Join a full day of presentations and stimulating discussions with the academics and prize-winning PhD students in the Faculty of Natural Sciences and find out about our innovative work. Everybody is welcome! Please register as soon as possible (deadline is 17.00 on 21 September 2026).
10.00 – 18.00, SAFB G16 LT (Sir Alexander Fleming Building)
Welcome coffee from 09.30 in the concourse level 1
- Departmental talks sessions: 10.00 – 16.10 in SAFB G16 LT (coffee breaks in the concourse level 1).
- PhD students poster competition: 12.30 – 13.40 in SAFB 120-122 (lunch will be provided)Ìý– ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ staff and students will be able to vote for their favourite poster by Wednesday 23rd September, 15:00 – posters will be uploaded in our website in early September.
- Panel session: 16.10 – 17.10 in SAFB 120-122.
- Awards from 17.15 with canapés and drinks reception in the concourse level 1.
Don’t miss this great opportunity to engage with our academics and postgraduate students. Please see the full programme below:
Programme
10.00 – 10.05 Welcome
Welcome and opening remarks by the Dean Professor Richard Craster.
10.05 – 10.35 Centre for Environmental Policy Showcase
- 10.05 – 10.20: (Associate Professor) – Beyond the Silos: equity and justice in tackling biodiversity and climate
- 10.20 – 10.35: Gail Sucharitakul (PhD student) – Addressing the Elephant in the Room: Value Pluralism in Nature Credit Markets
10.35 – 11.20 Department of Mathematics Showcase
- 10.35 – 10.50: (Reader in Statistics) – Spatial statistics on manifolds: new mathematical tools for microbial and cell biology.
- 10.50 – 11.05: Pablo Zurita Soler (PhD student) – Emergent coordination in small-scale biology: mathematics and mechanics of self-driven cilia
- 11.05 – 11.20:Ìý Elana Todd-Miller (PhD student) – Action All-Round: Semiclassical Propagation on a Sphere
Coffee break (11.20 – 11.30)
11.30 – 12.30 Department of Life Sciences Showcase
- 11.30 – 11.45: (Assistant Professor in Biotechnology and Engineering Biology) – Synthetic Cells: from Soft Matter to Life-Like Behaviours
- 11.45 – 12.00: Katarina Piponi (PhD student) – The evolution and maintenance of same-sex sexual behaviour in primates
- 12.00 – 12.15: Natasha Granville (PhD student) – Temperature mediates variation in bird responses to deforestation
- 12.15 – 12.30: Cecil Lee-Grant (PhD student) – The Cyrtandra Conundrum: Integrative Approaches to a Mega-Diverse Genus
12.30 – 13.40 Lunch and Poster session
13.40 – 14.40 Department of Chemistry Showcase
- 13.40 – 13.55: (Royal Society URF – Associate Professor) – Why chiral light can barely tell left from right –Ìýand how to fix it by shaping it in 3D
- 13.55 – 14.10: Naura Antariksa (PhD student)Ìý – Modulating Cockayne Syndrome B Phase Separation through Interaction with Multimolecular G-quadruplexesÌý
- 14.10 – 14.25: Rowan Bailey (PhD student) – Mechanistic Investigation of [Co2(CO)8] Catalysed Photoaminocarbonylation Reactions
- 14.25 – 14.40: Christina Siakalli (PhD student) – Coordination Chemistry of Hydroxyquinoline-Based Macrocyclic Lanthanide Complexes
Coffee break (14.40 – 14.50)
14.50 – 15.50 Department of Physics Showcase
- 14.50 – 15.05: (Associate Professor in Condensed Matter Theory) – Symmetry and Topology in Quantum Matter
- 15.05 – 15.20: Amaya Calvo Sanchez (PhD student) – How to Build Non-Gaussian States for Quantum Sensing and Computation
- 15.20 – 15.35: Louis Beucher (PhD student) – Title to be confirmed
- 15.35 – 15.50: Alex van Lomwel (PhD student) – Title to be confirmed
15.50 – 15.55 Closing
Closing remarks by Professor Richard Craster.
Coffee break (15.55 – 16.10)
16.10 – 17.10 Why Should We Support Curiosity-Driven Research?
Panel discussion will be chaired by (Head of Chemistry Department, Professor of Medicinal Inorganic Chemistry).
This year’s panel will focusÌý´Ç²Ô Curiosity-Driven Research, highlighting how fundamental science can lead to unexpected and transformative breakthroughs. Four academic members have been invited, each presenting a compelling example of such research:Ìý
- (DepartmentÌýof Physics) – Quantum Mechanics: Semiconductors and Modern Electronics
- (Department of Chemistry) – CRISPR: Gene-editing Technology
- (Department of Life Sciences) – Gut Microbiome research: Clinical applications and Disease prevention and management
- (Department of Mathematics) – Number Theory:ÌýCryptography
17.15 – 18.00 Canapes reception and prizes
Awards will be given at 17.30.