Discover
Modelling
Rob Salguero-Gómez
I am a population ecologist. I was born and raised in Spain, where I attended the University of Cadiz for my BSc in Environmental Sciences. Further academic education took me to the UK for my MSc and the USA for my PhD, in addition to postdocs in Germany and Australia. My fascination for science started by studying succulent desert plants. I’ve...
Mechanobiology: the stress of life
We often think of our bodies in terms of cells and genes, but we shouldn’t forget that they’re also complex mechanical structures. From an Achilles tendon – that can carry half the weight of a Mini – to our constantly pulsing blood vessels, they’re feats of meticulous engineering. Scientists at the University of Oxford are showing how research...
Lockdown Walks - What's up with those clouds?
If you don't think there's much left to discover on a local walk, think again! In our 'Lockdown Walks' video series, researchers at the University of Oxford share some of the fascinating science that can be found right outside your front door! In this episode, Andrew Williams, a PhD student in the Department of Physics, tells us all about the...
Give Us a Hand
What links drugs, shells, springs and vines? It's something called 'chirality' and mathematics can help us understand it. But how? And why does it matter?
Should we trust scientists?
We’re living in extraordinary times, where graphs and statistics are splashed across newspaper front pages, and misinformation is rife. How do we know which sources of information are reliable? How do scientific researchers go from having an idea to publishing their findings, and advising on policy? In this week’s episode of the ‘Big Questions...
Understanding COVID-19 transmission, informing control
Tackling a previously unseen pathogen - like the one that causes COVID-19 - is like piecing together a puzzle. There are many different parameters to investigate before the pathogen can be fully understood, and before effective control measures can be put in place. So how do scientists go about solving the puzzle, and why is modelling so...
Andy Hector
My background includes a BSc. in Environmental Science at the University of Sheffield and a PhD from Imperial College before working at the NERC Centre for Population Biology and the University of Zurich.
Can we diagnose heart attacks faster?
With one person admitted to hospital every 5 minutes in the UK because of a heart attack, the ability to diagnose and treat them quickly is vital. In this episode of the ‘Big Questions’ podcast, find out how Dr Tingting Zhu is using a machine learning algorithm, trained on 15,000 ECGs, to diagnose heart attacks faster, potentially eliminating...
Sara Lil Middleton
I was always a curious child growing up, trying to understand the natural world around me through climbing trees, studying and collecting spiders and watching nature documentaries. My love for nature and the environment continued throughout my schooling and higher education. I studied science at A Level (Physics, Biology and Geography), which...
