And the winners are… we are proud to announce the first winners of Sparrho’s Early Career Researcher Prize!
Exciting news! We can finally announce the two outstanding young researchers who have won our July prize for Early Career Researchers to attend their dream conference.
These two young scientists come from different backgrounds, but are united in their passion for their field and communicating science. Congratulations!
Tania Warnakulasuriya, MBBS, lecturer at the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka is looking into the effects of radiation because of a family member suffering from cancer.
Aaron Pearlman, PhD student at the California Institute of Technology is studying pulsars (highly magnetised rotating neutron stars) after finding a practical application for his computing skills.
Tania and Aaron receive a £500 grant each to help them present at the conferences they are going to this year in Berlin and Denver.
Learn more about these two exciting young scientists below and be sure to check our blog later to read about their experiences in more detail.
Aaron Pearlman
PhD student at the California Institute of Technology
#magnetar #astrophysics #pulsar #xray
Aaron will be speaking at the 232nd American Astronomical Society Meeting, Denver, USA in June 2018.
How would you introduce your research to a non-expert? I study the behavior of the densest stars in the universe, known as pulsars, using ground-based and space-based telescopes. Some pulsars reside in very extreme environments, which provide ideal astrophysical laboratories for exploring physical conditions that are impossible to replicate on Earth. My research is focused on understanding the extreme nature of pulsars in order to further our knowledge of our vast and perplexing universe.
How has your research field already contributed to the world? Pulsars have been found to be exceptionally precise cosmic clocks, which can be timed by tracking their rotating beam of radio waves. Two major goals of modern astrophysics are to characterise the population of pulsars near the center of the Milky Way and to use an ensemble of pulsars to detect gravitational waves from colliding supermassive black holes, which will provide valuable insight into galaxy formation. My research aims to use pulsars as probes of the most extreme physics in the universe.
“I would strongly encourage students to attend conferences as often as possible and to interact with more senior members of the scientific community because this can often lead to collaboration on future projects.”
What advice would you give to younger students regarding attending a conference? Conferences provide younger students with a special opportunity to showcase their work to others in their field. I would strongly encourage students to attend conferences as often as possible and to interact with more senior members of the scientific community because this can often lead to collaboration on future projects. Professional conferences also give students a valuable medium for staying updated on the latest research.
Read more about Aaron’s research here.
Tania Warnakulasuriya, MBBS
Lecturer at the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka
#micronuclei #backgroundradiation #protection #occupationalhealth
Tania will be speaking at the 4th International Conference on Radioecology and Environmental Radioactivity (ICRER), Berlin, Germany in September 2017.
How would you introduce your research to a non-expert? My research is on the health effects of long term exposure to radiation. I analyse the number of micronuclei; structures smaller than nuclei but with similar characteristics to nuclei within a cell of cultured peripheral blood lymphocytes. This is able to quantify the amount of radiation exposure to a person as ionizing radiation has been shown to damage or break the chromosomes causing micronuclei to be formed.
How has your research field already contributed to the world? The research into biological dosimetry has many implications. It is used in occupational health to monitor the exposure to radioactive substances and prevention of health hazards. The whole world is a radioactive place with terrestrial radiation and cosmic radiation exposure being inevitable, research into this area is of importance in identifying high risk areas of radiation exposure and high risk occupations. It is also used to monitor patients following medical exposure to radiation.
Prospective studies and continuous monitoring of these identified groups at risk enables protective measures to be implemented. This allows us to prevent or minimize the risk of the most dangerous health outcomes such as cancer and death by radiation toxicity.
“Use the time at the conference wisely to establish new contacts and have time to talk with the senior scientists at the conference by which you might be able to create new avenues for yourself as well as your colleges for opportunities to train in a specialised area.”
What advice would you give to younger students regarding attending a conference? One should choose the conference that they want to present at after a thorough background search. One should identify whether the scope of the conference matches the research they have conducted and whether the audience will be interested in the research. Then you should check the history of the conference proceedings to see whether it has been an event organized well in the past. Just as you want to present the research you should be able to gain knowledge through the other presentations and symposia at the conference and gain insight into the new trends that have not been published as articles yet. Once you have selected a good conference to attend, submit the abstract according to the guidelines given by them.
If the scope of the conference matches and the abstract is of high scientific merit it will be chosen. Then you are given the guidelines for a presentation and one should adhere to them specially the timing in an oral presentation and the size in a poster presentation.
Use the time at the conference wisely to establish new contacts and have time to talk with the senior scientists at the conference by which you might be able to create new avenues for yourself as well as your colleges for opportunities to train in a specialised area. Keep an open mind and try to learn from each speaker at the conference, as they must be as passionate about their area of research as you are about yours. That is an enthralling way to learn as opposed to just reading the printed articles or abstracts.
Read more about Tania’s research here.
The above applicants are winners in Sparrho’s Early Career Researcher Prize that awards £500 to early career scientists who is presenting their work at an academic conference. To apply, follow this link to the 5-minute application form and use the Sparrho platform to share your research. Applications close at the end of each month and reviewed on a rolling basis.
