Introduction
My name is Hannah Brotherton and I am a second year PhD
student in Audiology. After finishing my A Levels in 2007, I studied Biomedical Science-Neuroscience for my first
degree at University. I then did a Masters in Research of Biomedical Sciences
Neuroscience in 2010, followed by another Masters in Abnormal and Clinical
Psychology in 2011. In 2013, I began a PhD in audiology at the University of
Manchester.
My PhD
involves investigating a mechanism in the brain that may be involved in the development
of tinnitus, also known as ‘ringing of the ears’. The majority of individuals
that suffer from tinnitus usually have a hearing loss which causes less sound
to reach the brain. The mechanism tries to compensate for the hearing loss by
turning the ‘volume up’ and increasing the brain activity. A side effect of
this over-amplification of brain activity is tinnitus.

In Depth
What is tinnitus? Tinnitus comes from the latin word ‘
tinnure’ meaning ‘to ring’. It is a
hearing related condition where the sufferer hears a buzzing in their ears when
no actual sound is present. The ringing can take the form of a high-pitched
whining, electric buzzing, hissing, humming, tinging or a whistling sound. It
has also been described as a ‘whooshing’ sound. For some, tinnitus can come and
go, but for others it can be persistent and can cause a great deal of distress.
What do we think causes tinnitus?
There are many theories regarding the development of tinnitus.
One theory is there is a mechanism in our brain that when a hearing loss is
present, increases the brain activity which can be heard by the
individual.
Our brains are extremely ‘plastic’, which means the brain is
able to adapt to any changes in the environment. For example, if the brain is
damaged because of a head injury, it will adapt its function to try and compensate
for the damage. This also happens when a person has a hearing loss because less
sound than normal is reaching the brain, causing the brain to adapt and
compensate for this change in function. A mechanism in the brain tries to compensate
for the hearing loss by turning the ‘volume up’ i.e. increasing the brain
activity. However, a consequence of this
‘over-amplification’ of brain activity is that it can be heard by the person as
a ‘ringing’ sound, which causes the condition tinnitus.
What do I investigate?
My aim is to understand this mechanism in more detail. I do
this by getting normal hearing individuals to wear an earplug. The earplug
simulates the hearing loss and the mechanism increases the brain activity to
compensate for less sound reaching the brain. I measure a reflex of the muscles
in the ears that reflects changes in brain activity.
When these participants remove the earplug at the end of the
study, this mechanism detects there are normal levels of sound now reaching the
brain again and the brain activity returns to normal. If more is understood
about where and how this mechanism works, it might be possible to target this
mechanism and reduce the brain activity as a treatment for tinnitus. Therefore,
it is exciting to be part of research that could lead to an improvement in
other people’s lives.

Going Further
You can visit this
great
website that introduces you to the basics of hearing.
To find out more about audiology and what the course
involves, click
here.
If you are interested in finding out about other research we
do, have a look at this.
Also, have a look at a previous Young Person University blog about
Audiology.
Introduction
My name is Stephen David Worrall and I am studying for a PhD
in Nanoscience through the North West Nanoscience Doctoral Training Centre
(
NOWNano DTC) working alongside an array of hugely talented researchers. This means I spend
my time researching cutting edge science and trying to further our
understanding of the world around us by performing experiments in the
laboratory and reading up on the latest scientific developments. I work in the
Centre for Nanoporous Materials (
CNM) which
is in the
School of Chemistry here at the University of Manchester.

In Depth
Working in the CNM for Dr Martin Attfield means that my work focuses on the use of “nanoporous materials”. You will
already be familiar with normal porous materials like sponges which contain a
network of interconnected channels, where this network reaches the surface of
the sponge can be seen with the naked eye. Nanoporous materials are very similar;
the difference is that the interconnected channels are between 1,000,000 and
100,000,000 times smaller than in a sponge, around 1 nanometre (nm) wide
instead of 10 – 1000 millimetre (mm) wide. The nanoporous materials I work on
are called Metal – Organic Frameworks (MOFs) which are a new, large group of nanoporous
crystals with a huge number of potential uses. I am interested in using them as
moulds to “grow” metal wires which, with the network of
interconnected channels in MOFs acting as a template, will be just 1 nm wide.
Such small metal wires could find uses in fields as varied as the catalysis of
pharmaceutically important chemical reactions and the fabrication of electronic
devices.
As well as working in the CNM, I also work for Professor
Robert Dryfe in his “electrochemistry” group; where
research is focussed on the interface between chemistry and electricity. It is
the work in this research group that enables me to “grow” metal wires by a
process called electrodeposition. The MOF crystals are attached to a sheet of
metal which is negatively charged, the coated sheet of metal is then placed in
a solution containing dissolved metal cations (which are positively charged).
The opposite charges attract each other and the dissolved metal makes its way
through the channels of the MOF crystals to reach the metal plate and deposit
as solid metal, as this happens over and over again the metal wires eventually
build up.
Before doing my PhD in Nanoscience, I studied for a MChem in
Chemistry with Industrial Experience in the School of Chemistry here at the University of Manchester. To get on to
this course I needed an A level in Chemistry and two other A levels, one of
which was a science. As I’d done Biology, Chemistry, Maths and Physics, I was
perfectly equipped! This degree was perfect for me as I got to spend my penultimate
year working full time for a FTSE 100 Chemical Company and my final year working for Dr Andrew Horn as a Masters researcher in his laboratory.
This gave me experience of both the industrial and academic career paths and
helped me make the decision to carry on with research after I finished my
degree.
It was the right decision for me as not only do I get to
research new, interesting and exciting science but being a PhD researcher also
gives me the opportunity to be involved in the fantastic outreach work that
goes on at the University of Manchester, both as an Outreach Demonstrator for the School of Chemistry and through my role as a Widening Participation (WP) Fellow.
I get to work with school children both in their schools and at the university
and enthuse them about my work and science in general through talks, workshops
and practical demonstrations. There are not many other jobs where you can explode
things on a regular basis!

Going Further
For a list of the researchers working in the NOWNano DTC, the
fascinating and varied projects they are working on and the award winning
academics they are working for see here, here, here and here.
For the latest research going on in the CNM, click here.
For details on all the different sorts of Chemistry degree
the University of Manchester offers (doing a year in industry is just one of
your options!), see here.
For a fantastic video showcasing a day in the life of an
undergraduate chemistry student (and a little bit of the exciting stuff you can
get up to as an Outreach demonstrator!), click here.
Introduction
My name is Leo and I’m a first year PhD candidate in
Classics & Ancient History, at the University of Manchester. I also did my BA, in Classics & English
Language, and then my MA, in Classics & Ancient History, here at
Manchester, so it feels as if I’ve been here forever now. Actually, I grew up
in High Wycombe, near London, where I worked for a while as a teaching
assistant in a busy primary school. Besides my PhD, my main interests lie in
teaching and in affecting educational policy for Classics in schools.
In my research, I am interested primarily in death,
particularly in the Roman Empire. This is an important area of research, not
least because of the universality of death, which removes (to a certain extent)
social barriers between the rich and the poor – everybody dies. Also, the study
of death is useful as a portal into the study of wider areas, including
religion, archaeology, status issues and many others.

In Depth
My PhD is currently entitled ‘Burial Societies in the Roman
Empire’, which is a little misleading. I am actually looking at lots of
different kinds of ‘societies’ and examining the various ways in which
non-elite people used these ‘societies’ to give themselves a feeling of ‘status’.
Upper class people in the Roman World already had a high status because they
had lots of money and came from important families, who engaged in politics or
important businesses. That does not mean though, that all of the lower classes
were necessarily ‘low status’ individuals. Rather, the lower classes were able
to join ‘societies’ or clubs, through which they could rise in importance and
feel good about themselves. These clubs also supported their members in death,
by providing free funerals and holding feasts in their honour, which is how
they tie into my overall interests in death.
Why do I care about death? I know, I know, this seems like
SUCH a morbid thing to be studying not to mention being, frankly, depressing!
In fact, studying death is an incredibly interesting and, believe it or not,
lively pursuit! Philosophy on death and, particularly, the afterlife features
in every society and religion throughout both history and the world and the
study of these beliefs can be incredibly useful. For example, modern religions
are, in many ways, more alike than people often think: the Abrahamic religions
(that is, Christianity, Islam and Judaism) all believe in an afterlife of
different realms, one of Paradise and the other of Hell. Dharmic religions on the
other hand (Sikhism, Buddhism and Hinduism), believe more in the reincarnation
of souls. I am particularly interested in where these various beliefs came from
and how they have since diverged into more individual beliefs. Looking at
religion in the Ancient World is a great way of going about this!
The great thing about studying Classics & Ancient History
is that you get to study a very wide range of topics (including literature,
history, politics, religion, art, etc) and that is exactly what I am doing in
this research – which involves looking at philosophy and religion, archaeology,
history, demography, status psychology and politics.
Going Further
The CLAH Department at Manchester is one of the best in the
country and its student run magazine is full of fun things to do with Classics.
Remember, it’s not just Latin! Click here to read the magazine.
If you’re still unsure about what CLAH is or the benefits in
studying it, check out this article from The Guardian.
The Iris Project is a great programme, designed to
reintroduce Latin into State schools. There is an enormous benefit in studying
Latin, in that, weirdly, it teaches you all about how English works!
This is an interesting website for anybody who is interested
in teaching Classics or learning more about the overall subject.
Introduction
My name is
Joe and I am a final year PhD student at the University of Manchester where I
study Neuroscience. Having finished my A-levels in Biology, Chemistry and
History, I applied to study Zoology in Manchester. Once accepted, I deferred the start of my
degree for a year to fulfil a childhood dream to travel the length of South
America while attempting to learn Spanish along the way - albeit pretty badly.
Having
survived my travels, I finished my undergraduate course with a first class degree
and decided to carry on my studies at Manchester through a research masters in
Integrative Biology. It was during this time that I ended up on a
laboratory-based project with my current supervisor and I became interested in
the field of biological rhythms and their role in neurological disorders.
Almost four years on, I am still focused on trying to understand how changes to
your body’s biological clock within your brain can contribute to the unusual
behaviour seen in bipolar disorder.

In Depth
As you have continued reading, I imagine you may be wondering what are biological clocks and what do they have to do with bipolar disorder? As we live on a planet that rotates over a 24-hour cycle, all organisms are subjected to daily changes in light, temperature and many other factors important to life. Almost every species on earth has responded to these environmental changes with the slow evolution of biological clocks that allow us to anticipate these daily cycles. These clocks are made up of genes and proteins that strictly control the timing of cellular and body processes.
In humans and mammals, these biological clocks now exist in a deep part of our brains as two dense clusters of brain cells known as the suprachiasmatic nuclei. These tiny but intricate structures strictly control the timing of almost everything in our bodies, from when we wake up to when our hormones are released. They also they let our cells know when they need to do specific jobs at different times of the day. When these biological clocks go wrong, there is a growing amount of evidence that has shown you are much more likely to become ill.
Illnesses that have been linked to faulty body clocks are quite varied but include neuropsychiatric disorders such as depression, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. People with these diseases very often have highly disturbed sleep-wake rhythms, often sleeping much less, or waking up a lot during the night and we think that faulty body clocks might be to blame.
My work focuses on trying to understand how molecular and electrical activity changes in the suprachiasmatic nuclei during bipolar disorder and whether any such changes in biological rhythms may contribute to disruptions in our daily behaviour. As many drugs that can change our body clocks are being rapidly discovered, we hope that this type of work will pave the way for the use of new medicines that improve body rhythms to help treat people with bipolar disorder and other similar neurological problems.
Going Further
Find out what’s going on in Manchester’s vibrant Neuroscience department
here.
The University of Manchester’s Neuroscience course page, where you can find out about what you can study and what you need to do if you are interested.
Find out what type of body clock you have here and compare yourself to others around the world via this global questionnaire, set up by the world’s most prominent biological rhythm researchers:
The Guardian’s two Neuroscience blogs, with some nice articles on the most recent advances and stories in the field - click here and here.
Take a look at the British Neuroscience Association (BNA) for up-to-date news and information from the UK’s biggest Neuroscience organisation.
Only for the most intrepid minds out there! A link to the most prominent neuroscience journal out there including a weekly open-access article (you need to pay to read these normally). Don’t be put off by the crazy language as you will only really understand this after years of study, but you can get an idea of what real neuroscience looks like here.