The scheme offers 24 months of tailored research and career development support to outstanding early career researchers from all around the world.
Cohort four is made up of eleven Fellows, based at the East Midlands and London campuses. To further collaboration opportunities and embed Fellows across campuses, a showcase event will be held at the Loughborough London campus on Wednesday 8 November, 11am-12pm in Room 4.01.
Each Fellow will give a short presentation about their research, with time dedicated to networking after the event from 12pm-1pm. All staff and students are welcome to attend.
To find out more information about this year’s Vice-Chancellor Independent Research Fellows in cohort four, please see below.
Based in the Department of Chemical Engineering, Dr Humera Ansari’s Fellowship examines factors that affect the efficient adsorption of CO2 on highly porous materials, and how better materials can be designed to facilitate optimal recovery of CO2. The global scientific community has long heralded Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) as the primary mitigation technology against climate change impacts. The Capture part of the chain involves capturing CO2 from sources such as power plants or air, potentially through adsorption on a highly porous material. Dr Humera Ansari is looking forward to leveraging the existing expertise and equipment available at Loughborough University to drive her research forward. She is excited to collaborate with colleagues as passionate as her about achieving net zero soon.
Based in the Department of Chemistry, Dr Samantha Bodman is a synthetic supramolecular chemist and is using her Fellowship to investigate novel systems that could be used to improve solar cell efficiency. With the ever-growing pressures of power generation and usage, along with geological resource limitations, photovoltaic materials play an essential role in securing a sustainable future. Utilising time on the Fellowship, Dr Samantha Bodman plans to combine her skills of organic synthesis and supramolecular self-assembly to develop new materials for this.
Based in the School of Architecture, Building and Civil Engineering, Dr Monia Del Pinto will carry out interdisciplinary research on urban form and disaster risk, with a focus on climate-related threats on the spatial networks of UNESCO World Heritage Cities. Over the course of the Fellowship, Dr Monia Del Pinto will work in synergy with research delivery partners from around the globe, such as the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (Italy), Bath World Heritage City (United Kingdom) and George Town World Heritage Inc (Malaysia). This synergised research intends to inform planning practices and heritage management measures towards effective Disaster Risk Management action in heritage urban areas.
Based in the School of Design and Creative Arts, Dr Katharine Fry’s research examines storytelling as a therapeutic tool for breaking cycles of family dysfunction. Exploring questions such as ‘Can a family system be reimagined by changing the story that underpins it?’ and ‘Can a new story change someone’s perception of their family system and the role they play in it?”, building on previous work and films, such as When I'm with you (screening at Loughborough in November).
Over the course of the Fellowship, Dr Katharine Fry will produce a feature-length artist film titled The Fur Chest to reveal a relationship between a bedridden daughter and caregiving mother over three generations in a one-room dwelling. This film will be developed in collaboration with the Museum of the Home and the Animation Academy, and brings together historic collections research and heritage interpretation, auto-ethnography of illness, and family systems theory, which will help to inform future Digital Storytelling workshops.
Dr Theresa Heath
Based in Loughborough University in London, Dr Theresa Heath intends to lead a collaborative project aimed at expanding thinking around, and the provision of, disabled access at cultural festivals and events. Drawing on scholarship and practitioner expertise across film and media, the creative and cultural industries, cultural policy, business, tourism and management, and critical disability studies, she aims to make a major contribution to the emerging and interdisciplinary field of accessibility studies. Emphasising collaboration, interdisciplinarity, global networks and partnerships, and innovative, mixed methodologies, the research will explore the potential within the creative industries for creating more accessible and inclusive environments.
Based in the School of Architecture, Building and Civil Engineering, Dr John Kolawole is investigating the anisotropy (lagging strength) of 3D printed concrete. He is providing an innovative solution using enzymatic science. His work will improve the resilience of 3D-printed concrete infrastructure and their contributions to Net Zero carbon. Dr John Kolawole looks forward to being successful at new funding applications for his excellent innovative ideas and sees Loughborough University as the leading institution for his project execution.
Based in the School of Materials Engineering, Dr Ryan Larder is using the Fellowship to develop novel polymer coatings to help protect medical devices from harmful bacteria. These anti-fouling materials are being designed to prevent the attachment of dangerous pathogens to the surface of devices, that would otherwise go on to cause infection in patients. Dr Ryan Larder is excited to collaborate within the materials science and bioengineering research teams at Loughborough university, in the hopes of generating highly impactful materials that will be of great benefit to patient wellbeing.
Based in the School of Sport, Exercise, and Health Sciences, Dr Verity Postlethwaite will explore mis/uses of international sporting and cultural events to govern societies in the United Kingdom, Australia, and Japan. She has recently returned from a short trip to Japan to continue research on the Tokyo 2020(1) Olympic and Paralympic Games with partners, including a meeting with colleagues at the Japan Sport Council. Events in these countries have significant time and money invested into forging positive impacts for host communities, and her research will contribute to understanding varying community priorities and different ways to value impacts. Dr Verity Postlethwaite is energised to be in Loughborough and work collaboratively with colleagues across the University, including a live feasibility study for a UK Capital of Sport funded by Spirit of 2012.
Based in the School of Sport, Exercise, and Health Sciences, Dr Florence Sheen is investigating how we can communicate with adolescents about eating and body weight to be supportive of individual changes, health, and wellbeing during this key developmental period and into adulthood. She will explore the messages adolescents receive from various sources in their lives, including online and on social media, and how these are interpreted and internalised by adolescents. Concurrently, she will work with a group of adolescents to co-design more supportive resources for this age group. After holding open research talks this summer, Dr Florence Sheen is now recruiting for this steering group of adolescents and parents to drive her research and what supportive resources should look like.
Based in the School of Chemistry, Dr Stefan Warrington plans to use his Fellowship to explore the intricate designs found in nature and harnessing the materials used by organisms to develop sustainable, bio-inspired organic electronic materials for devices such as batteries. In an age marked by rapid technological advancement, we have become increasingly reliant on consumer electronics. However, the majority of commercial electronics contain toxic or precious metals with limited recyclability, high production costs, and are contributing to environmental damage and waste. Thus, a nature-driven design strategy for sustainable battery development will potentially be pivotal to achieve a circular economy and a net-zero future.
Based in the School of Geography and Environment, Dr Savannah Worne is an aquatic environmental researcher with interests in nutrient cycling, aquatic pollution, algal productivity, palaeoclimatology and environmental reconstruction. Currently, her research focuses on developing novel stable isotype techniques to understand nutrient pollution and impacts on aquatic ecosystem health, in collaboration with the British Geological Survey. She looks forward to building new external collaborations as well as cross-disciplinary research at Loughborough University. The goal during her Fellowship is to apply for further funding to provide a more holistic understanding of aquatic biogeochemistry and how these ecosystems change over time and with different pressures. Ultimately, Dr Savannah Worne hopes her research will be used to create positive change to protect aquatic habitats and species.
The recruitment campaign for the next cohort of the Vice-Chancellor Independent Research Fellowship Scheme is now open. Visit the dedicated webpage for more information.