Turning a passion into a business: Bike Bros The life of a PhD student is not all work, work, work. A lot of people join student societies and sports clubs. In this episode, I talk to two of my colleagues at the Advanced Technology Institute who have started a business together in their spare time. https://drsporea.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/bikeb…

SATRO Summer Research Placement Awards 2014 Each year, SATRO sponsors a select group of sixth form students, pairing them with scientists and engineers for four to six weeks. The students work on genuine research projects, submit their work for a Gold CREST Award and gather for the annual Awards Ceremony in November. This year, the Awards were host…

IMPACT ACCELERATION ACCOUNT The EPSRC Impact Acceleration Account (IAA) follows on from the University of Surrey’s successful Knowledge Transfer Account (KTA) and is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). The Surrey IAA aims to accelerate the process of research exploitation by delivering an innovative programme o…

The fourth postgraduate research conference at the University of Surrey was held at the beginning of February. I spoke to some of the young researchers, the organisers and members of staff to learn more about this event and about the exciting things going on around me. https://drsporea.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/potential-difference-pg-conference-…

Today’s guest uses this machine for aligning carbon nanotubes by electrospinning. Simon King is an engineering doctoral student at Surrey’s MinMat Industrial Doctoral Centre supported by the EPSRC and industrial partner Thomas Swan and Company. https://drsporea.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/8-simon.mp3 Subscribe in iTunes This is an episode in the fi…

Despite its astounding mechanical properties, carbon fibre has poor electrical characteristics. My guest today seeks to enhance them and by so doing, make the material safer to use in aircraft. In a departure from traditional ATI research, he works with carbon nanomaterials on the large scale and finds Surrey more than just a good place to do Scien…

In this podcast, we visit the Theory and Computation group at the ATI. I’m speaking to Ross Maspero, a PhD researchers who studies lasers and ways of making them more efficient. I met him days after he gave a talk at his first international conference in Vancouver. https://drsporea.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/6-ross.mp3 Subscribe in iTunes This is …

So far, series has been featuring PhD students. Today I’m speaking to a postdoctoral researcher who changed her field after she became a Doctor. Her passion for the subject, she tells me, might be best used in future for public engagement in Science, outreach and generally enthusing people. https://drsporea.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/5-nicola.mp3 …

Today’s guest showed up in a T-shirt reading “This is what a feminist looks like” and has given up jiu-jitsu for roller derby, only to find this sport equally intense. He struggled to make the most of his studies, having been diagnosed with dyslexia only recently. Not only has he found effective ways of adapting but he is now one of the few people …

Today I’m talking to another of our chemists. He reveals some less well known properties of nanostructured materials based on carbon and argues that you don’t have to work around the clock to be successful in academic research. https://drsporea.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/3-liam.mp3 Subscribe in iTunes This is an episode in the first series of “Pot…