New PhD student from microbiology wins award in first week of his engineering PhD
New PhD student Christian Cox has won GlaxoSmithKline’s Three Minute Thesis Competition. The event, based on the rules of the international 3 Minute Thesis Competition, invited all students to present for three minutes, using only one PowerPoint slide, with no animation or movies.
Christian, who recently graduated from the University of Southampton with a 1st class integrated masters degree in Biomedical Sciences, last week took up Professor Leighton’s offer to join his laboratory, The ToyFactory, in the Faculty of Engineering and the Environment, to undertake a PhD in the use of ultrasonics to reduce dental infections, improve health and reduce the use of antibiotics in dentistry and therefore the contribution made by oral ill health to the rise of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
The project is a case award, co funded by GSK and the BBSRC, and the supervisers are Professor Leighton, Professor Keevil (FNES), Dr Tom Secker (FNES) and Dr Craig Dolder (FEE).
Christian was presented with a certificate and a £100 Amazon voucher at the event dinner.
"Having been up against a variety of students at different stages of their PhD, between just started and finishing their second year, I wasn't really expecting it to go as well as it did, let alone win, but it seems like a great way to start off a PhD and I enjoyed being able to present the unique features of the research project that I am just starting to undertake."
Professor Leighton said: “It is really great to see young people have the trust and courage to take the leap of faith to move between disciplines. This is the key to successful interdisciplinary teams, and I am delighted Christian chose to join us: I am proud of the fact that visitors to The Toy Factory often ask if they are speaking to an engineer who has learned microbiology, or a microbiologist who has learned engineering. Especially when they are actually speaking to a career medic. It is great fun to have all three as PhD students and it is a fantastic basis for addressing the challenges of AMR and Infection Prevention”.