Wider Academic Opportunities

After a great deal of research into viruses, Molly decided to change tack and investigate ecosystem conservation; a topic close to her heart. 

“I wanted to understand how different genetic technologies worked, and then at how they might be able to help ecosystems which are at risk.  I compared the differences between plant and animal genetics, and found interesting research papers showing what has already become possible.  This involves using technologies which can predict the genetic susceptibility of different organisms and species which are at risk, and genetic technologies which can modify or select species to help their survival.   

However this then raises interesting questions which I was asked about during my presentation.  Practical questions included: ‘what unintended consequences might there be if certain species are helped?’ and ‘is this a financially viable idea if there is no obvious commercial benefit?’.  Moral questions included: ‘when is it right to intervene and when is it unjustified’.  Debating these questions, and developing my understanding of the complexities of genetic research, was both inspiring in itself, and a great help in my preparation for my biology application to Oxford, where I am now studying.  Through my EPQ I corresponded with an Oxford biologist who shared the same interest as my own, which was a great link to develop.”

Frances had a range of interests from maths and physics to philosophy.  She decided that economics was a subject that united these interests – highly technical and mathematical on the one hand, but also concerned with human behaviour on the other.   

“The theme for my EPQ started with a book by Thaler and Sunstein  ‘Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness’.  This combines ideas about decision making from economics and psychology, and they won a Nobel prize for their work.  If you are an organisation, like a business or the government, you might want to guide people to doing something without actually telling them to do it.  In other words, you put certain things into their environment which help them to make the choice that you want them to make.  This is helpful because people feel in control of what they are doing, but, in the case of the health service, you have managed to guide behaviour in a way which is good for individuals and the economy. 

Through my research I read many papers, but also talked to some interesting people, including a former Highfields student who works in the policy unit in Downing Street.  It was good to hear her real-world experience and she pointed me in the direction of some analysis of the Behavioural Insights Team (or ‘Nudge Unit’) set up by the Cabinet Office.  The EPQ helped me to understand some of the complexities of analysing cause and effect in behavioural sciences, which was helpful before I started studying Economics at Cambridge.”

Amelia’s initial interest came from watching a documentary about Lady Jane Grey, the great-granddaughter of Henry VII, whose nine-day reign did not qualify her as the first Queen of England in the eyes of most people. 

“There have been many depictions of Lady Jane Grey, from the period during and shortly after her life, right they way through to modern academic and media portrayals.  I wanted to look at the themes and different interpretations, including feminist perspectives.  I really enjoyed the variety in my research.  It was a challenge to read books like Acts and Monuments written in 1583, and it was interesting to learn how experts interpret paintings like those of George Flagg and Delaroche from the early 1800s.  Most of all, however, it was exciting to be able to ask questions in person to Dr Lucy Worsley OBE (joint Chief Curator of Historic Royal Palaces who is also a BBC presenter and author).   

During my presentation I was asked to assess conflicting viewpoints from academics in Sheffield and Oxford.  Because of the wider research I had done, I felt much more confident in doing that and could give a reasoned answer for my view.  I became inspired by the character that I perceived Lady Jane Grey to be, and the whole research and writing exercise became something I was personally very attached to.  Although I have gone on to study English Literature at degree level, the EPQ developed my understanding of academic research and writing very much.” 

Izabella was interested in neurological disease, and initially decided to focus on Huntington’s disease. However she came to the view that comparing treatments with Alzheimer’s would give her more of a chance to evaluate and analyse.  So, her report aimed to assess the potential for treating Huntington’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease in similar ways due to their similar disease pathologies.     

She found that the different proteins responsible for each disease could be lowered by different drugs, but using the similar methods and targets.  She found that the Alzhiemer’s treatments had been more successful the ones for Huntington’s disease.  However both treatments face the same challenges of crossing the blood-brain barrier.  Therefore they both looked for similar methods to overcome this obstacle.  She also looked at the age of the people used in trials – some of the newer trials are based on younger populations at a earlier stage of the disease, and that this might have an impact on whether newer drug treatments would help older patients. 

Izabella also looked at whether the causes of the diseases could be targeted rather than the symptoms.  She concluded this would be much harder, but there were potential lines to look at.  She also looked at combination of treatments, including gene editing.  Finally she looked at advanced diagnostics and the help they can give in slowing the onset of severe symptoms. 

This was a hugely complex topic to analyse, and Izabella’s research involved significant links with some leading university and hospital researchers, which meant it took cutting-edge and unpublished research into account.

Niamh became interested in clinical trials as part of her research into biomedical science. 

She looked at how they keep patients safe whilst still maintaining a strong pharmaceutical industry.  It looked at how large scale trials for covid treatments and vaccines changed the landscape for drug trials and then at the potential impacts of artificial intelligence.  Niamh’s research concluded that the UK has some inefficiencies which compare unfavourably with other similar countries, but that new proposals could make it more attractive as a place to conduct trials. 

George considered solar energy’s potential by creating a framework for evaluating the potential of different renewable resources.  This included considering technological advances, for example whether there were alternatives to lithium batteries for the storage of solar generated electricity.  But it also considered how policies could affect the solar market as global capacity for solar energy increases.   For example, how could subsidy cuts in China, and import tariffs in the US, hinder future installations of solar panels. On a more positive note it looked at the introduction of new solar financial transactions, such as energy auctions in the Caribbean and SEG payments in the UK, together with ‘zero-upfront cost’ offers to the consumer.