BSc (Hons) Chemical Physics 2019 Your Time at the University When it came to applying for University, the Chemical Physics programme at Edinburgh felt like the natural choice for me. I was particularly interested in the overlap between physics and chemistry and Edinburgh seemed a nice place to move to. In the first few years of my degree, I found juggling all the core modules a challenge, but as the courses began to specialise I felt more settled. In the summer following my third year, I undertook a short research project supervised by Dr Andrew Alexander in the School of Chemistry which encouraged me to continue with research after fourth year. I found the Chemical Physics course demanding but I am glad that I stuck with it. It set me up well for further interdisciplinary studies. I found the Chemistry staff at Edinburgh really supportive and enjoyed being part of the Chemical Physics community during my time there. Your Experiences Since Leaving the University After graduating from Edinburgh, I continued to the University of Glasgow to complete a MSc by research supervised by Professor Klaas Wynne, where I studied laser-induced phase separation and crystal nucleation. After my first few months at Glasgow, I decided that I wanted to continue with research and began looking at possible PhD projects. I was very fortunate to be offered my first choice; a project based at the University of Warwick and working with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew to study the nucleation of ice by molecules released from plant spores and pollen. My PhD work was varied and interdisciplinary. On a typical day, I might be found outdoors collecting pollen from plants, or in the lab freezing small water droplets. While my fundamental interests remain in physical chemistry, in understanding nucleation processes, I have enjoyed working with collaborators from diverse disciplines and learning more about plants. I spent my final year as a visiting student at the Institute for Climate and Atmospheric Science at the University of Leeds, where my primary PhD supervisor Dr Thomas Whale is now based, before moving to Cambridge in 2024 to take up a new postdoctoral research position. I am currently working as a Cloud Scientist at the British Antarctic Survey, studying the substances that induce ice nucleation in the atmosphere over the Southern Oceans. These ice nucleators represent a large source of uncertainty in climate models, which we aim to help reduce by better understanding their sources, properties and abundance. This involves making lots of aerosol and ice nucleation measurements, at the lab in Cambridge and on fieldwork visits to Antarctica. Alumni Wisdom I would say, take the opportunity to speak to researchers about their work. Most will be very happy to chat about what they are working on and pleased that someone is interested! This is a great way to find areas that interest you (or don’t). As well as helping when it comes to considering options after university, this is always useful for getting to know where the concepts and techniques being taught at undergraduate level are applied. This article was published on 2023-10-16
