Chemistry PhD student beats off competition to attend global summit
Chemistry PhD student Topaz Cartlidge has been selected from more than 1,500 nominations from around the world to participate in the Global Young Scientists Summit in Singapore.
The conference brings together Nobel Prize and Turin Prize winners with Early Career Researchers (ECRs) and science’s top minds to discuss the future global challenges of all aspects of science and technology.
This year the conference received overwhelming nominations and Topaz was delighted to be chosen to be a delegate where she will get the chance to discuss her research with other scientists from a huge variety of backgrounds.
Topaz said: “I was absolutely ecstatic to be selected to attend the summit. It gave me the boost that I am doing well and that my PhD is within my grasp.
“The conference will be invaluable for my career. There will be so many academics from so many different fields that will give me a huge insight into the possible research area I could pursue after my PhD.
“It will broaden my research horizon and hopefully open some new doors for me. Not many people get the chance to connect with so many Nobel prize award winners. I’m hoping it will put me in good stead for both networking and research opportunities.”
Topaz’ PhD builds on her undergraduate degree in Chemistry that she took at Southampton. It focuses on using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to develop a technique to study the diffusion of molecules through complex porous systems.
She said: “The aim of my project is to develop a tool using NMR to measure how the structure and design of a scaffold will impact the success of a cell culture. These cultures can go on to form tissues that are inserted into patients and animals as replacement tissues.
“My project is mainly centred within Dr Giuseppe Pileio's Magnetic Resonance research group but I also work with Professor Marcel Utz, the Zepler Institute cleanrooms and I am hoping to be able to carry out some fluorescent imaging at the University Hospital Southampton.”
“I have acquired so many new skills during my PhD from coding to cell culturing and it has really opened the doors to so many possible areas I could work in.
“Chemistry at Southampton was a great course and with the new labs they have built, I believe it is only getting better. The research quality is amazing and I believe I have made connections I would not otherwise have been able to make. The lecturers are approachable and happy to help and the range of topics covered within the course give great insight into the huge depth of research covered within chemistry.”