Why did you choose to do a PhD?

I was the first in my family to go to university so the PhD wasn’t initially something I’d considered. However, I enjoyed my Master’s project so much that I decided to pursue one and luckily got a place on the MASS program.

What is your research topic and how have you found PhD life?

I’m modelling the potential energy surface of intermolecular interactions using Gaussian processes. The idea is to apply these models to simulations of the chemical systems inside carbon capture and storage pipelines in order to optimise the specifications which they run under. I’ve really enjoyed PhD life so far, even the weeks of frustration!

What is it like being a part of MASS?

 I really enjoy being part of the MASS group, it’s nice to be surrounded by people from such diverse academic backgrounds.

I myself haven’t given any talks outside the second year talks and my chance to travel has been limited (as I’m sure you have felt yourself!) but I would recommend the GP summer school in Sheffield to anyone interested in Gaussian processes. I think all of the talks are on Youtube.

That’s a good question! At the moment I’m not entirely sure if I’m honest, although the prospect of a post-doc placement is probably the direction I’m leaning. (Let’s see how that is once I start writing up though.)