A History of Useless Books
Grace Murray

Summary

What does it mean for a book to be useful - and what might it mean for it to be useless?

We've been asking these questions about books and reading for hundreds of years, but they're especially important today in the midst of political debates about the usefulness of the arts. My PhD thesis answers them by returning to the late sixteenth century, a couple of generations after print was introduced to England. Not unlike the rise of AI today, print shone a spotlight on the role technology plays in the way we learn new things.

My research centres on sixteenth and seventeenth century 'how to' books, or instruction manuals, that promised their readers would learn how to do something socially useful, whether it be calligraphy or carpentry. By paying attention to where and how these books demanded to be read, as well as notes left in books by readers in the past, my research shows that the history of reading wrong turns our assumptions about what counts as useful knowledge upside down.

About Grace

Grace Murray is in the final year of her PhD in the Department of English and Related Literature, where her research on sixteenth and seventeenth-century 'how-to' books is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. She is committed to sharing arts and humanities research with a broader audience and has contributed to exhibitions with York Archaeological Trust, the British Library, and the National Trust during her PhD.

Catching Cancer Resistance with Calling Cards
Jack stenning

Summary

Breast cancer is the most diagnosed cancer in the world. 70% of breast cancers are driven by cells that have hacked the 'estrogen receptor' protein to promote uncontrolled growth. Around 1 in 4 patients will develop resistance to anti-estrogen therapies, but it's currently unclear why only some patient's tumours develop this resistance to treatment.

My research uses calling cards to help understand why some patients become resistant to anti-estrogen therapy and others don't. I have created a mutant of estrogen that can tag its surroundings with calling cards so that we can track precisely how estrogen is driving resistant breast cancer. I have put the mutant estrogen into cancer cells that are either resistant or sensitive to treatment. All of the calling card tags can then be used to identify how estrogen is driving resistance to cancer treatment in order to develop new therapeutics that keep cancer vulnerable to treatment.

About Jack

Jack is in the third year of his White Rose DTP Studentship in Mechanistic Biology at the University of York. His background in biochemistry underpins his passion for research that could help others. When Jack isn't chipping away at big research questions, he is probably gardening, gaming or questing for treasure in his weekly Dungeons and Dragons game.

Keeping liquids free from bacterial 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 “autofluorescence”. 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 is a second-year PhD student funded by Procter and Gamble in the School of Physics, Engineering and Technology at the University of York. Her research is on development of sensitive photonics-based biosensors that rapidly identify bacterial presence, ensuring immediate response and intervention. Besides research, she likes to practice photography and travel.

THROugh their eyes: life after Retinoblastoma
Nicola o'donnell

Summary

“Your child has cancer” are words that no one wants to think about, let alone hear. Annually, 50~ children in UK families will receive a diagnosis of Retinoblastoma, a rare childhood eye cancer. Although treatable, many children end up having an eye removed to save their life, or experience lifelong facial changes and/or visual impairment.

Having had and being treated for any childhood cancer can lead to emotional challenges. For individuals who have had Retinoblastoma, these are unique and wide-ranging; some may pass on a faulty gene to their future children, others are at risk of developing second cancers, and most are likely to experience some distress.

Once in remission from cancer, individuals and families can be left ‘in limbo’. My PhD investigates the survivorship journey towards life without Retinoblastoma or treatment, but with potential impact on wellbeing. Little is known about the psychological challenges experienced by these young people; the evidence generated from my PhD aims to develop a novel intervention for this group.

About Nicola

Nicola is a final-year PhD student in the Department of Health Sciences, funded by the Childhood Eye Cancer Trust. As a health psychologist and academic, she aspires to influence paediatric cancer care through both clinical practice and research. Her PhD work aims to develop a novel psychological intervention for teenagers and young adults who had the rare eye cancer, Retinoblastoma, when they were children. She enjoys working alongside individuals with lived experience to create meaningful impact.

Creative Heritage Engagement: Commercialisation Vs Therapeutic Role
Qian (Iffy) Wang

Summary

The Covid-19 pandemic has had a multifaceted impact on the daily operations and economic pressures on cultural institutions, resulting in income losses, systemic inequalities, and reshaping cultural practices.

My research aims to explore how the Covid-19 pandemic has affected public participation and the creative economy across Chinese and UK heritage institutions. By comparing national heritage institutions and arts festivals in both countries, the study aims to understand how they engage in creative economic activities, provide therapeutic experiences, and handle tensions between using heritage for commercial purposes and their therapeutic roles. My research could help cultural institutions to investigate vulnerability and inequality in their heritage management processes, and provide insights into how the Covid-19 pandemic has reshaped heritage management practices in China and the UK.

By understanding these dynamics, we can better navigate the challenges and opportunities facing heritage institutions and festivals in a post-pandemic world.

About Qian

Qian is a second-year PhD student at the Department of Archaeology. With a background in heritage management, her research concentrates on how the Covid-19 pandemic influenced public participation and the creative economy within Chinese and UK heritage management: a comparative study of heritage institutions and arts festivals. She enjoys communicating with people from different cultural backgrounds and is also a Salsa, Bachata, and Kizomba dancer.

Secrets of photosynthesis
SABINA Musial

Summary

Plants are some of the most important organisms on the planet. They create the oxygen that we breathe and the food that we eat. They also make their own food by capturing CO2 from the air. But when thinking about photosynthesis, we rarely think about algae.

These extraordinary organisms living in the oceans are responsible for about half of global CO2. Their task is difficult – water contains less CO2 than air, so they have evolved mechanisms, which allow them to work around this problem to photosynthesise efficiently. By studying algae we can learn how to include these solutions into plants and create improved crops that could help feeding the world’s growing population.

About Sabina

Sabina did her undergraduate and masters degree in Sheffield after coming to the UK from her native Poland. During this time she developed an interest in understanding how do proteins work by studying their structures. In 2021, she started a PhD at the University of York Biology Department where she spends her days in the lab trying to understanding the proteins involved in algal photosynthesis.

Can Archaeology Build a Better Society in Indonesia?
Tondi Siregar

Summary

This project investigates the role of archaeology as a science and practice in Indonesia: a large archipelago country with a population of more than 250 million people spread over 38 provinces with many cultural and ethnic backgrounds. This study will ask how archaeology could create balance and perform in the midst of modernity.

In the development of a country like Indonesia, it is very difficult for both the government, and civil society, to establish a basic understanding regarding culture and heritage. A singular approach to archaeology and heritage is difficult as the region has its own identity and political interests regarding development, which become the economic backbone of the region. For instance, Jakarta has a modern economic infrastructure which is filled with skyscrapers, whilst Bali is strong with its cultural and natural tourism as the main economic foundation of the city. These things are strongly influenced by both the geographical conditions and historical background of each region.

As a big picture of how big Indonesia’s potential is in this matter, it consists of at least five layers of culture. I argue that archaeology is a pivotal practice to improve the development in Indonesia, not only from the economic aspect, but also as an agency to create new approaches that can be an option as a proponent of facing globalization. By tracing the social and cultural histories in Jakarta’s Old Town, this project aims to narrate the discourse, policy making and economic impact through cultural tourism. Relying on the public perceptions and documents with laws and regulations, archives, interviews and reports, this project will shed light on the understanding and importance of archaeology in shaping Jakarta’s Old Town into a cultural area, and the positive impact on how cultural heritage could have a big impact from social, economic and political perspectives.

About Tondi

Tondi is a final-year PhD student in the Department of Archaeology at the University of York from Jakarta, Indonesia. His research focuses on how archaeology could influence and play a pivotal role in Indonesia's development. Through his research, he aims to contribute to the public's perspective on the importance of Indonesian heritage to shape Indonesia's future.

“Catch Me If You Can”: Sweet solution for cancer treatment
Yumiko Uno

Summary

In my research, I'm looking into how changing the sugars on cancer cells could help activate the patient's immune system to fight cancer better.

These sugars, unlike the ones we eat, form a layer around cells, kind of like the shell of a peanut M&M. They act like IDs on cell surfaces, helping the immune system tell what's part of our body (self) and what's a threat (non-self), like viruses or germs. But here's the tricky part: cancer cells use a sneaky trick by showing a sugar that looks human-like, let's call it sugar A, to hide from the immune system. So, our plan is to step in and swap this sugar A with sugar B. This switch would make cancer cells easier for the immune system to recognize, leading to a stronger immune response against them.

About Yumiko

Yumiko, a Japanese PhD student in the Department of Chemistry, brings a unique perspective to her research. With a background in Veterinary medicine, she's passionately committed to leveraging the body's immune system to combat cancer. Her focus lies particularly on prostate cancer, a disease affecting around 52,000 men in the UK annually.