Thomas Connolley PhD in the Department of Engineering Materials, 1998, 2001
Beamline scientist at Diamond Light Source
Hi, I'm Thomas Connolley and I studied PhD in the Department of Engineering Materials, 1998 within Engineering and the Environment at the University of Southampton.
While at Southampton, I had fantastic support from my academic supervisors. A PhD has to be your own, original contribution to the body of scientific knowledge. Good guidance in finding your way to do that makes all the difference.
My job in industry offered few opportunities to develop and progress technically. I really wanted to be involved in advanced research, but progression in the organisation was mainly down the management route. So I applied for several PhD places at different universities, including Southampton. I was attracted to Southampton by the research projects on offer, which were concerned with investigating real engineering problems. It was important for me to have career opportunities after the PhD in case university-based research didn't appeal as a long-term career.
While at Southampton, I had fantastic support from my academic supervisors. A PhD has to be your own, original contribution to the body of scientific knowledge. Good guidance in finding your way to do that makes all the difference. Additionally, the core graduate training included skills for researchers, such as how to search the literature, planning research projects, presentation skills and how to approach writing your thesis.
The department I worked in was small, which encouraged a great sense of community among staff and research students. By choice, I didn't get that involved in the wider student scene. However, I found Southampton a great place for sport and outdoor pursuits, and the city has a thriving artistic and cultural life to help unwind after those long days in the lab.
Since leaving Southampton, my career has taken me overseas and back to the UK again where I presently work at Diamond Light Source.
About Thomas
Thomas has a first degree in Metallurgy and Science of Materials from Oxford University (1994). Before coming to Southampton in 1998, he was a materials engineer for a large aerospace company. Thomas studied for a PhD in the Department of Engineering Materials, funded on a CASE studentship by ALSTOM Power. Since leaving Southampton in 2001, he has worked as a consultant metallurgist in New Zealand, as a research engineer in Ireland and is now a beamline scientist at Diamond, the UK’s national synchrotron science facility.