A different PhD model For me KESS has been a fantastic opportunity, being able to work on a project linked to a company that has real world objectives means that the research I am doing can be applied and is actually doing useful things in the real world, which has suited me quite well.
Highlights So far it would have to be having the opportunity to attend the Euroblight conference; because that was the first time I’d presented real original research that I’d done to an audience of other scientists. I also think generally getting my first results out of my trial and these actually being used by the company that I’m working with to inform what they are doing in their breeding programme; it was good to see my research actually being used.
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Starting the PhD has opened up new challenges to me in terms of academic discipline; my PhD is a project that spans across two disciplines: the Business School and the School of Creative Industries, though the PhD itself sits within the Business School. From an academic development perspective having those two schools of thought has certainly helped me shape what I want to do in the future.
I think that there are a number of benefits for a company to work with a research partner, especially for a small company like Sain. In being a small company they have generally had to follow the larger companies in the industry in terms of development, working with a research partner has allowed them to see new ideas implemented much sooner. The company is constantly developing and as soon as something comes out from the research we try and implement it straight away.
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Company partner: Food Dudes
Academic institution: Bangor University
Academic discipline: Psychology
As part of my postgraduate skills development award I have been able to attend and give an oral presentation in a symposium with both my supervisors, Prof. Pauline Horne and Dr. Mihela Erjavec at the British Psychological Societies 3-day Cognitive and Development conference at Reading University. This was a great experience and excellent opportunity to disseminate my research.
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Company partner: Ensemble Cymru
Academic institution: Bangor University
Academic discipline: Music
What an experience…
During November 2012 I was given the opportunity to join the Dweezil Zappa plays Zappa band on their UK tour. A series of events led up to this opportunity. During ZPZ’s 2011 tour, I was lucky enough to briefly chat with Dweezil – I had questions to ask him about his father’s Clarinet Concerto – Mo N Herb’s Vacation. This resulted in me posting various audio files of my clarinet playing onto Dweezil’s website. These files were clips from the DVD and tracks from the CD I submitted as part of my research. Months passed, and out of the blue I received a message from Dweezil asking whether I would like to join the band onstage to play one of Frank Zappa’s songs on a couple of dates during their UK tour!
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To date I’ve been to three conferences, in my first year I went to the international leadership association conference in London, then I went to present a poster in Hawaii, which was a great experience, it was a huge conference with an international population. Then finally I went to the British Psychological society division of sport and exercise conference and won the student poster award, which was great and a bit of a shock really. I’ve recently had an article published in the Institute of Outdoor Learning magazine; ‘Horizons’. The IOL are an organisation for outdoor educators who are interested in the teaching and dissemination of information via the outdoor medium.
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After graduating from Aberystwyth University with a BSc degree in Equine Science it was a challenging project which confronted me when I commenced my studies last October. Also, coming from a very different background – a) being Latvian b) having my first education in Economics and c) the only animal I was at all familiar with being the horse – dealing with Red Kites and molecular genetics involved a lot of learning before commencing the research. However, by reading a tremendous amount of literature and ‘extracting the knowledge’ of my daily academic supervisors Dr Rob McMahon and Dr Matt Hegarty, as well as meeting up with Professor Mike Hayward and Tony from the Welsh Kite Trust, step by step I soon realised my mission.
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Undertaking this research with Innovis Breeding Sheep Ltd. means that Eleri can learn a wide range of practical skills. The mixture of academic and company contacts, has created interactions with a large network of people who have assisted in the project. As the project is commercially based, it involves the measurement of lamb meat quality traits, in a range of different environments including farm, abattoir, processor and laboratories. It has allowed Eleri to develop a range of skills in all these areas in conjunction with the overall project management of this research. The contacts Eleri has met and learnt from, means that she will be looking to further her career in a similar area to this current project.
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Working with the company through the PhD One part of the project that I hadn’t expected involved me going over to the parent company in Latvia. I was able to go over and meet the owners of the company, while there I was given a tour around the site where the materials are made plus I was able to see their capabilities. While there I asked if I could have some prototypes made, I explained what I was trying to do I took some materials over with me and asked if they would be able to make mit? They didn’t speak any English and I was quite worried as to what was going to come back, I was very happy when they came back with 4 prototypes in 3 hours later.
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