Postgraduate research

Here you can see a selection of the current postgraduate research being undertaken by students, divided by Faculty or Department.

A group of students in gowns in College Hall. Photo credit Aurora Gao 2022

If you would like to update your details or be added to the list, please contact head.tutorial@newn.cam.ac.uk

Archaeology

Miranda Evans, PhD in Archaeology
The proteomics of pottery and its residues: applications to ancient foodways.

Aman Kang, PhD in Archaeology
Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry (ZooMS): utilising new methods to unravel Neanderthal and AMH cognition from worked bone.

Asian & Middle Eastern Studies

Gabrielle Russo, PhD in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies
The representation of the Turkic military guard in ninth-century Arabic praise writing

Biological Sciences

Rebecca Boston, PhD in Toxicology at the MRC Toxicology Unit
Evaluating the relationship between the human immune system and the gut microbiome in the context of patients with immunodeficiency.

Marie de la Burgade, PhD in Physiology, Development and Neuroscience
Investigating the trunk neural crest leader cell's asymmetric division and fate in vivo in Zebrafish, focusing on the interactions between mechanics and signalling pathways.

Ella Taylor, PhD in Biological Sciences at the Babraham Institute
Investigating the effect of RNA structure modulation by RNA helicases during B-lymphocyte activation.

Biostatistics

Juliette Limozin, PhD at the MRC Biostatistics Unit
Developing statistical methodologies for causal inference in longitudinal settings, focusing on the multiple emulated target trial approach.

Chemical Engineering & Biotechnology

Nuzli Karam, PhD in Bioelectronics
Developing a novel three-dimensional electrode sensing array with tissue-like properties for the study of cerebral brain organoids.

Chemistry

Vaidehi Roy Chowdhury, PhD in Chemistry
Rational design of antibodies and antibody engineering to manipulate challenging protein targets in complex environments.

Erin Mei Holdsworth, PhD in Chemistry
Synthetic control of the solid-state interactions of MR-TADF emitters for the development of next-generation blue OLED devices. 
 
Michelle Wan, PhD in Atmospheric Chemistry
Research encompasses an interdisciplinary project which explores London air pollution exposure and human health, using machine learning techniques.
Classics

Cecily Bateman, PhD in Classics
The use of Classics by the Far-Right in Europe and America from 1945 to the present.

Christiane-Marie Cantwell, PhD in Classics
Cultural and religious changes in Roman Gaul through the lens of economic sociology, via a computational methodology. Current project focuses on the Gallo-Roman votive practice.

Rhiannon Smith, PhD in Classics
Focus on Classical Linguistics, specialising in Latin female onomastics.

Clinical Biochemistry

Lucy Davis
Investigating the biochemical mechanisms of insulin resistance. Focus on insulin stimulated lipid synthesis, adipose tissue inflammation and the role of sex hormones on metabolic health.

Clinical Neurosciences

Cécile Crapart, PhD in Clinical Neurosciences
Aiming to unravel the functional link between Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER) morphology and the health of brain cells through an in-depth investigation of ER performance in calcium supplying powering neuronal and astroglia vital activities.

Sophie Field, PhD in Clinical Neurosciences
Looking at neuroinflammation in the brains of Huntington's disease patients and investigating whether somatic instability or transportable elements plays a part in this. 

Anna Vlachaki, PhD in Clinical Neurosciences
Researching programmed axon death, and the role of the pro-degenerative protein SARM1 in various neurodegenerative diseases, using biochemical and structural approaches.

Criminology

Jasmine Jordan, PhD in Criminology
Analyzing the relationship between personal and proximal contact with incarceration and political participation, particularly among African Americans. 

María José Arosemena Burbano, MPhil in Criminological Research
Intimate partner violence.

Divinity

Marina Messeri, PhD in Divinity
Working on the interconnectedness between man and the cosmos in the writings of Hildegard of Bingen, a twelfth-century benedictine abbess and mystic, focusing on how her insights can inform contemporary discussions on environmental ethics.

Economics

Xuyi Yang, PhD in Economics
Applied microeconomics, labour economics, and productivity and innovation.

Education

Aurora Lixinhao Gao, PhD in Education
Multilingualism, psychological development, and social justice.

Linh Nguyen, PhD in Education
Love as epistemology through feminist pedagogies and decolonial storytelling and spillage.

Engineering

Mariel Alem-Fonseca, PhD in Engineering
Her research in the Industrial Resilience Research Group at the Institute for Manufacturing focuses on the evaluation of alternative protein supply chains from a resilience and cost perspective.

Wei Bi, PhD in Engineering
In collaboration with Transport for London, this research aims to advance complex network modelling to quantify and enhance the resilience of urban rail transit systems to extreme flood events.

Lihani du Plessis, PhD in Engineering
Undertaking research in the Engineering Design Centre, focusing on (re)designing the NHS medical supply chains to be free from labour exploitation.

Chisom Ifeobu, PhD in Engineering
Onshore Wind Turbine Foundations for Sustainable Development in Africa.

Constanze Leeb, PhD in Engineering
Undertaking research in the Centre for Technology Management at the Institute for Manufacturing, focusing on the influence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on individuals and their work identity, when using AI to augment their work.

English

Juliette Bretan, PhD in English
Representations of Polish characters in Anglophone modernism, as well as cross-cultural collaboration between Britain and Poland in the first half of the 20th century.

Jess Dunmore, PhD in English
Exploring the creative and critical potential of the four elements - air, earth, water, and fire - in early modern natural philosophy, focusing in particular on seventeenth-century writing.

Film and Screen Studies

Jessica Moore, PhD in Film and Screen Studies
Evaluating the concept of ‘looseness’ in relation to narration and aesthetics in the fiction film.

French

Cat Watts, PhD in French
The ontology of the manuscript, translation imperii and American myth, Arthurian literature, countercultures in hagiographic transmission, resistance narratives, and trans-temporal and medium-agnostic legacy.

Geography
Natalie (Yuqiao) Deng, PhD in Geography
Studying the volcanic history of Eastern Africa primarily through the use of cryptotephra preserved in lake sediment. Integrating volcanic and palaeoclimatic records to understand the integrated impacts of large-scale eruptions and climate change on hominin evolution and dispersal. 
 
Chloe Sanyu, PhD in Geography
Researching the Conservative government's approaches to gender in UK international development policy since 2010.
History

Isobel Akerman, PhD in History
Exploring the emergence of environmental thought within regional botanic gardens in post-war Britain, and considering how this affected change in their scientific research, institutional strategies and public education programmes.

Zeynep Olgun, PhD in History
Exploring the maritime culture, materiality, and society of the Byzantine Empire, including ships and shipbuilding, merchant and sailor communities, naval administration, and warfare.
 
Meg Roberts, PhD in History
Examining caregiving, health and disability during the American Revolutionary War.
History & Philosophy of Science

Zhiyu Chen, PhD in History & Philosophy of Science
The cross-cultural production of cartography in the early modern South China Sea.

Janna Mueller, PhD in History & Philosophy of Science
Investigating the evolving conceptions and classifications of celestial bodies in early 19th-century astronomy, drawing on the works of astronomers who pursued a form of “physical astronomy,” exploratively observing celestial objects with high-resolution telescopes and drawing inferences about the nature and composition rather than their positions and motions.

Fu Ge Yang
Examining the overlap between psychiatry and spiritualism in early 20th-century China, focusing on fraudulent practices in the industry, the role of women and the international connection with Germany. Also interested in the intersection of medicine, colonial history, queer and gender studies.

 

Latin American Studies

Tamara Zambiasi, MPhil in Latin American Studies
Examining inequality and public policies in Brazil, with a focus on hunger and food security.

Law

Joana Ribeiro de Faria, PhD in Law 
Focusing on the legal and economic challenges of concluding contracts with the support of artificial intelligent agents. 

Philosophy

Marlene Valek, PhD in Philosophy
Working in political and social philosophy of language with a focus on speech act theory. Researching the ways in which members of marginalised groups are silenced or excluded from conversations.

Physics

Skyla White, PhD in Physics
Investigating the kinetics of prebiotic reaction networks, with a goal of placing better constraints on the geochemical environment that may have been conducive to the first steps of life's emergence.

Pure Mathematics & Mathematical Statistics

Siao Chi Mok, PhD in Pure Mathematics & Mathematical Statistics
Studying moduli spaces in algebraic geometry, particularly those constructed via combinatorial techniques, and their role in enumerative geometry.

Social Anthropology

Sally Montgomery, PhD in Social Anthropology
Environmental anthropology, environmental-grief and plastic pollution, conservation.

Sociology
Zaizhou Li, PhD in Sociology
Commercial surrogacy industry in China, sociology of reproduction and gender, assisted reproductive technology and new kinship studies.
 
Elisabeth Sandler, PhD in Sociology
Exploring the coming and being out experiences of LGBTQA+ identifying Cambridge students and staff members, in order to generate action points to improve the lives of LGBTQA+ students and university employees within the UK and beyond.
Veterinary Medicine

Nina Krause, PhD in Biological Sciences
Translational approaches to infectious diseases, based around the development of a trivalent vaccine candidate against Marburg-, Ebola- and Lassa virus, evaluating vaccine candidates in different animal models in regards to immunogenicity and efficacy.

Zoology

Ming Khan, PhD in Zoology
Studying the ecological interactions of Antarctic seafloor communities using seabed photographs of the modern oceans, and the palaeocology of Antarctic invertebrate communities of the latest Maastrichtian (66 million years ago) using fossil data from museum collections.

Helena (Sacchi) Shin-Clayton, PhD in Zoology
Studying restoration methods for riparian margins within established oil palm plantations in Indonesia, focusing on reintroducing ecological conservation areas to preserve tropical species and foster a sustainable agricultural landscape that balances both production and conservation goals.