These questions and more are at the heart of six incredible theses that have won the University of Bristol’s coveted Doctoral Prizes.

Each year, more than 500 University of Bristol students are awarded doctorates for their ground-breaking and fascinating research.

And each year, a panel of senior University academics have the difficult task of picking six of the best theses to receive Doctoral Prizes.

Prof Tansy Jessop, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Students and Education at the University of Bristol, said: “Our doctoral students are passionate and intellectually curious. They break new ground and drive positive change. More than that, they are at the vanguard of developing new ideas and practices through the painstaking pursuit of questions that matter for society and the planet.

“Well done to the 2024 Doctoral Prize winners, and to everyone who has received a doctorate over the past year.”

Below are the winners in the six categories: Engineering; Health Sciences; Life Sciences; Science; Social Sciences & Law; and Arts.

Life Sciences

Dr Sam England, School of Biological Sciences

‘The Ecology of Electricity: Pollination, Parasitism and Predator-Prey Interactions’

Those walking past Dr Sam England’s lab in the School of Biological Sciences often did a double take. Inside, totally absorbed by his research, the young scientist could be seen flying butterflies on tiny leads.

His methods may have been unusual but the results were fascinating. He discovered that butterflies use static electricity to attract nearby pollen, that ticks use static electricity to bridge gaps between them and likely looking hosts and that caterpillars can detect predators via their electrostatic charge.

Dr England said: “I wanted to honour my love of animals by conducting research on them, and the study of electrostatic ecology was the perfect marriage of my experience in physics with my passion for wildlife.

“This work is important because it unveils a previously unappreciated driving force of nature, and opens the door to many more discoveries of how these invisible electrical forces could be playing a role in the lives of animals and plants.”

His research has been published in several journals and he is now a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Natural History Museum in Berlin.

Science

Dr Lili Alderson, School of Physics

‘From Hot Jupiters to Super-Earths: An Exploration of Exoplanet Atmospheres with Space-Based Telescoped’

Dr Lili Alderson has been gazing at the heavens, from the heavens. She designed and built tools to analyse data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and the Hubble Space Telescope, which both peer into space as they orbit our planet.

Dr Alderson said: “JWST launched during my PhD, and the exquisite precisions it can achieve have the potential to unlock access to more Earth-like planets and more extreme environments than we have been able to study before.

“But the signals we’re searching for are tiny, and we’re often using the telescope at the very edge of its capabilities.”

Dr Alderson led an international team of researchers working with some of the very first JWST observations. Studying the atmosphere of a planet similar in size to Saturn but many times hotter, they detected a molecule never before seen in a planet outside of our solar system: sulphur dioxide.

The research was published in Nature and covered by media around the world. Dr Alderson is now a Klarman Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Cornell University.

Engineering

Dr Joseph Pemberton, School of Computer Science

‘Computational roles of cortico-cerebellar loops in temporal credit assignment’

After four years studying its inner workings, Dr Joseph Pemberton is still fascinated by the brain. A mathematician and computer scientist, Dr Pemberton spent his PhD exploring the role of the cerebellum - the ‘little brain’ -  and how it interacts with another part of the brain, the neocortex. He found that the two areas constantly talk to each other, and that this ongoing conversation helps us learn new skills.

Dr Pemberton said: “There are many individual structures of the brain which go back millions of years and which remain key to our existence. The cerebellum is one such structure and this research hopes to shed light onto its piece in the jigsaw.”

His research was published widely, including in the journal Nature Communications, and he is now a researcher at the University of Washington in Seattle.

Health Sciences

Dr Stanley Buffonge, Bristol Medical School

‘Identifying matrix metalloproteinases as a therapeutic target to protect the coronary microvascular endothelial glycocalyx in diabetic cardiomyopathy’

Improving lives drove Dr Stanley Buffonge’s thesis. His research focussed on how heart function could be improved in diabetics by targeting a particular protein to protect the inner lining of the heart’s micro vessels.

Dr Buffonge said: “I was originally led to the research as diabetes is common in several underrepresented communities. I wanted to make a significant impact in this area to contribute and gain knowledge and relay this in an understandable way.

“It felt relevant and necessary to participate in research tackling the global health burdens of diabetes and heart dysfunction.”

Dr Buffonge presented his research at conferences – winning prizes along the way – and he  hopes the insights will “pave the way” for more research, and potentially new drugs.

Now working as a Postdoctoral Scientist at the William Harvey Research Institute, he retains his passion to improve patient outcomes.

Arts

Dr Olivia Husoy-Ciaccia, Department of History,

‘The historical revival and contemporary innovation of ancient Mediterranean and Egyptian goddesses in 21st century Goddess Spirituality in the UK and USA’

Goddesses who were worshipped thousands of years ago are becoming increasingly popular in modern times. Dr Olivia Husoy-Ciaccia studied how devotees in the UK and US are praying to ancient Egyptian and Greek goddesses like Aset-Isis, Aphrodite and Sekhmet

Dr Husoy-Ciaccia said: “Despite thousands of years of disrupted worship and vast differences in culture, ancient goddesses are being revived in a way that is nevertheless deeply meaningful to modern people.

“And, I argue, such revivals should be of interest to scholars and professionals working in heritage and archaeology.”

Dr Husoy-Ciaccia has published her findings and has another article undergoing peer review.

She received a Keil Scholarship to study at the University of Bristol and said that “without this scholarship, my PhD would not have been possible, and so it is even more rewarding that this generous fund supported the production of a thesis that won a Doctoral Prize. I couldn't be more delighted and grateful!”

Dr Husoy-Ciaccia is now working as an Historic Environment Record Officer for Heneb, The Trust for Welsh Archaeology.

Social Sciences & Law

Dr Siân Ephgrave, School of Education

‘The dysbeing and wellbeing of secondary English teachers in England: a cocreative poetic inquiry’.

Dr Siân Ephgrave’s thesis was inspired by her own experiences as an English teacher.

As she put it: “It seemed to me that, despite several decades of research into teachers’ high levels of stress and low levels of workplace wellbeing, there had been little improvement and in fact, things seemed to be getting worse.”

Dr Ephgrave worked with 25 English teachers to compose poems and vignettes on the topic of wellbeing, finding that “English teachers conceptualise wellbeing in various ways that can be understood in terms of the importance of diversity, inclusion and authentic self-expression”.

Her PhD was a personal journey too. Her daughter was born at the end of her first year and, after maternity leave, she switched to studying part-time.

At times, she thought she would never finish. But after seven years, and thanks to the support of family, friends and her University of Bristol supervisors, she is not only a ‘dr’ but a Doctoral Prize winner.

Dr Ephgrave has developed the methods she used during her PhD into a group workshop and is now a Lecturer in Education at the University of Bath.