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Choosing a project: listed research projects

Project List: Summer 2024

These listed projects are for first year undergraduates applying to the Laidlaw Research and Leadership Programme.  They usually form part of a larger research project which supervisors are running at UCL, working at the forefront of their disciplines to push forward the boundaries of knowledge. 

You can apply for any project which interests you from this list, but you must be able to demonstrate in your application that you meet the Essential Criteria as listed for your chosen project.  The project you choose does not have to relate to your current studies.

Some of the projects listed are not fully formulated.  If you are successful in your application, you will be expected to work with your Laidlaw supervisor to produce a full project plan before you start work in Summer 2024.

When you have chosen which project you wish to apply for, make sure you read it thoroughly and think about the issues involved.  This will help you to complete your application. If you have a project-related question, you can contact the supervisor of that project by email.

Essentials for your application

  • You must demonstrate how you meet the Essential Skills listed in the project description when you complete your application form. 
  • Your application must be submitted by the deadline. Late submission for whatever reason cannot be accepted - so we recommend you apply in plenty of time.

See Applying for more information.

Notes:

(1) The standard six week period for summer 2024 is Monday 10 June to Friday 19 July 2024.  These dates can usually be changed by agreement with the supervisor, but you should check this with them before applying.

(2) Project outputs must be completed by the end of the summer 2024.  Failure to do so could jeopardise your place on the scheme.

Projects Listed by Faculty

You can apply for any topic that interests you regardless of your degree subject, but you must meet the Essential Criteria.

You can only apply ONCE.  Any additional applications will be disregarded.

Arts and Humanities
AH1: Responsible use of books as generative AI training data
AH2: Gendered political participation post-conflict
AH3: Illiberal uses of collective victimhood narratives in Hungary

The Bartlett
BA1: Transforming Education with Curriculum Liberation

Brain Sciences
BR1: Movement disorders associated with recreational drug use

Engineering
E1: Spiraling soft robots for grasping
E2: Understanding the gene regulatory networks of healthy ageing
E3: How bubbles help the ocean breathe
E4: Robotic Dog Research Assistant 
E5: Review of Personal Safety Apps
E6: Supporting the creation of a module in interdisciplinary communication at UCL East

Institute of Education
IOE1: Culturally-Sensitive Ethics Frameworks in Research with Children
IOE2: Voices of UCL: Shaping the Generation UCL oral history archive  
IOE3: Mapping Mentoring in the Local Media Entrepreneurship Ecosystem in East London
IOE4: Understanding how individuals adapt to the long-term impacts of Long Covid 
IOE5: The role of the built environment in child psychopathy
IOE6:  The Politics of Religion: Evangelical Women, Conservative Politics, and the 2024 US Presidential Election 
IOE7: Local authority responses to public health budget cuts: health visiting services for children
IOE8: Making Constructionist Construction Materials for musical instruments

Laws
LA1: Justice Delayed: Access to Justice in Tort Litigation in England and Wales
LA2: A critical perspective on English contract law
LA3: How might new technologies change contracting and contract law?

Life Sciences
LS1: Creating a guide for volunteer river monitoring
LS2: Developing electrospun fast dissolving medicines for children

Mathematical and Physical Sciences
MA1: Solid- and fluid-like behaviour of biological tissues
MA2: Nature-inspired self-healing for organic electronics
MA3: Automatically differentiating active matter computer simulation code
MA4: Evaluating a mathematical model for bacterial growth

Medical Sciences
MS1: Magnetomechanical stimulation (MMS) technology with magnetic nanoparticles
MS2: Investigating the effect of T cell age on inflammatory bowel disease 

Population Health Sciences
PH1: Predicting the antimicrobial resistance of Streptococcus pneumoniae to azithromycin
PH2: Characterisation of the cellular HIV reservoir in differently treated children

Social and Historical Sciences
SHS1: The Politics of Decolonisation: Archives and Evidence
SHS2: Trading by humans and algorithms (AI)
SHS3: The earnings of General Practitioners: variability and relation with measures of health care quality
SHS4: Using staff-student dialogue to improve education and student experience
SHS5: On Being British Asian, Queer, and HIV+
SHS6: Improving Oral Hygiene - Interventions on improving healthy routines
SHS7: What does recruitment, application and hiring in the teaching-track job market look like?

 

Arts and Humanities Faculty



Project Number: AH1

Responsible use of books as generative AI training data

Supervisor Details
Name of Scholarship Project Supervisor: Simon Rowberry
Department of Supervisor: Information Studies
Faculty of Supervisor: Arts & Humanities
Email address of Supervisor: s.rowberry@ucl.ac.uk

Project Details
Title of main project (the main project to which the Laidlaw Scholar's project will relate):
Generative AI and the Publishing Industry
Brief Summary of Main Research Project: We (Simon Rowberry and Laura Dietz) have started exploratory work on the intersection of book publishing and the recent revived interested in generative AI. This work has largely manifested in collaborations with the MA Publishing students through exploring how publishing might use generative AI ethically and transparently throughout the production, distribution, and reception processes. 
This on-going work has received funding through the AI Co-Creators scheme and the Centre for Humanities Education. It also builds upon Rowberry’s long-running research around the materiality of digital textuality and generative textual technologies, dating back to his PhD research in 2014, as well as Dietz’s research on evolving definitions of authorship and the credibility and legitimacy of AI-authored texts, a topic of recent conference and invited talk presentations and one strand of her forthcoming monograph (E-books and ‘Real Books’, CUP 2024).

Title of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: Responsible use of books as generative AI training data
Summary of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: We are broadly interested in the role of books as training data for Large Language Models.  Since recent investigative reporting, such as that by Alex Reisner in The Atlantic., has raised awareness of the use of copyrighted works in Books3 and other datasets, authors and publishers are debating the ethics and legality of LLM training.  We are looking to extend these conversations through exploring this corpus in relation to so-called shadow libraries (pirated collections of books and journal articles that circulate online such as Sci-Hub) and/or the role of academic publishing/open access in improving the quality of the training data. This could lead to a number of potentially interesting projects, including, but not limited to:

  • Mapping the numerous lawsuits by authors included in Books3 without their knowledge, and the surrounding public discourse
  • Generating qualitative data on researchers’ and academic publishers’ conceptions of the relationship between open access and LLMs
  • Developing methods for identifying academic books included in Books3
  • Developing methods for quantifying the academic publications of which Chat-GPT has knowledge   
  • Creating case studies of industry responses to unauthorised use of copyrighted texts via Books3

Outputs to be produced by the Scholar: A 2,000 – 3,000 word report and an A0 academic poster. 
Is the project expected to run over the standard period? Yes
Outline up to THREE essential skills which the scholar must have in order to undertake your project successfully: 

  • Strong Critical thinking skills, especially the ability to make connections between different sources
  • An openness to engaging with digital tools (although no technical experience required)
  • The ability to ask questions/for help when stuck.

Details of Supervision Arrangements: The scholar will have weekly meetings with one or both of the supervisors either in-person or online, and will be invited to join any relevant events or training conducted more broadly within the Department of Information Studies.

Project Number: AH2

Gendered political participation post-conflict

Supervisor Details
Name of Scholarship Project Supervisor: Elodie Douarin
Department of Supervisor: SSEES
Faculty of Supervisor: Arts and Humanities
Email address of Supervisor: e.douarin@ucl.ac.uk

Project Details
Title of main project (the main project to which the Laidlaw Scholar's project will relate): Gendered political participation post-conflict
Brief Summary of Main Research Project: War-time experiences of displacement, injury and death can have dramatic and enduring impacts on victims. The extant literature suggests that it affects social, economic and political choices in the long-run. While the impact of victimisation is often expected to be negative, war victims have been shown to be more politically active than non-victims. Our own work on Kosovo suggests that war victims are more likely to vote, join political parties and participate in demonstration nearly 20 years after the conflict. However, this impact differ widely for men and women: while victimised men join political parties and demonstrations, victimised women are (only?) more likely to vote.
 
More research is needed to understand the mechanisms linking victimisation to political participation, especially regarding their individual and societal dimensions, to shed more light into these gendered effects. We may also gain more insights from exploring more diverse forms of victimisation, as some remain understudied. This is in particular the case for war-time sexual violence (WTSV), a form of victimisation of particular significance in the Kosovo conflict. 
We are currently collecting data in Kosovo to explore these questions further and by the summer, we will be working on the interpretation of our findings and writing up for dissemination.

Title of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: Gendered political participation post-conflict
Summary of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: There are two key questions underlying this project. One around establishing fact-based knowledge on the links between war victimisation and political participation later on, and one around improving our understanding of the linking mechanisms that can explain why and how a war victim becomes more political active (or not).

This means that the work of the scholar could focus on supporting the presentation and dissemination of findings and/or on our efforts to synthetise and expand on exiting knowledge on mechanisms.

Please note: A trip to Pristina, Kosovo is planned to discuss results with local researchers in May or June.  There is a possibility the scholar could join this trip. This is currently not confirmed, and the student’s attendance would depend on their main study timetable in May / June.  If this goes ahead, the student’s travel would be fully funded.

Outputs to be produced by the Scholar:

A 2,000 – 3,000 word report and an A0 academic poster.  
Plus depending on interest and skills:

  • a synthesis of the literature or an annotated literature review
  • some infographics/graphs for dissemination
  • a write up on comparative cases

Is the project expected to run over the standard period? Yes, or earlier by agreement.
Outline up to THREE essential skills which the scholar must have in order to undertake your project successfully:

  • Enthusiasm for and willingness to engage with applied economic research through a critical reading of the academic literature
  • Some quantitative training (e.g. introduction to econometrics, quantitative methods) or knowledge of data management and analysis
  • Developing skills in one or more associated software (Excel, Stata, Python, R) and a willingness to increase you skills

Details of Supervision Arrangements:
Weekly supervision meeting in person or online
Skill-development session on conducting rigorous literature review
Quantitative training if possible and needed


 
Project Number: AH3

Illiberal uses of collective victimhood narratives in Hungary

Supervisor Details
Name of Scholarship Project Supervisor: Jessie Barton Hronesova
Department of Supervisor: School of Slavonic and East European Studies
Faculty of Supervisor: Arts and Humanities
Email address of Supervisor: jessie.hronesova@ucl.ac.uk

Project Details
Please note: The scholar will need to be able to speak and read Hungarian to a high level of proficiency (at least B2 level) to apply for this project.

Title of main project (the main project to which the Laidlaw Scholar's project will relate):  Politics of Victimhood in Eastern Europe
Brief Summary of Main Research Project: The project investigates how narratives of collective victimhood have featured in the politics of post-socialist Europe in the past two decades, and whether and how such frames have influenced the current illiberal trends across the region. The project specifically studies different meanings, notions and constructions of victimhood and how they have featured in key moments of political contestation such as power transitions and crises. It introduces a new understanding of social and political victimhood that clearly manifests itself in contemporary post-socialist Europe, linked to collective and individual grievances that vary from memories of historical injustice, East-West divisions, socialist political persecution, war suffering, and a recent sense of marginalization by capitalism.

Title of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: Illiberal uses of collective victimhood narratives in Hungary
Summary of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project:
The overarching question of this part of the project is: What has been the dominant discourse linked to victimhood in Hungary? 
However, the student will work on one subquestion related to the role of the communist experience in the current discourse on the war of Russia on Ukraine and Hungarian-Russian relationships.

Outputs to be produced by the Scholar:

A 2,000 – 3,000 word report and an A0 academic poster.
In addition:

  • 10 interviews (with transcripts) with policymakers in Hungary
  • reports and transcripts from focus groups run by the PI
  • media briefs (5 media reports as discussed with the PI)

Is the project expected to run over the standard period? Yes
Outline up to THREE essential skills which the scholar must have in order to undertake your project successfully: 
Knowledge of Hungarian to at least B2 level (fluency preferred)
Analytical skills
Ability/willingness to conduct fieldwork (supported by the PI)

Details of Supervision Arrangements: I propose weekly meetings and a joint fieldwork to Hungary where meetings would be more frequent. The student will be guided through interview process, analysing qualitative data and fieldwork.

Please note that the fieldwork to Hungary will be funded mainly by the student’s bursary grant. Some additional funding may be available for travel.

Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment

 

Project Number: BA1

Transforming Education with Curriculum Liberation
Supervisor Details
Name of Scholarship Project Supervisor: Priscila Carvalho
Department of Supervisor: UCL Energy Institute
Faculty of Supervisor: The Bartlett Faculty
Email address of Supervisor: priscila.carvalho@ucl.ac.uk

Project Details
Title of main project (the main project to which the Laidlaw Scholar's project will relate): Pathways to Decolonisation
Brief Summary of Main Research Project: 'Pathways to Decolonisation' research conducted at the Bartlett School of Energy, Environment and Resources, collected data from 2020-22 that supports understanding of current practices, processes and approach to curriculum design and delivery across its eleven MSc programmes. An analysis of 284 sources “authored by 746 individuals, with 74% being male lead authors and a notable 95% of sources linked to Western institutions and affiliations” echoes the critical findings of Schucan Bird, K., Pitman, L., and Wilson, K. (2020), underscoring the dominance of white, male, Western-centric perspectives in reading lists.
The project's most recent endeavour, an awareness workshop on November 2023, engaged 18 of 27 students from the MSc on Business and Sustainability (BaS) in decolonization discussions, setting the stage for ongoing curriculum co-development with these participants and faculty in the upcoming terms. The activities will include (i) Student and Staff Partnership for Decolonising and Diversifying Learning and Teaching (SSP-Decolonisation) in the BaS; (ii) and training sessions with Calling4gr8ness as an external collaborator.  
A central component of this new phase of the project is for students and staff to co-perform audits of the curriculum through two interactive workshops designed to facilitate collaboration in data collection and evaluation of reading materials and sources, course work focus, case studies, and invited guest lectures under the new BaS programme. During these remunerated three-part workshops in terms 2 and 3, students with diverse identities and backgrounds will actively partner with staff to scrutinise the diversity and inclusivity of learning materials, considering the profile of the authors by gender and race, the geographical contexts used as examples, the range of content themes and geographies, as well as the various theoretical approaches employed. The goal is to unearth any "gaps, silences, and missing voices" (Arshad et al., 2021), and to recommend additional materials, sources and approaches to be incorporated in the curriculum.
 

Title of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: Transforming Education with Curriculum Liberation
Summary of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: The assessment of diversity and inclusivity of our academic curriculum raises several key questions. Firstly, to what extent do our reading lists feature a diverse range of authors, particularly in terms of gender and demographic identity? This question seeks to understand the representation of varied voices and perspectives in the literature provided to students. Secondly, how much of our coursework focuses on diverse geographical regions?This inquiry aims to determine if the curriculum extends beyond Western-centric views to encompass a broader, global perspective. Thirdly, when considering case studies, to what degree do they include diverse geographies from the Global South? This aspect examines whether the curriculum adequately represents and engages with issues, scenarios, and perspectives from less commonly explored regions, particularly those in the Global South. Finally, how often are individuals from outside Western universities invited as guest lecturers for the module? This question evaluates the efforts made to introduce students to a wide range of viewpoints and expertise, especially those that might not typically be featured in a Western academic context.
These questions collectively help in evaluating the extent to which the curriculum is decolonized and inclusive, providing a comprehensive understanding of diverse global contexts and viewpoints.

Outputs to be produced by the Scholar: A 2,000 – 3,000 word report and an A0 academic poster.  Contribution to the research paper being developed as an output of the overarching research project. 
Is the project expected to run over the standard period? Yes
Outline up to THREE essential skills which the scholar must have in order to undertake your project successfully: Critical thinking, data analysis, writing and research skills
Details of Supervision Arrangements: Beyond the meetings at the start, middle and end of the project, the supervisor will be available to communicate and answer questions via e-mail throughout the whole six-week period and available to undertake up to three additional meetings with each student whenever they deem necessary.

 

 
Brain Sciences Faculty



Project Number BR1


Movement disorders associated with recreational drug use

Supervisor Details
Name of Scholarship Project Supervisor: Dr Jonathan Rogers
Department of Supervisor: Division of Psychiatry
Faculty of Supervisor: Brain Sciences
Email address of Supervisor: jonathan.rogers@ucl.ac.uk

Project Details
Title of main project (the main project to which the Laidlaw Scholar's project will relate):  Neuropsychiatry of Movement
Brief Summary of Main Research Project: Mental state and physical movement are intimately connected. For example, neurological movement disordes like Huntington's disease and Parkinson's disease have florid psychiatric manifestations. Meanwhile, psychiatric disorders like depression and schizophrenia often present abnormal movements. Understanding these relationships are a fascinating way of approaching neuropsychiatric disorders and developing new treatments.

Title of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: Movement disorders associated with recreational drug use
Summary of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project:
Recreational drugs have various mental effects, including sedation, euphoria and relaxation. Their effects on movement can also be marked, but this has received little attention in the literature. 

The project would entail a systematic review of the existing literature on abnormal movements induced by recreational drugs, ascertaining the correspondence between individual drugs and the abnormal movements, as well as prevalences where possible.

The work would have direct clinical relevance to those working in emergency departments, acute medicine and psychiatry.

Outputs to be produced by the Scholar:

  • A 2,000 – 3,000 word report and an A0 academic poster.
  • An article for submission to a peer-reviewed journal.

Is the project expected to run over the standard period? Yes

Outline up to THREE essential skills which the scholar must have in order to undertake your project successfully: 

  • Interest in neuroscience and/or psychiatry
  • Ability to synthesise large amounts of information
  • Ability to learn new skills, particularly systematic reviews and an understanding of movement disorders

Details of Supervision Arrangements: Weekly supervision and optional office space.

 

Engineering Sciences Faculty


Project Number: E1

Spiraling soft robots for grasping

Supervisor Details
Name of Scholarship Project Supervisor: Thomas George Thuruthel
Department of Supervisor: Computer Science
Faculty of Supervisor: Engineering
Email address of Supervisor: t.thuruthel@ucl.ac.uk

Project Details
Title of main project (the main project to which the Laidlaw Scholar's project will relate):  Dexterous manipulation using soft robots
Brief Summary of Main Research Project: The research project focuses on the development and application of soft robotic systems to achieve precise and versatile manipulation tasks. Soft robots are composed of flexible and compliant materials, enabling them to interact with their environment in a gentle and adaptable manner. This research explores how soft robots can be used for tasks that require fine motor skills, delicate handling, and intricate manipulation, such as in medical procedures, manufacturing, and search and rescue operations.

Title of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: Spiraling soft robots for grasping
Summary of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: Biological appendages deform in a logarithmic spiral for grasping objects. This was shown to be advantages for robotic systems as well (https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/2303/2303.09861.pdf). The student project will look at replicating this study using pneumatic actuators and a soft body, carry out experimental studies and evaluate the final design.

Outputs to be produced by the Scholar:

A 2,000 – 3,000 word report and an A0 academic poster.  Plus – a poster presentation at the UK Manipulation Workshop or a conference publication at the Soft Robotics Conference.

Is the project expected to run over the standard period? Yes
Outline up to THREE essential skills which the scholar must have in order to undertake your project successfully: 
Some knowledge of, or interest in gaining knowledge of, the following: 

  • Robotics
  • CAD design
  • 3D Printing

Details of Supervision Arrangements: Weekly meeting with supervisor or PhD student, lab access and access to lab resources.



Project Number: E2

Understanding the gene regulatory networks of healthy ageing

Supervisor Details
Name of Scholarship Project Supervisor: Ben Hall
Department of Supervisor: Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering
Faculty of Supervisor: Engineering
Email address of Supervisor: b.hall@ucl.ac.uk

Project Details
Title of main project (the main project to which the Laidlaw Scholar's project will relate):  Modelling the stages of carcinogenesis from healthy tissue to metastasis
Brief Summary of Main Research Project: As tissues age, cells acquire mutations. Many of these mutations have limited impact on the cell, or reduce cellular fitness and are lost from the tissue. A small subset of mutations are under positive selection and enable clonal spread. Surprisingly, the mutations that are fit are not necessarily cancer promoting and indeed can slow the growth of cancers.

Title of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: Understanding the gene regulatory networks of healthy ageing
Summary of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: In this project you will study the genes found to be under selection in healthy tissues and develop executable network models with the BioModelAnalyzer tool. These models describe how genes work together to control cellular phenotype and will be built from publicly available data. These will be compared to the mutations observed in cancer to identify the subset that enable cancer progression.

Outputs to be produced by the Scholar: The scholar will generate a model as their primary research output, with a detailed log of how the model was tested and generated (i.e. literature and databases used to construct the model).  The A0 poster will describe the research and outcomes, and the standard Laidlaw report (2,000 – 3,000 words) will be completed.
Is the project expected to run over the standard period? Yes
Outline up to THREE essential skills which the scholar must have in order to undertake your project successfully:
Either a background in life sciences with an interest in programming and/or computational biology or a background in the physical, mathematical or computer sciences and a willingness to engage with biological research.
Details of Supervision Arrangements: Hot desk space will be available in my department. After a longer initial meeting,  I will plan to meet with the student once a week in person for at least 30 mins, and will be available over our groups messaging app (slack) for quick questions.

 

Project Number: E3

How bubbles help the ocean breathe

Supervisor Details
Name of Scholarship Project Supervisor: Helen Czerski
Department of Supervisor: Mechanical Engineering
Faculty of Supervisor: Engineering
Email address of Supervisor: h.czerski@ucl.ac.uk

Project Details
Title of main project (the main project to which the Laidlaw Scholar's project will relate):  Bubble Exchange in the Labrador Sea
Brief Summary of Main Research Project: The international oceanographic project “Bubble Exchange in the Labrador Sea” (or BELS) has been designed to investigate the detailed mechanisms causing the exchange of carbon dioxide and oxygen between the atmosphere and ocean. University College London is leading the part of the project focussed on measuring bubbles, dissolved gas and water flow patterns in the top few metres of the ocean.  This work is funded by the Natural Environment Research Council.  The data collection for the BELS project will occur during a research cruise in the Labrador Sea in November and December 2023. The major research question for our part of the study relates to how breaking waves and bubbles caused by high wind conditions influence gas transfer (particularly carbon dioxide and oxygen) into the ocean. One way of thinking about this is that it's about studying how the ocean breathes.

Title of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: How bubbles help the ocean breathe
Summary of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: What does the ocean sound like during a big storm?  There will be a hydrophone on the buoy, recording the sound made as waves break. Can we hear individual waves breaking and if we hear one break on top of the buoy, can we see the oxygen signal in the water as extra oxygen dissolves in the water?

Outputs to be produced by the Scholar: A 2,000 – 3,000 word report and an A0 academic poster.  Plus - there will be a large public engagement project running alongside the data analysis and the student could produce a figure or some questions to include in a schools pack.
Is the project expected to run over the standard period? Yes
Outline up to THREE essential skills which the scholar must have in order to undertake your project successfully: 

  • Strong mathematical skills and some experience of computer coding (the project will probably be run in Matlab), although the student could also learn the necessary Matlab as part of the project.
  • An interest in the natural world, and the physics of how it works.
  • An ability to work independently, and to come up their own ideas on the project (while still closely supported by the supervisor)

Details of Supervision Arrangements: The UCL team working on this will be the PI (Helen Czerski) and a postdoc (yet to be appointed). We also have one close collaborator in Leeds. There will be regular meetings with the PI and we can arrange additional meetings with the other project members. No lab work is required - this is based on data that will already have been gathered at sea.

 

Project Number: E4

Robotic Dog Research Assistant

Supervisor Details
Name of Scholarship Project Supervisor: Yu Wu
Department of Supervisor: Electronic and Electrical Engineering
Faculty of Supervisor: Engineering
Email address of Supervisor: yu.wu.09@ucl.ac.uk

Project Details
Title of main project (the main project to which the Laidlaw Scholar's project will relate):  Advanced Leg Sensor Integration for Enhanced Mobility in Go1 Robotic Dog
Brief Summary of Main Research Project: The overarching research project seeks to improve the mobility and operational intelligence of the Go1 robotic dog by developing and embedding advanced leg sensors. This initiative will focus on enhancing the robot's autonomous navigation and environmental interaction capabilities, leveraging sensor technology for improved balance, terrain adaptability, and feedback. By integrating sensors capable of force feedback to allow load sensing and proprioceptive awareness, the Go1 will gain a nuanced understanding of the terrain it traverses, from detecting surface textures to assessing the firmness of the ground under each step. This sensory data will allow the Go1 to make real-time adjustments to its gait and balance, ensuring optimal stability and mobility even in challenging conditions. The project will span multiple phases, beginning with a thorough research phase to identify the most suitable technologies, followed by design and development stages where prototypes will be meticulously crafted and iteratively tested. Subsequent integration and field-testing will refine the sensor system before full-scale implementation into the Go1 units. Moreover, if possible, the project will extend beyond hardware improvements, encompassing software development to ensure seamless integration of sensor data into the Go1's decision-making algorithms. This will involve advanced data analytics and machine learning techniques to interpret the vast amount of sensory information and use it to enhance the Go1's autonomous capabilities. In conclusion, the Go1 robotic dog will not only move with more agility and assurance but will also be better equipped to understand and interact with its operational environment, marking a significant step forward in the field of robotic mobility and autonomous systems.

Title of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: Research Assistant (Robotic Dog Project)
Summary of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: 
Undertaking a series of experiments to answer the following questions:

  • What advanced sensor technologies can be integrated into the legs of the Go1 robotic dog to improve its stability and environmental adaptability?
  • How can force, load, and proprioceptive sensors be designed to fit within the compact form factor of the Go1's legs while maintaining functionality and durability?
  • What are the optimal methods for interfacing these sensors with the Go1's central processing unit to enhance autonomous decision-making capabilities?
  • In what ways can the collected sensor data be utilised to refine the Go1's locomotion algorithms for various terrains and conditions?


Outputs to be produced by the Scholar: 

  • A 2,000 – 3,000 word report and an A0 academic poster. 
  • Plus - a prototype of a small, sophisticated sensor embedded onto the leg of the Go1 robotic dog. Detailed documentation of the sensor design process, including technical specifications and integration instructions.
  • A software update for the Go1, enabling the utilisation of new sensor data for improved autonomous operation.
  • Field testing data and analysis reports demonstrating the performance enhancements gained through the new sensors.
  • User manuals and operational guidelines for end-users to effectively operate and maintain the enhanced Go1 units.

*For your reference on What is GO1? https://gmargo11.github.io/walk-these-ways/

Is the project expected to run over the standard period? It can run between Jun to Sept 2024 if needed.  Exact dates to be agreed between scholar and supervisor.
Outline up to THREE essential skills which the scholar must have in order to undertake your project successfully: 
Some experience of or a willingness to learn: 

  • Circuit design
  • CAD and robotics design
  • Programming in either Python, ROS2 (preferred) or embedded-CProgramming Python, ROS2 (desired) and embedded-C

Details of Supervision Arrangements: Weekly in-person meeting, with work and lab space possible.  The supervisor will be on hand to help and guide you to undertake the tasks outlined in this project.

 

Project Number: E5

Review of Personal Safety Apps Aimed at Domestic Abuse and Stalking Victims/Survivors

Supervisor Details
Name of Scholarship Project Supervisor: Dr Leonie Maria Tanczer
Department of Supervisor: Computer Science
Faculty of Supervisor: Faculty of Engineering Sciences
Email address of Supervisor: l.tanczer@ucl.ac.uk

Project Details
Title of main project (the main project to which the Laidlaw Scholar's project will relate): Personal Safety Apps
Brief Summary of Main Research Project: Many personal safety applications for smartphones have been developed over the years, ranging App-Elles, Bright Sky to Hollie Guard. They are frequently aimed at vulnerable/high-risk groups and communities, offer features such as location-sharing and panic buttons, and try to engage users in self-protective behaviours. Previous research on these apps examined women’s experiences using these tools (Doria et al., 2021), inquired about their perceived effectiveness (Just et al., 2019), and evaluated support sector practitioners’ perception of them (Turgoose & McKie, 2021). 

For this project, you will review the personal safety app market aimed at domestic abuse and stalking victims/survivors. Together with your supervisor and the rest of the supporting research team (which includes stakeholders such as UN Women and UNFPA), you will therefore:  

  • Develop a search strategy and data collection/analysis framework to systematically gather a list of applications available on the Android and/or iOS app store. 
  • Rigorously review and evaluate the identified applications considering a prior agreed methodology, including analysing privacy policies and app network behaviour.
  • Uncover pervasive security and privacy issues that can negatively impact and affect its users.

Title of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: Review of Personal Safety Apps Aimed at Domestic Abuse and Stalking Victims/Survivors
Summary of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: 
Researching the following question:
What identifiable security and privacy risks are prevalent in personal safety apps aimed at domestic abuse and stalking victims/survivors?

Some skills in using command-line interfaces for Windows and/or Linux would be an advantage for this project.  

You will need excellent organisational, time-management, and project-management skills and a high level of written fluency in English, especially regarding the textual and graphical communication of technical information (additional language skills are a huge plus!).

Outputs to be produced by the Scholar: 

  • A 2,000 – 3,000 word report and an A0 academic poster. 
  • Blog post on, e.g., Bentham’s Gaze.
  • Presentation to real-world policy stakeholders such as UN Women, UNFPA, and the Global Partnership for Action on Gender-Based Online Harassment and Abuse.
  • Opportunities for co-authorship of an academic output (this will necessarily extend beyond the project's life).

Is the project expected to run over the standard period? Wednesday, 19 June until Wednesday 31 July 2023
Outline up to THREE essential skills which the scholar must have in order to undertake your project successfully: 

  • Basic understanding of the technical structure, security and privacy standards, and common security vulnerabilities of Android and/or iOS mobile applications. 
  • Ability to problem solve, to read academic/technical outputs, and to engage in self-learning (e.g., how to use packet capture tools to intercept and analyse network traffic, what network protocols are relevant to mobile applications, etc.) 
  • A keen interest in helping domestic abuse and stalking victims/survivors. 

Details of Supervision Arrangements: During the six weeks, the student would work in our Gender and Tech Research Lab (169 Euston Road), would meet with the supervisor weekly (either online or in person) for a 1-2-1 appointment, and is expected to join regular research group meetings. Post-doctoral fellows, PhD students, and UN Women and UNFPA representatives would assist with their supervision.



Project Number: E6


Supporting the creation of a module in interdisciplinary communication at UCL East

Supervisor Details
Name of Scholarship Project Supervisor: Dr Natalie Wint
Department of Supervisor: Centre for Engineering Education
Faculty of Supervisor: Engineering
Email address of Supervisor: nat.wint@ucl.ac.uk

Project Details
Title of overarching research project (the main project to which the Laidlaw Scholar's project will relate): Supporting UCL East students in development of interdiscplinary communication skills 
Brief Summary of Main Research Project: It is widely accepted that the complex problems faced within our society necessitate the use of interdisciplinary approaches. Such approaches are not necessarily supported within traditional models of higher education but are increasingly becoming part of institutional education strategies. For example, the Connected Curriculum is UCL’s educational framework which focuses on providing students with opportunities to make conceptual connections between their own subject and other disciplines and equipping them to address interdisciplinary challenges. Engaging with contrasting perspectives and exploring the implications of approaching global challenges from varying disciplinary perspectives requires that students become aware of how an academic discipline is framed and shaped by culture and language.

This is particularly relevant for the cross-disciplinary and interdisciplinary courses held at UCL East, which have been designed by academics from different departments, together with industry, partners, and practitioners and which provide a unique learning experience.
This project involves the creation of a 15-credit academic interdisciplinary communication module to begin in the 25/26 academic year. The module relies on the collaboration between the Academic Communication Centre (ACC) and UCL East partners and would be offered to ten programmes (a number which is likely to rise as more UCL East programmes are being developed). Design of such a module involves input and collaboration with the ten programmes who may include the module within their diet. 

This Laidlaw Scholar’s Project would focus on a thorough needs analysis to 1) understand current barriers to interdisciplinary communication in specific contexts (interdisciplinarity is highly contextual), both reported within the literature and through collection of data from individuals involved in interdisciplinary research; 2) identify key themes and activities that would best illustrate these challenges and invite students to actively engage with these; but also 3) consider these challenges from the perspective of the students taking interdisciplinary courses.

Title of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project:  Research and needs analysis to support the creation of a module in interdisciplinary communication at UCL East.
Summary of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: The scholar would play a key role in co-creating research in the following areas and research questions:

  1. Research in existing interdisciplinary modules, their rationale, and how students respond to these (e.g. BASc).
  2. Interview of staff regarding the issues they face in interdisciplinary research projects. With a focus on what hinders effective communication. 
  3. Help establish a lit review regarding the effective teaching of interdisciplinary communication

Outline up to THREE essential skills which the scholar must have in order to undertake your project successfully:

  • Interest in interdisciplinary education and/or
  • Good communication skills

Outputs to be produced by the Scholar: 

  • An A0 academic poster. 
  • A 2,000 - 3,000 word report addressing the research questions above with a follow-up conversation to clarify / further consider findings. 

Details of Supervision Arrangements: The student will have a space to work if needed on the UCL East campus and/or Bloomsbury.  

I will arrange weekly catch ups and the student will also be able to seek advice from other colleagues working on areas linked to East London.


Institute of Education Faculty

Project Number: IOE1

Establishment and Implications of Culturally-Sensitive Ethics Frameworks in Research with Children

Supervisor Details
Name of Scholarship Project Supervisor: Dr Yan Zhu
Department of Supervisor: Department of Education, Practice and Society
Faculty of Supervisor: IOE
Email address of Supervisor: yan.zhu@ucl.ac.uk

Project Details
Title of main project (the main project to which the Laidlaw Scholar's project will relate): Developing reflexive framework for ethically and culturally appropriate research with children and their families in China
Brief Summary of Main Research Project: This project is developed based on the previous project funded by UCL Global Engagement Fund 2022/23 (Tackling Ethical Challenges in Research with Children: Contextualizing Children’s Rights in China), which held six knowledge-exchange international webinars and six focus groups to promote understanding of the status of ethics in research with children in China. This new project will continue our work on exploring a reflexive framework to ensure research is ethically and culturally appropriate when working with children in China. This can contribute to disrupt western-centric theoretical foundations underpinning existing guidance.

In recent decades, advocating for children's rights and conducting ethically sound research involving children have been extensively discussed on a global scale. However, with the decolonisation turn in Childhood Studies, the universal paradigms governing children's rights and ethical research practices with children have come under inquiry due to their inherent Western-centric nature, which often aligns with white and middle-class childhood experiences. For example, due to the dominance of Western discourses, the pervasive language of rights has been developed through a lens of liberal individualism without sufficient consideration for collectivist values and interdependent cultures associated with many non-Western societies, such as China. These cultures emphasise norms, such as communal goals, obedience to authority, and cooperative and altruistic orientation. This extends into underlying assumptions for ethical governance of childhood research, where researchers frequently encounter ethical dilemmas when applying universally accepted ethical codes and practices to research involving children in non-Western societies. However, many Chinese empirical child studies overly rely on Western ethics frameworks without thoroughly considering their applicability or the critical implications within the Chinese context. This includes a limited exploration of what defines the Chinese context, its uniqueness, and how it differs. Additionally, through conducting workshops and empirical inquries with Chinese emerging researchers in childhood studies, we identify an important gap of lacking culturally-relevant ethical framework in research with children in China.

This project aims to provide the first ethical framework to address ethical issues in research with children and their families on sensitive topics in China. To achieve this aim, this project will hold a one-day workshop at UCL in summer 2024 to engage researchers and practitioners who have rich experience in conducting childhood studies in Chinese contexts. To gain a diversity of perspectives, the workshop will invite researchers and practitioners from diverse backgrounds, for example, different research disciplines including sociology, psychology, linguistics, medical and health studies, etc. This will enable us to better understand the different ethical issues encountered in different research contexts, thereby generating more reflexive framework which can be widely applied by Chinese researchers and beyond. This is not a check-list in terms of 'what you should be doing' but a set of reflective questions with underpinning principles so researchers/practitioners can use them to critically consider their own research in context.

Title of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: Establishment and Implications of Culturally-Sensitive Ethics Frameworks in Research with Children
Summary of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: Students will address the following research question through desk-based research (literature review). There may be opportunities for students to support the workshop (e.g., contribute to event management and organization) if it coincides with the Laidlaw scholarship time.
Research question: What are the good practices for developing and applying culturally-sensitive ethics in research with children in the global context?

Outputs to be produced by the Scholar: A 2,000 – 3,000 word report and an A0 academic poster.
Is the project expected to run over the standard period? Yes
Outline up to THREE essential skills which the scholar must have in order to undertake your project successfully: 
Students will need to do desk-based research (literature review), so the below three skills are important:

  • Searching relevant literature
  • Critical reading
  • Academic writing

Details of Supervision Arrangements:
This work could be done remotely if required.
I'm aiming to meet with the scholar(s) once per week via Teams mainly. Feedback to their weekly writing work will be returned via emails. 
I'm happy to meet scholar(s) a couple of times in person in London at my UCL office during the programme time. 
Students will be invited to attend and support the overarching research project's workshop (e.g., contribute to event management and organization) if it coincides with the Laidlaw scholarship time.



Project Number: IOE2

Voices of UCL: Shaping the Generation UCL oral history archive

Supervisor Details
Name of Scholarship Project Supervisor: Sam Blaxland
Department of Supervisor: Education, Practice and Society
Faculty of Supervisor: IOE
Email address of Supervisor: s.blaxland@ucl.ac.uk

Project Details
Title of main project (the main project to which the Laidlaw Scholar's project will relate):  Generation UCL: 200 Years of Student Life in London
Brief Summary of Main Research Project: Generation UCL is a major research and engagement project in the lead up to UCL’s bicentenary in 2026. Funded by a Provost’s Award, it seeks to turn the history of UCL upside down by telling it through the eyes of students from the 1820s to the present day. Alongside detailed archival work, the team have spent the past 18 months interviewing a range of former students about their experiences, amassing in the process a unique collection of recorded spoken testimonies about student life in London. These will be preserved and made available online by UCL Special Collections and will be an invaluable resource for scholars in the future. The project has now amassed 75 recorded oral testimonies, all of which have been fully transcribed. A small number of short clips from the collection have been created which have been used in the current Octagon Gallery exhibition on the history of student life, but which can also be used in wider teaching and research activities.

Title of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: Voices of UCL: Shaping the Generation UCL oral history archive
Summary of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: 
We would like a student to methodically listen to some of the interviews in our collection and think about a number of ways in which these testimonies might be utilised by the project team and by scholars more broadly: 

  • How can this oral evidence contribute to and enhance the wider analysis in Sam Blaxland and Georgina Brewis’ book on the history of student life in London since the 1820s, which will be a major output for UCL’s 2026 bicentenary? Which of our key themes might parts of the recordings relate to or help provide a different perspective on? 
  • Which parts of the interview might we realistically be able to clip in order to use in presentations, lectures (including a Lunch Hour lecture in June 2023), exhibitions, or in a future event on student oral histories? (See below) 

In the process of undertaking these tasks, the student would help check the accuracy of the transcripts of the interviews, which have been completed for us by an external company.

Outputs to be produced by the Scholar: 
A 2,000 – 3,000 word report and an A0 academic poster.  
The scholar will be asked to contribute two short articles to the project blog during the project (https://studentsunionucl.org/generation-ucl). We will ask the scholar to help curate a set of clips for a new series on the UCL Soundcloud. We will showcase the oral history collection in its own right at an event at UCL in Autumn 2024. Here, we will discuss the value and the challenges of interviewing former students for a project like this. At that event, we will play extracts from the collection, which the scholar will have played a key role in helping us to identify. More broadly, this work will provide invaluable support for the writing and production of one of the key outputs of UCL’s bicentenary celebrations in 2026, and we will mention the scholar in the acknowledgments.

Is the project expected to run over the standard period? Yes
Outline up to THREE essential skills which the scholar must have in order to undertake your project successfully: 

  • Attention to detail: the checking of transcripts and identifying of clips requires sharp focus. 
  • Good listeners: the nature of the task involves listening to people speaking and it is very important that the scholar is able to engage with this medium.
  • Historically minded: the testimonies relate to events in the past. It is would be very useful if the scholar had some general interest in post-war British history, as they would be able to place the events being spoken about into context. 

Details of Supervision Arrangements: We will run an introductory session with the scholar where we introduce them to the collection. After that, we will ask for a weekly short report on their progress. We will offer face-to-face catch up sessions twice during the period when the work is being undertaken and additional meetings either in person or over Teams if they wish to catch up.

 

Project Number: IOE3

Mapping Mentoring in the Local Media Entrepreneurship Ecosystem in UCL's neighbouring east London boroughs

Supervisor Details
Name of Scholarship Project Supervisor: Dr Anne Preston
Department of Supervisor: CCM
Faculty of Supervisor: IoE
Email address of Supervisor: anne.preston@ucl.ac.uk

Project Details
Title of main project (the main project to which the Laidlaw Scholar's project will relate): Creative Media Entrepreneurship in the East London Olympic Boroughs
Brief Summary of Main Research Project: This project aims to investigate components of creative media entrepreneurship within the context of East London Olympic Boroughs (Newham, Tower Hamlets, Hackney and Waltham Forest), places UCL now calls its neighbours and home . By focusing on the local creative media entrepreneurship ecosystem, the project seeks to understand the challenges and opportunities of creative media startups in this specific regional setting. 
The legacy of the Olympics has helped to drive billions of pounds of investment and transform the heart of East London into a leading centre for technology and innovation. The regeneration project spans sites such as the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, the East Bank, where UCL is based, as well as the neighbouring International Quarter London in Stratford. These sites have all successfully brought economic growth and tens thousands of businesses to the area in the technology, creative and mobility sectors.

In the East London Olympic Boroughs, innovative media startups contribute to the creative landscape and is home to innovation centres like Plexal – located at the Here East tech hub – where some 800 startup entrepreneurs work, study and collaborate. 

The project centres on mapping mentoring opportunities tailored for local media entrepreneurs in East London Olympic Boroughs and provides insights for enhancing the accessibility and sustainability of local creative media entrepreneurship through different initiatives within the boroughs.

Title of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: Mapping Mentoring in the Local Media Entrepreneurship Ecosystem in UCL's neighbouring east London boroughs
Summary of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: The scholar would play a key role in co-creating research in the following areas and research questions:
Identify and map various creative media mentorship schemes available within the boroughs, highlighting their structures, strengths, and potential areas for enhancement. For example, what mentorship schemes exist within the boroughs, and how can they be categorized based on their structures, goals, and impact on participating entrepreneurs?

Identify specific areas within existing creative media mentorship programs that can be improved to better support the needs of local media entrepreneurs. For example, in what specific areas can existing mentorship programs be improved to better address the unique challenges faced by local media entrepreneurs in East London Olympic Boroughs?

Provide insights into how mentorship initiatives can be enhanced to improve the accessibility of support for local creative media entrepreneurship within the boroughs. For example, how effective are current mentorship programs tailored for local media entrepreneurs in East London Olympic Boroughs, and what criteria can be used to evaluate their success?

Offer recommendations for enhancing the sustainability of mentorship initiatives, ensuring their continued positive impact on the local media entrepreneurship ecosystem. For example, how can mentorship initiatives be adapted to enhance the accessibility of support for local creative media entrepreneurship, ensuring that a diverse range of entrepreneurs can benefit?

Outputs to be produced by the Scholar:

  • A 2,000 – 3,000 word report and an A0 academic poster.  
  • A visual mapping atlas (perhaps using freely available google map and pins) showcasing different creative media mentorship schemes within the boroughs, providing insights into their structures, goals, and geographical distribution.
  • A short toolkit providing actionable strategies and recommendations for enhancing the accessibility of creative media mentorship initiatives, ensuring inclusivity and broader participation.

Is the project expected to run over the standard period? Yes
Outline up to THREE essential skills which the scholar must have in order to undertake your project successfully: 

  • interest in creative media creation, theory and entrepreneurship
  • digital media skills such as developing google maps and internet based research
  • knowledge of east London

Details of Supervision Arrangements: The student will have a space to work if needed on the UCL East campus.  I will arrange weekly catch ups and the student will also be able to seek advice from other colleagues working on areas linked to east London.



Project Number: IOE4

"I'm trying to live a good life even though I'm only 70% of my former self": Understanding how individuals adapt to the long-term impacts of Long Covid

Supervisor Details
Name of Scholarship Project Supervisor: Dr JD Carpentieri
Department of Supervisor: Education, Practice and Society
Faculty of Supervisor: Institute of Education
Email address of Supervisor: j.carpentieri@ucl.ac.uk

Project Details
Title of main project (the main project to which the Laidlaw Scholar's project will relate): Convalescence: A Qualitative Longitudinal Study of Long Covid in Great Britain
Brief Summary of Main Research Project: The Convalescence Qualitative Longitudinal Study of Long Covid is perhaps the world's largest and longest-running qualitative study of Long Covid. From 2021-23 the Convalescence research team conducted four waves of semi-structured interviews with 80 Long Covid sufferers aged 20-75, plus 15 healthcare professionals working with Long Covid patients. Now that the project's 200+ interviews have been conducted, the research team is working on an exciting range of qualitative analyses, in order to contribute to understanding of Long Covid and its impacts on people's lives.

The Laidlaw Scholar working on this project will play an important role in this analysis process. In doing so, the Scholar will work closely with project's research team, gaining invaluable experience of real-world research on an important health issue.

Title of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: "I'm trying to live a good life even though I'm only 70% of my former self": Understanding how individuals adapt to the long-term impacts of Long Covid
Summary of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: 
The Laidlaw Scholar will work closely with the project research team to conduct qualitative analysis of interview transcripts. In particular, the Scholar will help the research team address the following research questions: 

1. "What adaptation strategies do individuals with Long Covid use in order to maintain their functioning and wellbeing?"
2. "To what degree do these adaptation strategies appear to be successful, and in what ways?"

This research project will be methodologically innovative and will hopefully have meaningful impacts on theory, policy and practice.

Outputs to be produced by the Scholar: A 2,000 – 3,000 word report and an A0 academic poster. 

Is the project expected to run over the standard period? Yes

Outline up to THREE essential skills which the scholar must have in order to undertake your project successfully: 

  • Some experience of conducting qualitative analyses of interview transcripts. (Extensive experience is not required -- the research lead (Dr Carpentieri) will provide training and supervision.)
  • A high level of fluency in English. This is necessary so the Scholar can conduct nuanced analysis of interview transcripts.
  • Willingness and ability to work as part of a research team.

Details of Supervision Arrangements: The Scholar will meet weekly with the research lead to discuss ongoing analyses. Meetings will be one-hour long and can take place face-to-face or online. (Face-to-face is preferred.)



Project Number: IOE5

The role of the built environment in child psychopathy

Supervisor Details
Name of Scholarship Project Supervisor: Eirini Flouri
Department of Supervisor: Psychology and Human Development
Faculty of Supervisor: IOE
Email address of Supervisor: e.flouri@ucl.ac.uk

Project Details
Title of main project (the main project to which the Laidlaw Scholar's project will relate): The role of the built environment in child development
Brief Summary of Main Research Project: This project will use data from the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS), a large UK birth cohort study following around 19,000 children at ages 9 months, and 3, 5, 7, 11, 14, and 17 years. It will use data from 9 months and 3 and 11 years to explore and explain the long-term association between the neighbourhood’s built environment, measured at the age 3 interview, and callous-unemotional traits in early adolescence (at age 11 years). The project will consider simultaneously several measures to describe the built environment, including neighbourhood disorder (assessed by an MCS interviewer by direct observation of several physical and social aspects of the immediate neighbourhood), area green space, air pollution, urbanicity and neighbourhood socio-economic disadvantage. Importantly, it will control robustly for the home’s physical and emotional environment at age 3 years (measured by both third-party observation and parental self-report).

Motivation for the study: The built environment is one aspect of the physical environment (built environment + natural environment = physical environment). It is the human-made space in which people live, work, and recreate on a day-to-day basis. It includes neighbourhoods and their particular settings, such as streets, transportation, buildings, homes, worksites, and schools. Its role in adult health and cognition has been much examined.  We know less about how it may affect children, and exceptionally little about how it may affect children’s callous-unemotional traits, a persistent pattern of behaviour characterized by low empathy, interpersonal callousness, restricted affect and a lack of concern for performance. Some of my recent studies have established a role of the built environment in children’s cognitive and socio-emotional functioning, but we have yet to examine whether the built environment, holistically measured, is implicated in this early predictor of adult psychopathy. 

Notes:
1) The built environment at the age 3 interview will be measured as in https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2022.101847 
2) Stayer and mover families across the study period will be appropriately modelled.

Title of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: The role of the built environment in child psychopathy
Summary of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: The built environment is one aspect of the physical environment (built environment + natural environment = physical environment). We know exceptionally little about how it may affect children’s callous unemotional traits, a persistent pattern of behaviour characterized by low empathy, interpersonal callousness, restricted affect and a lack of concern for performance. Some of my recent studies have established a role of the built environment in children’s cognitive and socio-emotional functioning, but we have yet to examine whether the built environment, holistically measured, is implicated in this early predictor of adult psychopathy.

Outputs to be produced by the Scholar: A 2,000 – 3,000 word report and an A0 academic poster.  Plus – A journal manuscript, which the supervisor will line manage, edit, and co-author. The scholar will be first author assuming a good-quality first draft is produced, the analysis is done to the supervisor’s satisfaction, and timelines do not slip. For the analysis, supervisor will provide guidance, support, and close supervision.  She has a very strong track record helping interns, students and early-career lab staff publish.

Is the project expected to run over the standard period? Yes, or other dates in agreement between student and supervisor.
Outline up to THREE essential skills which the scholar must have in order to undertake your project successfully: 

  • Excellent file management skills, advanced data analysis skills
  • Excellent writing skills, excellent reasoning skills
  • Demonstrable interest in and familiarity with the topic, or at least one of its two components (built environment, child psychopathy)

Details of Supervision Arrangements: Weekly meetings with the supervisor. In the initial stages you will be teamed up with one of her experienced (in the data, the topic and the techniques) lab members.  She normally offers coauthorhsip to such collaborators. She manages the project and supervises the writing up for the duration. MCS, the dataset, is publicly available, so she would expect some familiarity with this.


Project Number: IOE6

The Politics of Religion: Evangelical Women, Conservative Politics, and the 2024 US Presidential Election

Supervisor Details
Name of Scholarship Project Supervisor: Dr Katie Gaddini
Department of Supervisor: Social Research Institute
Faculty of Supervisor: IOE
Email address of Supervisor: k.gaddini@ucl.ac.uk

Project Details
Title of main project (the main project to which the Laidlaw Scholar's project will relate): The Politics of Religion: Evangelical Women, Conservative Politics, and the 2024 US Presidential Election
Brief Summary of Main Research Project: This project is part of a 4 year study examining the intersection of gender, religion and politics in the US which will culminate in the 2024 US presidential election. The overall study involves social media analysis, ethnography (interviews + participant observation) and historical archival research of evangelical women's involvement and influence on conservative politics in the US. The overarching research questions are:

  • How do race, religion and gender condition white evangelical support for Trump/Trumpism?
  • How do race-religion-gender intersect in US politics?
  • What issues are most important to white evangelical women now?
  • What is women’s role in the US religious-political relationship?

Title of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: The Politics of Religion: Evangelical Women, Conservative Politics, and the 2024 US Presidential Election
Summary of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: Guided by the project's overall research questions, I'd like the Laidlaw fellow to help with social media analysis of key evangelical women influencers, developing a comprehensive literature review, assisting with organisation of the various streams of data and helping to organise an event (together with myself and 1-2 other research assistants working on the project) related to the ongoing findings. The size, scope and location of the event is to be determined together with the Laidlaw fellow.

Outputs to be produced by the Scholar: 

  • A 2,000 – 3,000 word report and an A0 academic poster.  
  • The supervisor would be happy to mentor and supervise the scholar in producing academic or non-academic outputs from their work on the project (for example, past research assistants have written a blog post and an infographic available to non-academic audiences).

Is the project expected to run over the standard period? Yes
Outline up to THREE essential skills which the scholar must have in order to undertake your project successfully: 

  • Familiarity with social media and ability to conduct social media analysis (I can help with training), and organise data
  • Critical thinking and ability to synthesise academic literature into an annotated bibliography
  • Some background knowledge on the topic and US politics

Details of Supervision Arrangements: I am based at Stanford on a visiting research fellowship so all our meetings will be online unless I am able to visit London during the Laidlaw fellowship (to be determined) or there are funds for the student to visit me. I am happy to meet fortnightly to check in and always available via email.


Project Number: IOE7

Exploring differential local authority responses to public health budget cuts: the impact on health visiting services for children in England

Supervisor Details
Name of Scholarship Project Supervisor: Louise McGrath-Lone
Department of Supervisor: UCL Social Research Institute
Faculty of Supervisor: Institute of Education
Email address of Supervisor: l.mcgrath-lone@ucl.ac.uk

Project Details
Title of main project (the main project to which the Laidlaw Scholar's project will relate): Evaluation of the 0-5 public health investment in England: a mixed methods study integrating analyses of national linked administrative data with in-depth interviews
Brief Summary of Main Research Project: In England, local authorities receive a ring-fenced budget - the public health (PH) grant - to promote public health in their local populations. For 0-5 year olds, the PH grant is primarily used to fund health visiting services which are offered to all families universally. Health visiting services vary across England, but there is a lack of evidence of the impact that this local variation has on outcomes for children and families. The aim of this study is to describe the delivery, effectiveness and cost of health visiting services in different contexts in England. By evaluating what works, where and for whom, this study will provide evidence to policymakers and local leaders to improve their health visiting  service planning, commissioning and delivery thereby improving child health and reducing inequalities.
Title of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: Exploring differential local authority responses to public health budget cuts: the impact on health visiting services for children in England
Summary of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: Since 2015, the real term value of the public health (PH) grant has fallen by 26% nationally (Health Foundation, 2023). As decisions about how to spend the PH grant are made locally, it is likely that there is considerable variation in how funding for HV services have changed in this time. For example, some HV services may now be operating in the context of severe cuts compared to others that have been protected financially.
By analysing publicly available data from 2015 to 2023, this project will (1) describe local authority variation in HV funding changes over time and (2) explore whether factors such as deprivation, childhood adversity and the availability of other children’s services are associated with local authority’s differential responses to HV service funding levels in the context of real-world falls in the value of the PH grant.

The outputs from this project will provide additional context for findings from the overarching research project that is exploring variation in models of HV services in England and their association with child outcomes.

Outputs to be produced by the Scholar: A 2,000 – 3,000 word report and an A0 academic poster.  We would encourage and support the scholar to submit a conference abstract based on their work  (e.g. to submit their poster to U.K. Public Health Science conference 2025).

Is the project expected to run over the standard period? Yes (it could commence one week earlier if preferred)
Outline up to THREE essential skills which the scholar must have in order to undertake your project successfully: 

  • An interest in social policy and childhood inequalities 
  • Excellent attention to detail and critical thinking skills
  • Good analytical skills using standard software available through UCL, such as Excel, Stata, R, or equivalent.

Details of Supervision Arrangements: As well as in-person supervision meetings at the start, middle and end of the project, I will meet the scholar by Teams weekly to set goals and discuss progress. The scholar will be invited to our fortnightly research team meeting attended by research staff and academics working on various HV related projects. They will also be invited to monthly data meetings attended where researchers using administrative data discuss issues and share knowledge. The student will also be welcome to attend the weekly PhD student seminar series at UCL SRI.

Project Number: IOE8

Making Constructionist Construction Materials for musical instruments
Supervisor Details
Name of Scholarship Project Supervisor: Dr Ross Purves, with Dr Nicolas Gold and Prof Evangelos Himonides
Department of Supervisor: Culture, Communication and Media
Faculty of Supervisor: Institute of Education
Email address of Supervisor: r.purves@ucl.ac.uk

Project Details
Title of main project (the main project to which the Laidlaw Scholar's project will relate): Music Making through Music and Making (MMMM)
Brief Summary of Main Research Project: This ongoing research project aims to give school students an opportunity to experiment with making and playing musical instruments. In the most recent round of research fieldwork (summer 2023), we offered three days of practical music, computer programming, and LEGO making activities to secondary school pupils and teachers. Over 70 pupils and staff from six secondary schools in and around London attended two whole-day events hosted at the UCL Institute of Education (IOE). Two pupil workshops focused on creative learning through designing and building musical instruments and interfaces using LEGO, robotics sensors and Raspberry Pi single-board computers. Working in groups of around five, each pupil had the opportunity to build a functioning musical instrument from LEGO, taking into consideration sound qualities and musical function, player ergonomics, as well as structural and cosmetic design. Each workshop finished with all pupils coming together in a musical “jam”, performing with a LEGO instrument that they made over the course of the day. The third professional development workshop was an opportunity for the researchers and a smaller group of teachers to discuss and reflect upon the pupils’ workshop experiences, and how these might link with their continual development needs, and the wider school curriculum.
The research team are now preparing the various strands of recorded datasets from the last round of fieldwork for analysis. In parallel they continue to develop the practical school classroom applications of the research findings. They are also keen to diversify the construction materials used as the basis for pupils’ instrument creations. As outlined in further detail below, this is where the Laidlaw scholar would contribute.

Title of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: Making Constructionist Construction Materials for musical instruments
Summary of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: We have reached a point in the development of our ongoing research goals where we have confidence in the multi-disciplinary combination of computer programming, making and music to support creative and learning outcomes. However, at present, our work centres on the use of LEGO components. These are currently typically generated by various plastics including ABS, HIPS and others. These plastics are finite, non-renewable, fossil fuel generated materials (although we acknowledge ongoing efforts by Lego to find more sustainable solutions for this). Therefore, we are interested to understand how equivalent learning and creative affordances might be identified with an alternative core construction platform or platforms, derived from more sustainable materials, e.g. wood, paper/cardboard and textiles, etc, along with recycled/repurposed materials of various kinds. There would still be a need for these new materials to integrate with various electronic sensors and great emphasis would be placed on structures which could be robust and ergonomic for vigorous practical musical usage.

Outputs to be produced by the Scholar: A 2,000 – 3,000 word report and an A0 academic poster.  Material designs stemming from research and development work.
Is the project expected to run over the standard period? Yes
Outline up to THREE essential skills which the scholar must have in order to undertake your project successfully: 

  • Some practical design and making experience with one or more relevant materials (e.g. wood, paper/cardboard, textiles).
  • An interest in researching material properties for musical instrument construction and kit formation, responding to these within designs and evaluating them.
  • Ability to document all stages of the process clearly and present designs in a format which could be shared more widely.

Details of Supervision Arrangements: Formal meetings would be held between the scholar and supervision team at the start, mid-point and end of the project as a minimum. These would be supplemented with further informal and technical meetings where needed to evaluate the designs developed. Supervision would be led by Dr Ross Purves, and supported by Dr Nicolas Gold and Professor Evangelos Himonides.

 

 
Faculty of Laws



Project Number: LA1

Justice Delayed: Access to Justice in Tort Litigation in England and Wales
Supervisor Details
Name of Scholarship Project Supervisor: Dr Haim Abraham
Department of Supervisor: Law
Faculty of Supervisor: Laws
Email address of Supervisor: haim.abraham@ucl.ac.uk

Project Details
Title of main project (the main project to which the Laidlaw Scholar's project will relate): Justice Delayed: Access to Justice in Tort Litigation in England and Wales
Brief Summary of Main Research Project: This project investigates whether the duration of tort litigation might act as a barrier and disincentivize potential plaintiffs from bringing claims to court. The study aims to assess the duration of tort litigation proceedings in England and Wales, data that is currently unavailable through publicly available statistics. The study will also compare the duration of litigation in other common law jurisdictions, to have a wider perspective on the possible effects of duration of litigation and identify areas of possible reform.

Title of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: Justice Delayed: Access to Justice in Tort Litigation in England and Wales
Summary of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: The student will undertake data collection and analysis. The dataset will be an excel spreadsheet and the student and supervisor will decide together which factors should be considered and coded. 
Once the dataset is set completed, the scholar will analyse the information to identify the key findings that can be obtained from it. The scholar will then write up an executive summary of the data and prepare it for presentation.
The key questions will be:
1. In the last year, in how many tort cases have the Supreme Court issued a ruling on? In these cases, can a timeline be identified from initial submission of claim to resolution in all three instances? 
2. In the last year, in how many tort cases have the Court of Appeals issued a ruling on? In these cases, can a timeline be identified from initial submission of claim to resolution in all two instances? 
3. In the last year, in how many tort cases have a court in first instance issued a ruling on? In these cases, can a timeline be identified from initial submission of claim to resolution? 
4. In which common law jurisdictions is there available data on duration of tort claims? Is it for all three instances?

Outputs to be produced by the Scholar: 

  • A 2,000 – 3,000 word report and an A0 academic poster.  
  • An executive summary for a policy brief, possibly including infographics.

Is the project expected to run over the standard period? Yes
Outline up to THREE essential skills which the scholar must have in order to undertake your project successfully: 

  • Knowledge of legal databases such as Westlaw and Lexis
  • Interest in access to justice and empirical data
  • Good writing skills

Details of Supervision Arrangements: 
We will meet at least three times, once at the beginning of the project, once a week into the research, and once at the end.
More meetings will be possible if required, but independent research is expected.

Project Number: LA2

A critical perspective on English contract law
Supervisor Details
Name of Scholarship Project Supervisor: Niamh Connolly
Department of Supervisor: Law
Faculty of Supervisor: Laws
Email address of Supervisor: n.connolly@ucl.ac.uk

Project Details
Title of main project (the main project to which the Laidlaw Scholar's project will relate): Critical perspectives on contract law
Brief Summary of Main Research Project: I am interested in conducting research on critical perspectives on contract law, in order to inform and enrich my teaching of contract law at UCL. This is a process that we have begun by, for example, asking student curriculum partners to review our contract law syllabus. Traditionally, contract law has been taught in quite a doctrinal way, in which we accept judges’ values and assumptions about what justice in private law relations looks like. Private law generally assumes that people interact on an equal footing, and that any inequalities that actually exist between people should not affect the rules. Limiting the frame of debate in this way can be quite conservative. It dovetails with a liberal prioritisation within contract law of guiding values such as individual freedom and commercial certainty. While these values are important, a contract law designed to uphold them might reinforce the privilege of those who are already advantaged in society. By focusing on this limited group of core values as the most important legitimate concerns within contract law, we are likely to neglect other important perspectives on what the law ought to achieve, and how it can promote justice in the interactions between private parties. Notice, for instance, that English contract law has an extremely limited doctrine of unconscionable bargains, whereas other common law jurisdictions around the world are more willing to use this tool to regulate exploitative contracts. American legal scholarship has adopted critical perspectives on legal doctrine for a long time already. In particular, some of these critical perspectives examine the effect of the law on people of different races or gender. Less work has been done in the UK to interrogate critically the effect of English contract law on people of different races, wealth, gender or sexuality. Identifying insights from American scholarship and investigating how they might apply in the different UK context requires research into the primary legal materials. I am beginning to conduct some of this research. My primary purpose is to enrich my teaching of contract law. I plan also to present outputs on our research findings at conferences, and perhaps to publish a journal article about my findings. I am looking for a student who is personally interested in applying a critical lens to some aspect of contract law, focusing on a specific critical perspective and working in a fairly self-directed way, that will feed in to our understanding of the wider issues.

Title of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: A critical perspective on English contract law
Summary of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: I am looking for a student who has a keen personal and intellectual interest in designing their own research project that will examine some aspect of contract law from a specific critical perspective. **Applicants must spend time thinking carefully about the specific research question that they wish to investigate before they write their Laidlaw application.** Each applicant’s specific proposal will be evaluated “on the basis of how they explain it in their application“ and will affect their chances of winning a Laidlaw Scholarship to work on this research project.

Do you consider that the values and assumptions of contract law neglect or are somehow inadequate to respond appropriately to the real-world situations and needs of some groups of people? Do certain rules work unfairly for certain groups of people? If so, are you interested in researching this question in an intellectually-rigorous way? Can you help to articulate how the law is imperfect, or how it might be improved? Think about how your research on contract law might benefit society, as is consistent with the ethos of the Laidlaw Scheme. 

If you are interested in doing this project, I invite you to decide for yourself on a specific research question that fits into the overarching theme. Identify the perspective from which you would like to interrogate contract law doctrine (eg race or gender) and think carefully in advance about which doctrines of contract law you will focus on. What question would you be able to investigate and answer in a six week research project? Your question can be quite specific or narrow, and will still contribute to our understanding of the overall theme. The scope of your project should not be too big to answer in six weeks. Think about what method you will use to find the answer to your research question. What kind of evidence or reasoning will you use to analyse the law? Will you focus on case law/doctrine, or will you consider scholarship from areas outside law? You may draw on any expertise you have, including outside of law. I have an open mind concerning what research question you would like to study or how you plan to investigate it. You can study doctrines that are not currently on the UCL contract law syllabus, if you are interested in them or think they are important. If you have a good idea for a project, submit it. Don’t hesitate because it might differ in some way from examples I mention here.

Please think carefully about your specific research question and the method that you will be able to use to formulate an answer to that question: a well thought-through research proposal is likely to impress the selection panel. I recommend that you do a little prior reading and reflection to enable you to identify a topic or question that is likely to provide an illuminating research focus. Check out whether there has already been literature written on your proposed topic that you can build on. Even though your project will be a relatively small one, involving six weeks’ work, it will make a valuable contribution to scholarship if you choose an important socially-relevant subtopic and explore it thoroughly, carefully and insightfully. 

When conducting the research project itself, the scholar would typically begin by conducting preliminary research on the secondary literature, to familiarise themselves with the existing scholarship that articulates critical perspectives on contract law. I will expect them to conduct original primary research into English case law, using legal databases, and to engage thoroughly with case law. They will use their critical analytical skills to interrogate what they discover in the cases. This will not just be the doctrinal legal analysis that we typically do in a law degree, which takes the law’s basic assumptions for granted and focuses on the quality of legal reasoning. Rather, the scholar will engage in a broader critique of the law’s values and operation. Given the plurality and complexity of the common law, it is conceivable that the student might discover ways in which the case law does actually try to protect less-advantaged people, despite its articulated commitment to upholding the terms of bargains. The researcher will be expected to approach the evidence in a balanced and fair-minded way, paying attention to evidence that points in different directions and making sense of how it fits together. The scholar might use empirical evidence or material from disciplines other than law to highlight deficiencies in the law. If the scholar wishes to do empirical research (such as a survey) they should talk to me about this early so that they can write a request for ethics approval in good time before starting the project. In addition to identifying difficulties with the operation of the current law, the student might be able to formulate and advocate for specific reforms to the law. I have an open mind and welcome the scholar’s own ideas about how they will investigate their research question.

Outputs to be produced by the Scholar: During the research process, I expect the scholar to discuss their research findings with me orally, to keep written notes of their research, and occasionally to write me a written note on a point.
As their research outputs, I expect the scholar to prepare:

  • a database (spreadsheet) that presents the relevant information about case law that they locate and analyse
  • an essay or article on this topic (that they might choose to prepare for publication)
  • a 2,000 – 3,000 word report and an A0 academic poster.  

Is the project expected to run over the standard period? Yes.
Outline up to THREE essential skills which the scholar must have in order to undertake your project successfully:

The scholar must:

  1. Combine an awareness of and interest in interrogating contract law from critical perspectives (such as race, relative wealth or gender) with the ability to conduct rigorous, evidence-based research
  2. Be committed to independently locating relevant case law, by searching databases of legal cases, and have the skills both to find relevant case law and to identify and understand judges’ reasoning (using the common law method)
  3. Write clearly, concisely and in a well-structured way

Details of Supervision Arrangements: I will meet the scholar weekly (over Zoom) during the research period. In previous years I have been able to arrange an assistant supervisor, who has also met the scholar to discuss their work and offer feedback.

 
Project Number: LA3

How might new technologies change contracting and contract law?
Supervisor Details
Name of Scholarship Project Supervisor: Niamh Connolly
Department of Supervisor: Law
Faculty of Supervisor: Laws
Email address of Supervisor: n.connolly@ucl.ac.uk

Project Details
Title of main project (the main project to which the Laidlaw Scholar's project will relate): New technologies and contract law
Brief Summary of Main Research Project: The purpose of this project is to reflect critically on how the latest and future technological developments might change the process of contracting and create new challenges to which contract law should respond. I hope to draw on this research to inform my teaching of contract law in future years.
Title of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: How might new technologies change contracting and contract law?
Summary of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: I invite applicants to propose a specific project that they wish to research concerning the impact of new technologies on contract law. How might technological advances such as artificial intelligence change the process of contracting for either consumers or commercial parties? What opportunities or dangers might the latest advances create? How might new technologies challenge some of the assumptions that underlie existing contract law rules? How should the law adapt, or how should certain uses of technologies in the field of contracting be regulated? 

Each applicant must identify and outline the specific question that they wish to investigate over the course of six weeks. I am open to a range of different proposals/questions that relate to the overall theme. Given that six weeks is a short research period, I recommend that you choose a fairly narrow question that it will be possible to answer in that period. I do not have expertise on technical questions; I am more interested in how technologies can affect the people (and companies) who make contracts. Possible topics that an applicant might choose to investigate include whether technological advances such as artificial intelligence could make contracts more accessible or remedy informational inequalities. How might the introduction of new technologies intersect with questions about inequality between contracting parties? 

Each applicant will need to spend time before they write their Laidlaw application thinking carefully about what precisely they propose to investigate, and what methods they will use to explore the issue and find an answer to their research question. Identify a specific research question and outline it in your application. Choose a question that it will be manageable to investigate in a short six-week time-frame. Think about your methods: how will you find an answer to your research question? Consider various research methods that might be suitable (eg doctrinal, interdisciplinary, empirical…) Your specific proposal will be evaluated on the basis of how you set it out in your application. Take care to show that you have identified a good research question and to explain its relevance, and show that you have the expertise to answer it and that you know how to go about answering your research question during the six-week research period. 

Applicants will probably find it helpful to do some reading that is relevant to their proposed research project before they describe the project in their Laidlaw application. This will make it easier to show that you have a good understanding of the issues and that your project will provide useful knowledge (adding to what is already known). If you have expertise that will assist you in doing your research, please indicate this in your application.

Outputs to be produced by the Scholar:  During the research process, I expect the scholar to discuss their research findings with me orally, to keep written notes of their research, and occasionally to write me a written note on a point.  As their research outputs, I expect the scholar to prepare:

  • a database (spreadsheet) that presents the relevant information about any case law that they locate and analyse
  • an essay or article on this topic (that they might choose to prepare for publication)
  • A 2,000 – 3,000 word report and an A0 academic poster.

Is the project expected to run over the standard period? Yes.
Outline up to THREE essential skills which the scholar must have in order to undertake your project successfully: 

  1. legal research skills appropriate to the methods that the student chooses to use to complete their project (eg locating and understanding case law and statutes, or empirical or interdisciplinary research skills if relevant)
  2. any necessary expertise on technological matters which will be required for the specific project that the student proposes
  3. the ability to write clearly, concisely and in a well-structured way

Details of Supervision Arrangements: I will meet the Laidlaw Scholar weekly over Zoom to discuss their work. In previous years, I have been able to recruit an assistant supervisor, who would also meet the scholar regularly to discuss and offer feedback on their work.

 
Faculty of Life Sciences

Project Number: LS1

Creating a guide for volunteer river monitoring
Supervisor Details
Name of Scholarship Project Supervisor: Izzy Bishop
Department of Supervisor: Genetics, Evolution and Environment
Faculty of Supervisor: Life Sciences
Email address of Supervisor: i.bishop@ucl.ac.uk

Project Details
Title of main project (the main project to which the Laidlaw Scholar's project will relate): River Guardians
Brief Summary of Main Research Project: River Guardians is a relatively new project that aims to involve the public in river conservation. In collaboration with UCL Bartlett and local charity Thames21, we are trying to build a database of community-led river action in the UK that can be used to research solutions to declining river health.
Title of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: Creating a guide for volunteer river monitoring
Summary of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: Encouraging volunteers to collect environmental and ecological data will be an important part of River Guardians. There are lots of different 'citizen science' methodologies that can be used to monitor river health. The student will conduct a literature review to identify all of the different methodologies that can be used and to assess their strengths and weaknesses. They might also choose to conduct interviews with river action groups if they wish to, as well as field test some of the methods they identify.
The project will be based out of the People and Nature Lab at the UCL East Campus.
Outputs to be produced by the Scholar: A 2,000 – 3,000 word report and an A0 academic poster.  We'd like to produce a guide to river monitoring aimed at volunteers working on the River Lea in East London.
Is the project expected to run over the standard period? Yes, but the student should be aware that I will be unavailable from 15th June for a couple of weeks. If they wish to start in early July I'm very happy with that.
Outline up to THREE essential skills which the scholar must have in order to undertake your project successfully: 

  • An understanding of or interest in ecology and conservation, ideally river ecology
  • Experience or an interest in working with the general public, and specifically producing written outputs for a lay audience
  • Ability to search the academic literature and synthesise published information.

Details of Supervision Arrangements: The student will be supervised by me, but is expected to be relatively independent. We will meet approx every two weeks. In the alternate weeks the student will be invited to attend lab meetings with MSc and PhD students working on river-based research projects. We can provide hot-desing space at UCL East.



Project Number: LS2

Developing electrospun fast dissolving medicines for children
Supervisor Details
Name of Scholarship Project Supervisor: Dr Karolina Dziemidowicz
Department of Supervisor: School of Pharmacy
Faculty of Supervisor: Life Sciences
Email address of Supervisor: k.dziemidowicz@ucl.ac.uk

Project Details
Title of main project (the main project to which the Laidlaw Scholar's project will relate): Cyclodextrin based electrospun fibres for taste masking in paediatric medicines applications
Brief Summary of Main Research Project: Even the most effective medicine does not work if the patient refuses to take it. This is particularly true in paediatrics as liquid medicines are the norm but many taste very bitter, hindering administration. Moreover, children are commonly unable to swallow neutral tasting pills, which makes dosing them with alternative dosage forms a real challenge.
To overcome the issue of foul taste and swallowability, new child-friendly palatable formulations need to be developed.
Using a method called electrospinning which resembles that of making candyfloss, we have been exploring formulating thin, porous films that disintegrate (possibly even in the mouth) within seconds. In this cheap and scalable approach, bad tasting drugs can be combined with a taste masking agent called "cyclodextrins", leading to a palatable dosage form easy to take by children.
The proposed project aims to combine Cornell University expertise team (USA) in developing electrospun cyclodextrin materials with that of UCL (UK) team in formulating paediatric medicines and testing poorly tasting drug products to propose new formulations for children.

Title of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: Developing electrospun fast dissolving medicines for children
Summary of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: The student will join an international team (UCL and Cornell University) to work on the preliminary development of electrospun cyclodextrin-based formulations for children. We will aim to produce prototype formulations of poorly tasting antibiotics to a) mask unpleasant taste b) increase stability of the medicine in room temperature to avoid refrigeration needed in currently used paediatric suspensions. The student will learn the principles of drug product development guided by pharmaceutical industry as well as following laboratory techniques: electrospinning, NMR, XRD, FTIR, DSC, disintegration and dissolution assessment according to United States Pharmacopoeia standards.
Outputs to be produced by the Scholar: A 2,000 – 3,000 word report and an A0 academic poster.  The scholar will join an ongoing research project and will be included in the preparation and authorship of any research articles arising from this scholarship. We will be happy to stay in touch to update them on the progress.
Is the project expected to run over the standard period? Yes by agreement between supervisor and scholar.
Outline up to THREE essential skills which the scholar must have in order to undertake your project successfully: 

  • Enthusiasm for drug product development
  • Willingness to learn new laboratory techniques
  • Research skills in biomedical sciences/engineering/pharmacy

Details of Supervision Arrangements: 
This will largely depend on the student and the way they prefer to work. I am available to meet weekly, the student will join a multidisciplinary team within Dr Dziemidowicz and Prof Catherine Tuleu's labs.

 

Faculty of Mathematical and Physical Sciences

Project Number: MA1

Solid- and fluid-like behaviour of biological tissues
Supervisor Details
Name of Scholarship Project Supervisor: Matthew Butler
Department of Supervisor: Mathematics
Faculty of Supervisor: MAPS
Email address of Supervisor: matthew.butler@ucl.ac.uk

Project Details
Title of main project (the main project to which the Laidlaw Scholar's project will relate): Biomechanics of extra-cellular matrices
Brief Summary of Main Research Project: Many biological cells (e.g. in tissue, bacterial biofilms) protect themselves with a surrounding solid skeleton, called an extra-cellular matrix (ECM). The ECM is made from proteins produced by the cells themselves. This material provides structural support for the growing cells, and protection from mechanical stresses. We are interested in understanding how the cells maintain the ECM, and how it resists and adapts to applied forcing and deformation.

Title of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: Solid- and fluid-like behaviour of biological tissues
Summary of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: This project involves making and using mathematical models to understand the mechanics of an extracellular matrix (ECM). We are interested in investigating the relationship between the applied force and the deformation in the material, particularly while the cells act to effectively heal the ECM. The aim is to uncover how cell behaviour affects whether the ECM behaves more “solid-like” (elastic) or “fluid-like” (flowing).
Depending on the student’s interests, this project may involve:

  • Applying mechanical balances and conservation laws
  • Modelling systems of reactions
  • Deriving and solving differential equations
  • Writing code for numerical solvers
  • Implementing probabilistic models

Outputs to be produced by the Scholar: A 2,000 – 3,000 word report and an A0 academic poster.  There is the option to present results at a group meeting, if desired.
Is the project expected to run over the standard period? Yes
Outline up to THREE essential skills which the scholar must have in order to undertake your project successfully:

  • Understanding of Newtonian mechanics
  • Knowledge of calculus (integration & differentiation), and ability to solve ordinary differential equations
  • Curiosity and a willingness to learn

Details of Supervision Arrangements: Regular one-to-one update meetings once a week, predominantly in-person. I will also make time available outside of these meetings, as necessary, for additional support and guidance.

There will be the opportunity to meet and interact with researchers in the UCL applied maths/mathematical biology community, and possibly wider within UCL.



Project Number: MA2

Nature-inspired self-healing for organic electronics
Supervisor Details
Name of Scholarship Project Supervisor: Dr Bob C. Schroeder
Department of Supervisor: Department of Chemistry
Faculty of Supervisor: MAPS
Email address of Supervisor: b.c.schroeder@ucl.ac.uk

Project Details
Title of main project (the main project to which the Laidlaw Scholar's project will relate): Self-healing organic semiconductors for bionic skin
Brief Summary of Main Research Project: As electronic devices continue to seamlessly integrate into our daily lives, the shift from portable gadgets to wearable technology looms large. To facilitate the development of skin-friendly electronic devices for applications like medical diagnostics and monitoring, offering a promising future for healthcare enhancement, we must turn to materials inspired by the properties of human skin.    Organic conjugated polymers emerge as ideal candidates for this role, thanks to their innate flexibility, compatibility with solution-based processing methods, and the capacity to fine-tune their electronic characteristics through chemical engineering. This adaptability is crucial for their successful integration into various electronic devices. Furthermore, these biomimetic materials must possess the remarkable ability to autonomously repair themselves when subjected to deformation and subsequent damage, thus restoring their mechanical and electronic functionalities.    One potential avenue to achieve this intrinsic self-healing lies in harnessing supramolecular interactions, such as hydrogen bonding. These interactions offer a dynamic and reversible means of creating crosslinks within the polymer matrix, promising to pave the way for advanced, resilient electronic devices.

Title of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: Nature-inspired self-healing for organic electronics
Summary of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: Can we integrate Watson-Crick base pairs into conjugated polymers and exploit their functionality to induce self-healing?
Outputs to be produced by the Scholar: The scholar will learn how to study and characterise self-healing polymers and write up the results in a short lab report. Furthermore, we would expect the scholar to produce an A0 poster with their key findings and present them to the research group.
Is the project expected to run over the standard period? Yes
Outline up to THREE essential skills which the scholar must have in order to undertake your project successfully: 
The scholar should have an interest in synthetic and/or materials chemistry, and be enthusiastic about working in an academic laboratory setting.
Details of Supervision Arrangements: The Laidlaw scholar will meet weekly with the PI (Dr Bob Schroeder) and will be  directly supervised in the laboratory by a postdoctoral researcher and/or senior PhD student.



Project Number: MA3

Automatically differentiating active matter computer simulation code
Supervisor Details
Name of Scholarship Project Supervisor: Dr. Luke Davis
Department of Supervisor: Mathematics
Faculty of Supervisor: Mathematical and Physical Sciences
Email address of Supervisor: luke.davis@ucl.ac.uk

Project Details
Title of main project (the main project to which the Laidlaw Scholar's project will relate): Building a machine-learning and simulation framework for controllable active matter
Brief Summary of Main Research Project: Active matter is an exciting class of non-equilibrium physical systems where each constituent burns fuel to sustain dynamics or shape-shifting. When a large number of active constituents come together there are often emergent collective states that are not seen in many-body systems at thermal equilibrium, such as active swarming in fish, birds, bacteria, and biological cells. There is a growing desire in controlling active systems to perform useful and nontrivial functions, opening the door to new technologies that completely go beyond current materials and devices. The fundamental mathematics and physics underlying the efficient and precise control of active systems is currently in its infancy, where the non-equilibrium and multi-scale nature of active systems have presented difficulties for existing control frameworks. This project aims to build, from the bottom-up, a computational and theoretical framework to explore the optimal control of many-body active systems through the novel coupling of machine-learning and simulation algorithms.

Title of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: Automatically differentiating active matter computer simulation code
Summary of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: Exploring state-of-the-art automatic differentiation software and algorithms such as Adept (C++), Enzyme, and others and how they could be efficiently coupled to bespoke molecular dynamics code.
How to incorporate various objective functions into the simulation code and perform real-time control.
Exploring a simple model of an active deformable particle and controlling internal degrees of freedom to achieve locomotion and navigation.
Build and develop a high-throughput optimisation pipeline that can be easily ran on high-performance computers.
Reveal deep algorithmic insights into the control of active matter.
Outputs to be produced by the Scholar: A 2,000 – 3,000 word report and an A0 academic poster.  Git repository of developed computer code.
Is the project expected to run over the standard period? 10 June - 19 July 2024
Outline up to THREE essential skills which the scholar must have in order to undertake your project successfully: 

  • Intermediate programming experience (e.g. python, c++, fortran, julia, rust)
  • Basics of multi-variable calculus, mechanics, thermodynamics, and statistical physics.
  • Ability to think independently and critically.

Details of Supervision Arrangements: On average meeting in-person twice a week (Tues and Fridays). 
Opportunity to meet and engage with PhD students, Postdocs, and Faculty at UCL Mathematics. 
Opportunity to access high performance computing services and learn how to use them effectively.

 

Project Number: MA4

Evaluating a mathematical model for bacterial growth
Supervisor Details
Name of Scholarship Project Supervisor: Freya Bull
Department of Supervisor: Mathematics
Faculty of Supervisor: Mathematics and Physical Sciences
Email address of Supervisor: f.bull@ucl.ac.uk

Project Details
Title of main project (the main project to which the Laidlaw Scholar's project will relate): Complex chemostat: a mathematical modelling framework for nutrient-limited mixed-substrate bacterial growth
Brief Summary of Main Research Project: Chemostat theory is an established theory that describes the growth of bacteria in a fixed volume of liquid being continuously diluted. In this scenario, the growth rate of the bacteria is limited by the concentration of available nutrients (nutrient-limited growth), and ordinary differential equations can be written that link the growth of a bacterial population to the concentration of a single limiting nutrient (the substrate). This theory describes well an experimental microbiology device: the chemostat. However, in nature it is rare for nutrients to be present in the environment only as one single substrate. More commonly there will be a mixture of low concentrations of many different substrates. Our project aims to extend this simple chemostat model to capture the growth of bacteria on multiple substrates simultaneously (mixed-substrate growth).

A description of nutrient-limited mixed-substrate growth has applications in pharmaceutical production, food/drink manufacturing, marine ecology and in describing bacterial infections within the gut/bladder. It is also a missing piece in many other chemostat extension theories, e.g. competition models. This project utilises population dynamics to develop a theoretical framework for extending chemostat theory from one substrate to many.

Title of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: Evaluating a mathematical model for bacterial growth
Summary of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: Previous experimental work has produced datasets of simultaneous growth on various substrate combinations, however accompanying theories have failed to capture the observed phenomena. This interdisciplinary project would evaluate the capability of our proposed model(s) to predict the observed experimental results.

There is a high degree of flexibility in the project, depending on the student's specific strengths. Potential research directions include:

  • Writing code to numerically solve model(s), and using linear regression to compare the modelling output to experimental results. 
  • Developing (mathematical) continuum models for multisubstrate growth modes, and evaluating these models as (higher order) corrective terms to a single-substrate growth model.
  • Developing and computationally implementing an agent-based stochastic model to compare some potential bacterial growth rules.

Outputs to be produced by the Scholar: A 2,000 – 3,000 word report and an A0 academic poster.  Potential to contribute towards a future peer-reviewed journal article.

Is the project expected to run over the standard period? Yes
Outline up to THREE essential skills which the scholar must have in order to undertake your project successfully:

  • Strong mathematical, numerical or computational skills
  • Some experience writing code in Python or similar language or Some experience with mathematical modelling and differential equations or Some experience with partial differential equations
  • An interest in mathematical biology, biophysics, or ecology

Details of Supervision Arrangements: Face-to-face meetings 1 or 2 times per week.

 

Faculty of Medical Sciences



Project Number: MS1

Further development of the magnetomechanical stimulation (MMS) technology with magnetic nanoparticles
Supervisor Details
Name of Scholarship Project Supervisor: Yichao Yu
Department of Supervisor: Division of Medicine
Faculty of Supervisor: Faculty of Medical Sciences
Email address of Supervisor: yichao.yu.10@ucl.ac.uk

Project Details
Title of main project (the main project to which the Laidlaw Scholar's project will relate): Minimally invasive, cell-type-specific, and site-specific neuromodulation with magnetic nanoparticles.
Brief Summary of Main Research Project: Magnetomechanical stimulation (MMS), a novel neuromodulation technology we recently developed, enables remote and selective control of the mechanosensitive astrocytes with magnetic forces that are created by applying a magnetic field to magnetic particles (~500 nm in size) attached specifically to astrocytes. The aim of this project is to advance this technology by using much smaller magnetic particles (~50 nm in size), so that this key agent can be delivered to the target brain region in a surgery-free and spatially focal manner with the MRI-guided focused ultrasound technology. With these improvements, MMS as a minimally invasive, cell-type-specific, and site-specific neuromodulation technology will stand out from existing ones (e.g., optogenetics, deep brain stimulation, and transcranial magnetic stimulation), making it an attractive candidate for clinical translation to potentially treat globally significant disorders such as major depression and Parkinson’s disease.

Title of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: Further development of the magnetomechanical stimulation (MMS) technology with magnetic nanoparticles
Summary of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: Astrocytes, an important type of glial cells, are critical for maintaining brain homeostasis and regulate many physiological, cognitive, and behavioural processes. They are also intrinsically sensitive to mechanical stimulation and would release gliotransmitters such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in response to cell membrane deformation. The MMS technology exploits this endogenous mechanosensitivity by utilising magnetic particles as mechanical transducers attached specifically to astrocytes, so that upon application of a magnetic field, forces created on the particles would deform the cell membrane, activate signalling events, and affect the activity of the local neural network, thereby achieving neuromodulation. To enable selective binding of the magnetic particles to astrocytes, the particles are functionalised with an astrocyte-targeting antibody. To deliver the particles to the brain, they are directly injected with a needle through an opening in the skull. Such brain surgery could be eliminated by incorporating the MRI-guided focused ultrasound (FUS) technology into MMS. FUS can act across intact scalp and skull to safely and transiently open the blood-brain barrier of a small brain region, allowing an intravenously injected agent below a size threshold (54.4 nm in hydrodynamic size) to exit the brain vasculature in that area but excluded elsewhere, while MRI guidance enhances spatial precision. To incorporate FUS into MMS, the use of magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) is necessary, but the feasibility of MMS with MNPs remains untested.

This project will address this question and the scholar can work on any of the following objectives: 1) optimising the functionalisation of MNPs with antibodies and evaluating the binding specificity of the modified MNPs to astrocytes using flow cytometry; 2) establishing and optimising a 3D culturing system for astrocytes; and 3) evaluating the efficacy of MMS with MNPs by measuring ATP release from MNP-adorned astrocytes in 3D culture in response to magnetic field application.

Outputs to be produced by the Scholar: A 2,000 – 3,000 word report and an A0 academic poster.
Is the project expected to run over the standard period? Yes
Outline up to THREE essential skills which the scholar must have in order to undertake your project successfully: 

  • Knowledge of basic concepts in biomedical research, such as different types of concentration. 
  • Experience with basic equipment in a biomedical research laboratory, such as pipettes, centrifuges, and microscopes, or a willingness to learn these skills.

Details of Supervision Arrangements: The scholar will be working closely with the supervisor, and a weekly meeting is recommended. The scholar will be embedded in a large research centre (Centre for Advanced Biomedical Imaging, Division of Medicine) and have the opportunity to interact with other academics and students. The scholar will have access to hot desks in the centre’s office.



Project Number: MS2

Investigating the effect of T cell age on inflammatory bowel disease
Supervisor Details
Name of Scholarship Project Supervisor: Cayman Williams
Department of Supervisor: Immunology
Faculty of Supervisor: Medical Sciences
Email address of Supervisor: cayman.williams@ucl.ac.uk

Project Details
Title of main project (the main project to which the Laidlaw Scholar's project will relate): Investigating the effect of T cell age on inflammatory bowel disease
Brief Summary of Main Research Project: The scholar will use genetically altered mouse models to understand the role of T cell age on inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Mice will be treated with a compound which permanently switches on a fluorescent reporter in CD4+ T cells. New T cells produced after treatment will not be exposed to the compound and therefore will not express this reporter. Thus, two populations of cells can be identified, those that were present at the time of treatment (older) and those produced after treatment (younger). 
The scholar will transfer these T cells into Rag deficient hosts (mice lacking T cells) and measure the prevalence and composition of reporter positive (older) and reporter negative (younger) cells in the blood, peripheral lymphoid tissues and small intestine of the host mouse as IBD develops. 
The scholar will measure changes in the T cell compartment by flow Cytometry. This project will help us to understand differences that T cell age confers onto the reactivity and functionality of T cells and how cellular age impact disease development.

Title of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: Investigating the effect of T cell age on inflammatory bowel disease
Summary of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: The scholar will ask questions relating to the role of T cell age on the development of IBD.

  • Do younger or older T cells induce more penetrant disease?
  • Are younger or older T cells more reactive to self/ commensal antigen?
  • What subpopulations do younger and older T cells develop into in the absence of appropriate regulation?
  • What is the composition of younger and older T cells among different tissues? (ie, lymph nodes, spleen, gut epithelium, lamina proprietor etc)

Outputs to be produced by the Scholar: A 2,000 – 3,000 word report and an A0 academic poster.  The scholar will also be expected to create and talk through a powerpoint presentation of their key findings during  a lab meeting near the end of their project. This meeting will consist of the principle investigator of the lab, the supervisor (myself) and a number of postdocs, PhD/ MRes students.  

Is the project expected to run over the standard period? Yes
Outline up to THREE essential skills which the scholar must have in order to undertake your project successfully: 

  • The scholar must have a genuine interest in the project and enthusiastically engage with all aspects of lab based and non-lab based work. ie, analysis of data, attending lab meetings where available. 
  • The scholar must be intuitive, capable of using common sense to adequately perform in the lab 
  • The scholar must be able to quickly develop confidence and competence during their training as the supervisor will not be able to shadow the scholar at all times.

Details of Supervision Arrangements: 
The scholar and the supervisor will work together in the lab approx 2-3 times per week. 
The scholar and supervisor will have weekly face to face meetings to discuss progress of the project and any concerns the student has. 
The scholar will interact with the principle investigator of the lab and all lab members (Postdocs, PhD students, MRes students, final year BSc students) in a weekly lab meeting, where data and ideas will be discussed. 
the scholar is welcome to attend weekly departmental research meetings, where a greater insight into the wider research environment can be obtained. 
The scholar will sit among the lab members in the lab and in the office in order to promote interactions between them and the lab members. 

 


Faculty of Population Health Sciences



Project Number: PH1

Can targeted genetic markers predict the antimicrobial resistance of Streptococcus pneumoniae to azithromycin?
Supervisor Details
Name of Scholarship Project Supervisor: Dagmar Alber, Natalie Hrbkova
Department of Supervisor: Infection, Immunity and Inflammation
Faculty of Supervisor: Population Health Sciences
Email address of Supervisor: d.alber@ucl.ac.uk

Project Details
Title of main project (the main project to which the Laidlaw Scholar's project will relate): Impact of azithromycin mass drug administration on antimicrobial resistance among young children in Mali, Africa
Brief Summary of Main Research Project: Previous studies have shown that mass-drug administration (MDA) of azithromycin, the antibiotic used in trachoma elimination programs, to young children, can significantly reduce their mortality. A key risk of this approach is the emergence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and any MDA should include careful monitoring for AMR. The project aims to develop a rigorous monitoring platform of AMR in a cluster randomised trial evaluating the impact of biannual versus quarterly azithromycin MDA to 1-11-month-old infants on their mortality and other health outcomes in Mali. This study aims to (i) provide further evidence on the benefits of azithromycin MDA, addressing key epidemiologic and biologic gaps, and (ii) demonstrate the operational feasibility of delivering azithromycin MDA at scale through existing delivery programs.

Title of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: Can targeted genetic markers predict the antimicrobial resistance of Streptococcus pneumoniae to azithromycin?
Summary of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: Mass administration of the antibiotic azithromycin may reduce child mortality in countries with high death rate in children under 5 years old, however, antimicrobial resistance development may outweigh this benefit. The aim of this project is to characterise the potential occurrence and  spread of antimicrobial resistance in a bacteria, Streptococcus pneumoniae. The common method for testing the resistance of bacteria against an antibiotic is by a phenotypic test. This means that bacteria are grown in the lab in the presence of the antibiotic. Bacteria sensitive to the antibiotic will not grow, but if the bacteria has developed resistance they will be able to multiply even in the presence of the antibiotic. Although this test is the 'gold standard' it is very time consuming and requires highly trained laboratory staff. An alternative method may be to look for specific genes or mutations in the bacterial DNA which makes the bacteria resistant to the antibiotic.  The aim of this project is to test for known resistant genes by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). These results will then be compared to the phenotypic data to see whether resistance patterns can be predicted by genotypic analysis. If this is the case, it will make monitoring of antimicrobial resistance much easier and accessible in low and middle income countries where mass drug administration is currently implemented.
Outputs to be produced by the Scholar: 
A 2,000 – 3,000 word report and an A0 academic poster.  
Presentation of project and results to the research group at a lab-meeting, but also to our collaborators in Mali. If the method proves to be useful, the student will be encouraged to write a standard operating procedure manual to be tried/tested in Mali.
Is the project expected to run over the standard period? Yes
Outline up to THREE essential skills which the scholar must have in order to undertake your project successfully: 

  • A demonstrable commitment to a project or piece of work in the past 
  • An example of how you took responsibility for your actions and learned from your mistakes 
  • An experience where your attention to detail was crucial to the outcome 

Details of Supervision Arrangements: The laboratory part will be fully supervised  and lab space will be available. Emphasis will be given for the student to develop essential laboratory skills, independent critical thinking, and responsibility and learn how to trouble shoot. A large part of this project is our ongoing collaboration with CVD Mali and the student will be encouraged to participate in our joined meetings
The student will be exposed to other scientists through informal discussion within the group, but also by joining regular lab meetings and weekly departmental seminars 
The student will sit in an office with other scientists which are always willing to answer any questions that will arise

Project Number: PH2

Characterisation of the cellular HIV reservoir in differently treated children using PCR methods
Supervisor Details
Name of Scholarship Project Supervisor: Kathleen Gartner
Department of Supervisor: Infection, Immunity and Inflammation, Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health
Faculty of Supervisor: Population Health Sciences
Email address of Supervisor: k.gartner@ucl.ac.uk

Project Details
Title of main project (the main project to which the Laidlaw Scholar's project will relate):
Analysis of HIV reservoir in Children for Future Cure Strategies
Brief Summary of Main Research Project: In our research group we have collaborations with international groups of scientists, focusing mainly on African cohorts of HIV-infected children who receive early (within a few months) antiretroviral treatment (ART). It has been shown that early initiation of ART is beneficial for these children by decreasing morbidity and mortality and it also limits the cellular HIV reservoir. By analysing virological and immunological markers in this population we are working with international partners towards the identification of individuals who might be suitable candidates for treatment intervention and cure trials. 
In our laboratory the scholar will gain insight into different methods and analysis tools used for the characterisation of the HIV reservoir and learn to interpret results and place them within wider research questions. They will also get an overview of safety regulations when working with HIV samples.

Title of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: Characterisation of the cellular HIV reservoir in differently treated children using PCR methods
Summary of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: We have a cohort of HIV+ children who either either receive standard-of-care treatment or treatment including an integrase inhibitor. The student will be involved in the characterisation of the HIV reservoir in this group by using the following methods:
1. quantitative PCR (qPCR) and quantitative reverse-transcription PCR (RT-qPCR) to quantify HIV DNA and RNA, respectively, in extracted nucleic acid samples from HIV+ individuals (reservoir size)
2. PCR to amplify single-genome clones for sequencing analysis (presence of mutations) 
3. analysis and interpretation of the results using qPCR analysis software
The results will provide information whether the two treatment regimens have an influence on the HIV reservoir (e.g. size, ability for replication, number of mutations,...).
Outputs to be produced by the Scholar: A 2,000 – 3,000 word report and an A0 academic poster.  The scholar will present their results in our internal lab meeting.
Is the project expected to run over the standard period? Yes
Outline up to THREE essential skills which the scholar must have in order to undertake your project successfully: 

  • Willingness and time to work in the lab
  • Proficient in Microsoft package (Word, Power Point, Excel)

Details of Supervision Arrangements: The student will be directly supervised in the lab and me and my colleagues will help with analysis of data or the writing up process. They will also participate in our bi-weekly lab meetings.

 

Faculty of Social and Historial Sciences



Project Number: SHS1

The Politics of Decolonisation: Archives and Evidence
Supervisor Details
Name of Scholarship Project Supervisor: Dr Jeremy Bowles
Department of Supervisor: Political Science
Faculty of Supervisor: School & Historical Sciences
Email address of Supervisor: jeremy.bowles@ucl.ac.uk

Project Details
Title of main project (the main project to which the Laidlaw Scholar's project will relate): Decolonising the State: Human Capital, Representation, and Policy Implementation
Brief Summary of Main Research Project: The often-rapid process of decolonisation posed serious challenges to post-independence African state-builders seeking as they sought to build nations and implement policy. This project studies the role of the state bureaucracy as a source of continuity and change around Tanzania’s independence in 1961. Drawing on an original large-scale digitisation of the universe of civil servants between 1956 and 1976, it will first document shifts in (1) the representativeness of bureaucrats, along national, ethnic, and other dimensions; (2) the spatial organisation of the state across its territory; (3) the scope of the state’s involvement in different policy areas. Second, it will study how the demands of colonial-era bureaucrats were incorporated into the political arena through linking these records to the universe of political candidates for office in post-independence elections. Third, it will leverage spatial and temporal variation in the replacement of foreign-born bureaucrats under "Africanisation" policies to examine how increases in the representativeness of civil servants shaped welfare-relevant policy implementation outcomes relating to education and health. In so doing, the project will shed light on the political economic dynamics underlying decolonisation, the relationship between the state and the political class, and how the composition of the bureaucracy shapes welfare.

Title of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: The Politics of Decolonisation: Archives and Evidence
Summary of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: Within the above project, a Laidlaw scholar could usefully contribute in two broad ways. The ideal candidate would be able and willing to work on both strands.
The first would be to undertake an archival research project, primarily using the British Library and National Archives in Kew, to analyse original records relating to decolonisation in Tanzania (and potentially other African cases) from the 1950s and 1960s. This will entail reviewing, compiling, and synthesising primary sources to ultimately assess how political leaders (both pre and post-independence) conceptualised the role of the bureaucracy and the importance of different institutional tradeoffs in its design. 
The second would be to work on original quantitative analysis of the historical records already collected as part of the project. Most likely this would entail a research project focused on area (3) identified above, through the quantification and analysis of temporal and spatial variation in the state bureaucracy and tying this to rich microdata on education and health-related outcomes. Ultimately, this would seek to answer how decolonisation shaped the equity of welfare outcomes in society.

Outputs to be produced by the Scholar: A 2,000 – 3,000 word report and an A0 academic poster.
Is the project expected to run over the standard period? Yes
Outline up to THREE essential skills which the scholar must have in order to undertake your project successfully: 

  • Effective at synthesising large amounts of original sources and documents to draw out key themes.
  • Some experience in quantitative data analysis (additional support and training can be provided by the PI). 
  • Self-motivated and interested in political questions of representation and equity.

Details of Supervision Arrangements: Regular weekly meetings with the PI to discuss progress. Additional meetings to support skills development.



Project Number: SHS2

Trading by humans and algorithms (AI)
Supervisor Details
Name of Scholarship Project Supervisor: Antonio Guarino
Department of Supervisor: Economics
Faculty of Supervisor: Social and Historical Sciences
Email address of Supervisor: a.guarino@ucl.ac.uk

Project Details
Title of main project (the main project to which the Laidlaw Scholar's project will relate): Experiments on financial decision making
Brief Summary of Main Research Project: I study the behavior of professional traders and students in controlled laboratory experiments. The aim is to understand whether participants are prone to create bubbles in financial markets and study which cognitive or non-cognitive abilities affect their trading strategies. We now want to investigate the interaction with algorithmic trading.

Title of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: Trading by humans and algorithms (AI)
Summary of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: 

  • How does algorithmic trading interact with individual trading?
  • Algorithmic trading and market efficiency.

Outputs to be produced by the Scholar: A 2,000 – 3,000 word report and an A0 academic poster.  
Is the project expected to run over the standard period? It may continue in August – exact dates to be agreed between the supervisor and scholar.
Outline up to THREE essential skills which the scholar must have in order to undertake your project successfully: 

  • Genuine interest in research in finance / economics.
  • Ability to handle datasets.
  • Preferably some knowledge of Matlab / Python - essential: willingness to learn them.

Details of Supervision Arrangements: Weekly meetings with me and other team members.

Project Number: SHS3

The earnings of General Practitioners: variability and relation with measures of health care quality.
Supervisor Details
Name of Scholarship Project Supervisor: Marcos Vera-Hernandez
Department of Supervisor: Economics
Faculty of Supervisor: Social and Historical Sciences
Email address of Supervisor: m.vera@ucl.ac.uk

Project Details
Title of main project (the main project to which the Laidlaw Scholar's project will relate):Inequality and effort provision: applications to health.
Brief Summary of Main Research Project: The research project aims to answer a perennial question in economics: does inequality lead to increase effort provision? The health sector is an excellent testing ground because there are very good measures of effort provision which are publicly available, such as the quality outcomes framework. The project will take advantage of a recent policy according to which general practitioners are compelled to publish their earnings in the website of their practice, which makes their earnings not only visible to their patients but also to general practitioners who work in nearby practices. The research project will establish the response of general practitioners to their peers' disclosure of earnings, including the response on measures of quality of care and productivity.

Title of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: The earnings of General Practitioners: variability and relation with measures of health care quality.
Summary of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: By collecting data on General Practitioners earnings, the student will answer the following questions:
(1) What is the best method to collect earnings of General Practitioners?
(2) Do the results publish in the General Practitioners websites correspond to those that can be obtained by other means (i.e. company accounts)?
(3) What is the level and variability of General Practitioners earnings? A large enough sample of General Practitioners earnings will need to be collected for this purpose.
(4) Establish a hypothesis of the relation between General Practitioners' earnings and measures of health care quality, and test it with the data of the quality outcomes framework.
Outputs to be produced by the Scholar: 

  • A 2,000 – 3,000 word report and an A0 academic poster.  
  • Table of General Practitioner earnings for a large enough sample, including links to website, company accounts, etc
  • Statistical code to replicate the statistical computations.

Is the project expected to run over the standard period? Yes
Outline up to THREE essential skills which the scholar must have in order to undertake your project successfully: 

  • Good organization skills
  • Data management skills such as merging databases
  • Programming skills to scrap websites to automatically obtain the earnings of General Practitioners from their websites (desirable but not essential)

Details of Supervision Arrangements: One meeting per week with the supervisor, plus email interaction.  

Project Number: SHS4

Using staff-student dialogue to improve education and student experience - moving away from course evaluations and towards a more reflective and cooperative model of change
Supervisor Details
Name of Scholarship Project Supervisor: Parama Chaudhury
Department of Supervisor: Economics
Faculty of Supervisor: SHS
Email address of Supervisor: p.chaudhury@ucl.ac.uk

Project Details
Title of main project (the main project to which the Laidlaw Scholar's project will relate): Global challenges, local solutions: the role of universities in education for the future
Brief Summary of Main Research Project: This project considers the biggest challenges faced by universities in their education missions, from funding issues and changing demographics to geopolitical disruptions and the rise of artificual intelligence and aims to provide suggested ways forward. This is a project with several different strands, involving colleagues in other UK, US and European universities and outputs include several conference and seminar presentations and at least 2 contracted publications.
Title of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: Using staff-student dialogue to improve education and student experience - moving away from course evaluations and towards a more reflective and cooperative model of change
Summary of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: This project looks at how, in a world with diversifying student and staff cohorts, we can improve education and student experience through collaboration between staff and students. Module and course evaluations have traditionally been used both to judge the quality of teaching and to identify areas of improvement, but as the research literature shows, this process suffers from biases againsts minoritised groups. In addition, end of module evaluations do not faciliate real-time responses or improvements which the students involved in the evaluation can benefit from. This project evaluates the use of staff-student dialogue to address both these issues and produce meaningful and timely improvement in education and student experience.
Outputs to be produced by the Scholar: 

  • A0 academic poster
  • Literature review
  • Survey and focus group report (under the supervision of a PhD student)

Is the project expected to run over the standard period? Yes
Outline up to THREE essential skills which the scholar must have in order to undertake your project successfully: 
1) Ability to carry out an academic literature review over multiple disciplines
2) Basic Excel and Microsoft Office skills
3) Good project/ time management skills
Details of Supervision Arrangements: The scholar will work closely with the supervisor and a PhD student, with meetings each week for support and to update on progress.

Project Number: SHS5

On Being British Asian, Queer, and HIV+

Supervisor Details
Name of Scholarship Project Supervisor: Jagjeet Lally
Department of Supervisor: History
Faculty of Supervisor: Social and Historical Sciences
Email address of Supervisor: jagjeet.lally@ucl.ac.uk

Project Details
Title of main project (the main project to which the Laidlaw Scholar's project will relate): Difficult Histories: Diasporic Perspectives
Brief Summary of Main Research Project: 'Difficult histories' is a term often used in scholarly and public discourse to define a set of issues that it has been challenging for British institutions and publics to address, especially in relation to Britain's past and Britishness/British national identity. These include the histories and legacies of empire, race, and slavery. Diaspora communities, however, have their own difficult histories - those topics or experiences that are difficult to discuss and are thus missing in the historical literature and contemporary debates, in some cases even missing from the archival record or else shrouded in silences. These include homelessness and housing precarity, disability and poor mental health, queer sexualities and lifestyles, for example. This project focusses on Britain's South Asian communities, many of whom are held up as model minorities or else occupy prominent positions within the British state and society, making these underrepresented aspects of diasporic pasts all the more troubling and urgent. The focus is on the decades since the end of World War Two (1945) and decolonisation in South Asia (1947/48), but especially the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, for which the archival record is richer. What has been the historical experience of, say, homelessness or the HIV/AIDS crisis from a South Asian standpoint? Why is it so difficult to research compared to the White British experience? What does this reveal about how South Asians have sought to present themselves or assimilate into Britain in the post-war period?

Title of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: On Being British Asian, Queer, and HIV+
Summary of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: The archive is relatively rich in details about how British Asian men - mostly haemophiliacs - became infected with HIV during the 'contaminated blood' scandal. But queer British Asian men are relatively absent from the record - or, rather, we must work harder to find their presence in the absences, to hear their voices in the silences, and to bring life to their stories and pasts. 
How did queer British Asian men experience the HIV/AIDS crisis of the 1980s and 1990s? How did/does their experience of being HIV+ differ from that of other majority/minority groups? How did the unfolding crisis and/or their status as HIV+ (were relevant) impact their lives, sexuality, and relationship to their communities?
You may wish to combine archival research in London (e.g., at the Bishopsgate Institute, Wellcome Collection, British Library, British Film Institute) with research in other UK cities with significant British Asian populations (e.g., Birmingham, Manchester). You may also wish to combine archival research with interviews/oral histories.

Outputs to be produced by the Scholar: 
A 2,000 – 3,000 word report and an A0 academic poster.  
Additional outputs depend on the material the scholar is able to collect and analyse. They may, for example, wish to create a sound archive of oral histories. I am also happy to encourage them to put empirical material to creative use, e.g., turning it into a piece of creative writing or an artwork, rather than restricting them to textual outputs.
Is the project expected to run over the standard period? Yes
Outline up to THREE essential skills which the scholar must have in order to undertake your project successfully: 

  • Good people skills - you will have to communicate and converse with participants who will share their life stories and experiences, some of which will be emotional and difficult from them to process, so you will need to be comfortable and familiar with working with people;
  • Interview skills - you may identify participants whom you may wish to interview, so you will need to feel comfortable doing this;
  • Appreciation for interdisciplinary - you will probably have to work across media (e.g., posters, ephemera, diaries, photographs, reports, newspaper articles, etc) and disciplines (health/medicine, history/cultural studies, etc), both in pursuit of the archival materials and as you read into relevant scholarly literatures.

Details of Supervision Arrangements: I am happy to meet in person at least once a week to discuss queries, concerns, and progress (perhaps more frequently in the first 2 weeks, if necessary). I am also happy to accompany the scholar to the archive to help them settle into that way of researching, if they have not done archival research before.

Project Number: SHS6

Improving oral hygiene: Literature review on interventions to improve healthy routines
Supervisor Details
Name of Scholarship Project Supervisor: Marcos Vera-Hernandez
Department of Supervisor: Economics
Faculty of Supervisor: Social and Historical Sciences
Email address of Supervisor: m.vera@ucl.ac.uk

Project Details
Title of main project (the main project to which the Laidlaw Scholar's project will relate): Design and Testing of Interventions to Improve Oral Hygiene
Brief Summary of Main Research Project: Poor oral hygiene causes gum disease, which can lead to teeth loss and has recently been associated to increase in dementia and cardiovascular disease risk. Although it is well understood how to mantain good oral hygiene, patients who suffer from gum disease offer fail to implement that advice given by the health care professionals. In this research project, we will design interventions that help patients to put the advice that they receive into practice, and test them using randomized experiments.

Title of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: Improving oral hygiene: Literature review on interventions to improve healthy routines
Summary of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: The student will review the literature in economics, behavioural sciences and health psychology that concerns interventions to improve healthy routines, such as oral hygiene, physical exercise, etc. The student will analyse the common and distinguishing features of these strands of the literature and critically appraise them. The student will then use the insights obtained to design two or three interventions which aim at improving oral hygiene, ideally analyzing which ones work better for individuals with different characteristics.

Outputs to be produced by the Scholar:  

  • An A0 academic poster 
  • A literature review and intervention design report (approximately 6,000 words).

Is the project expected to run over the standard period? Yes
Outline up to THREE essential skills which the scholar must have in order to undertake your project successfully: 

  • Critical thinking and ability to synthesise academic literature
  • An appreciation for interdisciplinarity
  • Good writing skills in English

Note that no medical knowledge on oral hygiene is required.

Details of Supervision Arrangements: At least one meeting per week (probably more in the first two weeks) and interaction by email
A session on how to search the literature and conduct a literature review.

 

Project Number: SHS7

What does recruitment, application and hiring in the teaching-track job market look like?
Supervisor Details
Name of Scholarship Project Supervisor: Parama Chaudhury
Department of Supervisor: Economics
Faculty of Supervisor: SHS
Email address of Supervisor: p.chaudhury@ucl.ac.uk

Project Details
Title of main project (the main project to which the Laidlaw Scholar's project will relate): Into the blackbox of the teaching track job market
Brief Summary of Main Research Project: Over the past few decades, as the UK higher education sector has grown (both in total student numbers as well as the number of providers), there is an increasing number of academics on teaching- or education-only contracts which may be permanent or not. Such a development can be of great benefit to both students (where there is dedicated resource in education, especially where there is expertise in disciplinary pedagogy) and staff (where individuals can choose to specialise in education - or research - and build a career in this workstream). However, much of these benefits depend on how the labour market for these jobs work and therefore, how well the process matches candidates to universities. While there is extensive work done on teacher labour markets in general, and to a lesser extent, on university researcher job markets, there is little understanding of teaching-track job markets.
This project seeks to address this gap in the literature on education job markets and to understand how the teaching track job market might be reorganised to improve match quality and outcomes for candidates, universities and students. Given that this job market is quite different compared to the traditional academic job market, this project considers how we can make use of innovative technology and matching tools to improve the outcomes in this market for all stakeholders.

Title of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: What does recruitment, application and hiring in the teaching-track job market look like?
Summary of Laidlaw Scholar’s Project: How do universities make the decision of whether to advertise for a teaching-track job?

Research into the following questions:

  • What does the process of advertising and recruiting look like in terms of timeline and how and where the vacancy is publicised?
  • What does the application process for a teaching track job look like?
  • What are the key challenges in the recruitment, application and hiring processes in the teaching-track job market, and how can these be resolved?
  • What are possible technical tools (portals or matching/ search software) that can help to streamline and expedite the process and improve outcomes?

Outputs to be produced by the Scholar:
A 2,000 – 3,000 word report and an A0 academic poster.  Survey report, scoping report on better matching solutions.
Is the project expected to run over the standard period? Yes
Outline up to THREE essential skills which the scholar must have in order to undertake your project successfully:

  • Web search skills, including spreadsheet skills to record research results.
  • Literature review skills
  • Experience with surveys and interviews (though support and training will be provided as well)

Details of Supervision Arrangements:

  • Inital scoping and setup meeting with the whole team including supervisor.
  • Weekly meetings with PhD RA
  • Meetings with the whole team every 2 weeks
  • Debrief meeting with the whole team including supervisor at the end of the project
  • Most of the work is expected to be home-based.