang is a third-year PhD student in the Department of Education at the Psychology in Education Research Center. Cong has served as a Graduate Teaching Assistant in the Department of Education. Her research focuses on the neural connections related to wellbeing capacities, particularly the neural biomarkers of depression, anxiety, well-being capacity, and wellbeing. Using ERP techniques, Cong also aims to identify effective interventions to protect and enhance wellbeing in addressing current mental health challenges.
Classical to Clinical – How do we detect viruses and create new medication?
Brandon Daniel Tipper
Summary
We’ve all had experience of COVID pandemics and the use of lateral flow tests, and it’s about time we expand our knowledge to be prepared if it happens again. Lateral flow tests (LFTs) are a type of sensor used to detect biomolecules, such as the COVID virus, through interactions with implemented absorbents, known as receptors. Target molecules flow over the receptors, and match similarly to a set of keys and locks. Current engineering designs assume all receptors (locks) are identical and match perfectly with the target biomolecules, but in reality this is not the case - COVID 19 LFTs detect illness on average two to three days slower than laboratory testing due to their lower sensitivity.
My work explores and expands on these assumptions providing reliable designs with a higher sensitivity for a range of diseases, with earlier detection allowing for more effective treatments with higher success rates compared to current standards.
About Brandon
Brandon, a second-year PhD student in Electronic Engineering at the University of York, is interested in multidisciplinary problems and how they can be used to create novel technologies with healthcare applications. Having previously received a first class master’s degree in Theoretical Physics, Brandon works to expand his scientific knowledge into engineering settings through creating innovative models to help design sensitive and reliable biosensors. This work will help improve the quality of commercial products with point-of-care applications, saving lives and making healthcare services more accessible.
"...it’s about time we expand our knowledge to be prepared if [a pandemic] happens again."
"...it’s about time we expand our knowledge to be prepared if [a pandemic] happens again."
"By 2050, it's estimated that around 40 million people in South Asia could be forced to move due to these challenges..."
"By 2050, it's estimated that around 40 million people in South Asia could be forced to move due to these challenges..."
Securing Our Food, Protecting Our Future: Climate-Smart Solutions
Chamley Ariyachandra
Summary
Human activities are harming the planet's health, leading to increasing climate change. While countries in the global North are experiencing colder weather, nations in the global South, like Sri Lanka and South Asia, are facing rising temperatures and more frequent natural disasters such as floods and droughts. These events harm agricultural farming, causing food shortages and threatening the health and wellbeing of millions.
By 2050, it's estimated that around 40 million people in South Asia could be forced to move due to these challenges, contributing to a global migration crisis. This study uses local experiences and knowledge to improve access to safe and nutritious food in Sri Lanka. One promising solution is planting climate-friendly trees, which help absorb carbon, retain soil moisture, and provide various foods. These trees can strengthen community adaptability and ensure long-term access to food during climate challenges.
About chamley
Chamley Ariyachandra is a third-year PhD candidate from Sri Lanka, specialising in promoting Planetary Health and addressing the food insecurity challenges posed by climate change in his country. He holds a degree in Business Statistics and a Master's in Mass Communication from Sri Lanka, followed by an MBA in Marketing from the UK. As an internationally award-winning marketing communication professional, he has successfully promoted numerous local and multinational brands. Currently, he is dedicated to moving away from consumerism to tackle urgent climate change issues.
Smells, Tastes and Sounds of a War-Torn City: The Case of Leningrad Diaries
Fedor Topolev-Soldunov
Summary
People wrote diaries even in the darkest hours of their lives. Anne Frank, one of the most well-known diarists of the Holocaust wrote her diary with hopes it would be read in the future while in hiding, her life at risk every day. War diaries helped their authors ground themselves in reality, recording the deepest, most sincere feelings and worries on paper, becoming a form of self-help.
In the city of Leningrad, besieged, cut off from supply lines, starving and freezing, hundreds of people recorded their feelings and emotions in Siege Diaries. Dozens of these diaries survive today, a key to a further understanding of what ordinary people experience in the epicentre of a violent war.
My research into the diaries, uncovering what Leningraders smelled, tasted and heard in their home city ravaged by war can further our understanding of what people feel in warzones of today.
About Fedor
Fedor Topolev-Soldunov is a first year History PhD student specialising in Russian history, sensory history and history of war. His previous broad research interests include the history of commemoration, his Public History MA dissertation focusing on the role of the Victory Day parades in Russian war commemoration tradition.
Fedor has previously collaborated with the Borthwick Institute for Archives of the University of York on an inquest into the LGBTQ+ histories in the University, and worked with the International Memorial in Russia, researching local histories of the victims of Stalinist Purges prior to his relocation to the UK.
"...the expanding social inequalities in the UK [are] disproportionately felt by vulnerable communities."
"...the expanding social inequalities in the UK [are] disproportionately felt by vulnerable communities."
JUDGING PANEL AND PRESENTERS
Our 2024 judging panel
In addition to our People's Choice Award, the work of our finalists will also be reviewed by our panel, for first, second and third place prizes. In 2025, we are delighted to welcome members of our panel from a wide range of disciplines to help us choose our winner.
Read on below for a bit of background on each of our panelists.
Professor Paul Wakeling
Dean of the York Graduate Research School and Professor Department of Education, University of York
Paul Wakeling is the newly-appointed Dean of the York Graduate Research School, and is a professor in the Department of Education, where much of his research is focused on graduate education and students. He has supervised or examined nearly 50 doctoral researchers, and was Head of York’s Department of Education for five years.
As an expert on inequalities in access to graduate education, Paul advises a range of funding bodies and other organisations about this topic, working closely with the Martingale Foundation and the UK Council for Graduate Education (UKCGE). He also leads one of the workstreams of the Yorkshire Consortium for Equity in Doctoral Education (YCEDE) - looking at race/ethnic inequalities in doctoral education.
Liv mills
Exhibitions Project Manager, National Railway Museum (NRM)
Liv Mills has been exhibitions project manager at the National Railway Museum (NRM) since 2020. She leads delivery of exhibitions, displays and interpretation at NRM including the current exhibition ‘Go as you Please’ in partnership with Curating for Change and the development of the new permanent exhibition in Station Hall.
Liv previously worked as a producer for Transport for London’s public art programme, Art on the Underground. Here she worked with contemporary artists to develop public art installations, sculptures and performances including a ‘takeover’ of Westminster Station by Larry Achiampong and a large scale photographic installation and performance around Southwark Station by artist Linder Sterling. Liv is a trained printmaker and published illustrator and has worked for organisations including Slade School of Fine Art, University of Worcester and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Sarah Veale
Winner of the 2024 PhD Spotlight Competition
Sarah is currently a second year PhD Researcher in the Department of Health Sciences, who won our 2024 PhD Spotlight Competition with her entry "It is Cheaper to be Fat, But What Does it Cost You?".
Guided by an intersectional feminist approach and framed within a socioeconomic theoretical framework, Sarah's PhD explores the question: "How Do Intersecting Factors Shape What New Mother-Baby Dyads Eat During the First 1,001 Days of Life in the UK?" Her research examines the complex interplay of individual, relational, and societal influences, including socioeconomic disparities, cultural contexts, and marketing practices, on dietary choices during this critical period.
Dedicated to public engagement, Sarah's research fosters informed discussions and raises awareness of the multifaceted relationships between pregnancy, poverty, and nutrition. She emphasizes that systemic issues, such as socioeconomic policies and structural inequalities, play a crucial role in shaping dietary decisions, challenging the narrative that responsibility rests solely on individuals. By highlighting the depth of these disparities, Sarah advocates for transformative policy reforms and sustainable support systems for historically underserved communities. #MadeByDyslexia
Professor Paul Wakeling, Dean of the York Graduate Research School (University of York)
Professor Paul Wakeling, Dean of the York Graduate Research School (University of York)
Liv Mills, Exhibitions Project Manager, National Railway Museum (NRM)
Liv Mills, Exhibitions Project Manager, National Railway Museum (NRM)
Sarah Veale, winner of the 2024 PhD Spotlight Competition
Sarah Veale, winner of the 2024 PhD Spotlight Competition
Judging Criteria and Prizes
2025 Prizes
1st place - £100 voucher
2nd place - £75 voucher
3rd place - £50 voucher
People's Choice - £25 voucher
Judging Criteria
Finalists will be judged according to the following:
- Creativity: Produce a display or experience with visual appeal and coherence
- Impact: Relevance of your display outside a single field/academia
- Communication: Inform the public and non-specialist audiences about your research in exciting ways
- Originality: The display should be based on your original research and contribution to knowledge
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