PCER seed fund

Section 1 - Humanities funded projects 19-20 

1.1 Dr Erica Charters 

Associate Professor of Global History and the History of Medicine / Co-director of the Oxford Centre for Global History, Faculty of History 

Oxford and Empire Podcasts 

Oxford and Empire podcasts would provide permanent, widely accessible, and engaging audio recordings (with accompanying text and images) of the historical relationship between Oxford and empire. Speakers – Oxford residents, local historians, postholders, and PG students – would provide short c. 3-minute historical back ground on a variety of buildings, objects, and locations around Oxford. Because these podcasts would record a variety of subjects narrated by a range of speakers, it would capture the diversity of individuals within Oxford, as well as the variety of approaches to understanding the legacies of colonialism. In particular, it would integrate academics, students, and Oxford residents to tell the various histories of Oxford and its relationship to empire. It will also enable history postgraduate students to add substantially to the public understanding of Oxford’s imperial past while reflecting upon their discipline’s public and political context. 

1.2 Professor Katrin Kohl  

Professor of German Literature, Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages 

Slanguages: Multilingual Performance in Oxford 

In modern languages research, considerable work has focused on European languages, but less work has been undertaken on the uses of non-European and community languages and their creative possibilities. Boliyan and Jugni are traditionally performed in Punjabi. Working with two-times Grammy Award winning percussionist Lekan Babalola, award winning Indian Folk Bhangra Dancers Nachda Sansaar, and three young female BAME artists, the Creative Multilingualism programme has developed multilingual versions of these South Asian art forms, which will be showcased in Oxford. 

The audience will enjoy an inspiring, practical demonstration of the creative uses of languages that are widespread in UK communities but barely acknowledged in the UK’s perception of its linguistic identity. They will be introduced to new genres of performance, or an example of a familiar form presented innovatively. A post show Q&A will allow the artists to gain a deeper understanding of the impact of their work. 

Section 2 - Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences  

2.1 Dr Joshua Bull 

Postdoctoral Researcher, Mathematical Institute 

What's The Point? Investigating spatial point patterns through citizen science 

This project will create a new app which is both a puzzle game and a valuable “citizen science” collaboration with Oxford mathematicians! App users will place points to try to match shapes and solve challenges, with each attempt contributing to a large dataset of labelled point patterns. 

We are developing new mathematical techniques to automatically identify structure in this type of dataset, something that humans can do easily but computers struggle with. Interpreting spatial patterns in these datasets is crucial for improving our understanding of problems in a huge range of areas, including describing the clustering of immune cells within tumours, the structure of neurons in the brain, and the way that information can be interpreted by computers. 

Our app will allow users to help us build a database of point patterns which have been labelled by humans, accelerating the development of new mathematical descriptions of point data and providing insight into diverse problems across maths, biology and ecology. 

2.2 Dr Ruth Feber 

Zoology Research Fellow, Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU), Department of Zoology 

Citizen science and social networks 

Citizen science has tremendous potential for engaging the public in research and for generating valuable data. One scheme, the National Moth Recording Scheme (NMRS), run by Butterfly Conservation, is one of the largest citizen science schemes in the UK, generating datasets that are used by scientists to underpin national assessments of biodiversity change and for wider environmental research. A network of over 100 volunteer coordinators play a vital role in the scheme, by receiving, verifying and computerising moth records contributed by the public. The rapid growth in digital communication has enabled far more people to participate in the scheme but is also changing the traditional face-to-face social networks that have historically underpinned the success of the scheme. Working with Butterfly Conservation, we will consult the volunteer coordinators on the opportunities and challenges that the digital environment presents for them. In particular we will focus on exploring the impacts of changing social networks on their motivations and engagement with the scheme. The project will lead to wider recommendations on how to foster networks to achieve successful joint working in citizen science monitoring programmes in a digital age. 

2.3 Dr Seham Helmi 

Postdoctoral Research Assistant in DNA-Templated Molecular Devices, Department of Physics 

DNA Self Assembly: DNA 2.0 Gala Event 

We would like to develop an art-science collaboration to engage diverse community groups around Oxford with research on DNA self-assembly. We are proposing a DNA self-assembly Gala Event, which would bring this innovative research to an audience that may not otherwise have the opportunity to engage with it. The content will be co-created through workshops, in which community groups (such as schools, charities and community centres) will collaborate with a professional choreographer to create a dance of their own inspired by the research. The final gala event will showcase these dance performances alongside more in-depth talks about the science and its applications. 

This project provides an opportunity for community groups to demonstrate their own understanding and interpretation of the research through choreographed dance, enabling participants to engage on a creative, social and intellectual level. Furthermore, this project brings an additional benefit for the gala audience, who will learn about innovative research presented in a novel format. 

2.4  Professor Simon Hiscock  

Director, Botanic Garden & Harcourt Arboretum 

 Dr Tonya Lander 

Leverhulme Early Career Fellow, Department of Plant Sciences 

Oxford Plan Bee: Citizen Science, Education and Conservation 

There is widespread concern about global bee decline, which is expected to impact both ecosystem function and human food security. This project focuses on filling two of the knowledge gaps that reduce our ability to respond to this decline: (1) We know approximately where individual bee species occur in the UK, but we don’t know how many of each species we would expect to find. That means usually we can identify when a species goes extinct, but not when it is in decline. (2) We need specific guidance about what woodland and urban land management interventions support and enhance wild bee populations. 

Oxford Plan Bee works with citizen scientists to collect data about wild bees in Oxford City and surrounding areas using a network of public and home bee nest boxes and guided walks. We aim to collect essential data for long-term monitoring of wild bee populations, contributing to global efforts to understand and reverse pollinator decline. We also work with the University Estates and Wytham Woods to develop evidence-based management interventions to protect and enhance populations of wild bees. The project also engages more broadly with the local community to promote public understanding of bees, plants, pollinator-friendly gardening, ecology and conservation. 

2.5 Dr Ali Marie 

Post-Doctoral Research Assistant, Department of Engineering Science 

Engineering a Great Smile 

Tooth decay (dental cavities) is one of the most common diseases in the UK and the main reason for tooth loss. Expenditure on dental services is significant, for example between 

2015-2016 the NHS spent £50 million only on tooth extraction, not to mention other costs. 

Public health research has shown that prevention programmes aid in the reduction of tooth decay, and this activity aims to explore causes of tooth decay, steps everyone may take to promote dental health and some related materials research at the University of Oxford. Our group, led by Professor Alexander Korsunsky, research is to tackle tooth decay challenge by undertaking a systematic, coordinated, multi-scale microscopic investigation, coupled with numerical disease modelling to move towards better diagnosis, and proactive intervention and treatment of tooth decay. 

We would like to highlight some basic physical process, including mechanisms of tooth cleaning (brushing and flossing) and biomineral loss from teeth, and explore public perceptions of dental care and materials research. Using the format of a drop-in hands-on science festival activity, I want to develop my own and my research group’s public engagement skills meanwhile delivering messages of science to children and families, teenagers and adults. These messages include: relevance of research to daily life, how science and engineering is all around us and that anyone can be involved at many different levels, there are careers in science that are exciting and varied, and that we can develop skills at any stage in our lives that can help make us healthier. 

2.6 Professor James Martin 

Associate Professor of Probability, Department of Statistics  

Dr Tom Crawford 

Stipendiary Lecturer in Mathematics, St Hugh’s College 

Tom Rocks Maths Intern Programme 

The PER seed fund will allow 2 students to work with Dr Tom Crawford during the summer of 2020 to produce a series of outreach content that aims to explain interesting mathematical concepts and research for a general audience. The students will be free to choose their own topics to cover, with the final outcome being a 5-minute video, a 10-minute podcast and a 2000- word article, each of which will be published on Tom’s award-winning website - Tom rocks Maths.

The goal of the project is to train the students in the art of public engagement through online content and live performances, with the hope that they will become future champions of PER. 

With Tom’s guidance, the content produced by the students will be designed to encourage those who have no interest in maths to engage with the subject. Maths is one of very few subjects where people are happy to admit that they struggle with it or that it ‘isn’t for them’. This can even be seen as a ‘badge of honour’ or something to be proud of, which is something that needs to be changed. Maths is an integral part of almost everything that we do from the programming of computers to predictions of climate change and through the Tom Rocks Maths Intern Programme, the aim is to help people to understand this importance and ultimately to feel less afraid of the subject as a result. 

2.7  Professor Clive Siviour 

Professor of Engineering Science / Associate Head for Infrastructure, Department of Engineering Science 

Akash Trivedi 

DPhil Student, Department of Engineering Science 

Gas Gun Guys 

Will it crush? Will it survive? 

Watch the Gas Gun Guys explore how damage occurs in different materials. We will use our gas gun to fire projectiles at various objects and use a high-speed video camera to record how the objects react. 

Learn how these experiments link to ongoing research within the High Rate Group and our quest to better understand the damage mechanisms of various materials under high strain rate deformation from impact loading conditions. 

You will also have the opportunity to request (within reason!) any object that you want to see being impacted with our gas gun. We will learn together about how it responds and whether it crushes or survives the impact. Who knows? You might help us discover innovative impact resistant materials through this project by accident! 

Section 3 - Medical Sciences funded projects 19-20 

3.1 Dr Monique Andersson 

Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer, University of Oxford / Director of Microbiology, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust / Consultant in Clinical Infection, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Nuffield Division of Clinical Laboratory Sciences 

Listening to the voices of African patients with HepB 

In Africa, chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections have a health burden comparable to HIV and tuberculosis. Unlike with HIV, there has been little effort to listen to the stories of patients and families affected by HBV in African communities. We want to tell the stories of these patients digitally, by being the first to create a supportive space for patients and families affected by chronic (HBV) infection and their sequelae (liver cirrhosis and liver cancer) to share their experiences, helping remove stigma and sharing coping strategies and resources. With consent from the patients, we will record these sessions to create a digital storytelling compilation of subtitled short films. We will also use this material to make waiting room video inserts, posters, and leaflets, and supply them to local health centres in Cape Town, South Africa. We will provide this material in English, Afrikaans and Xhosa, the three most common languages spoken in Cape Town, South Africa. Our ultimate goal is to engage patients in the research process, raise awareness about HBV, and promote better management of HBV infection in African communities. 

3.2  Professor Catharine Creswell  

Professor of Developmental Clinical Psychology, Department of Psychiatry and Department of Experimental Psychology 

Emily Lloyd 

Emerging Minds Network Manager, Department of Psychiatry 

How can research help to reduce the prevalence of mental health problems experienced by children and young people? 

We will design and pilot workshops and resources to engage young people (aged 11- 14 years) in critical thinking and debate around the potential for research to reduce the prevalence of mental health problems in children and young people. In partnership with Debating Mental Health, we will work with a small group of young people, who struggle with public speaking, in weekly after-school workshops to help them to explore this question, develop their own perspectives and formulate their own arguments. 

In addition, members of our developmental, clinical psychology research team will bring evidence based approaches to help participating young people to develop confidence and skills and overcome the challenge of speaking in public. The workshop series will culminate in a public debate, engaging a wider group of teachers, school staff, friends and family. We will work with a film maker to support young people to make a film about the project, showcasing their performances at the final debate. We will share this film widely through our UKRI Emerging Minds Network Plus, and other channels, to encourage continued and wider debate amongst young people, researchers and other stakeholders. 

3.3 Professor Gabriele De Luca 

Director of Clinical Neurosciences Undergraduate Education, Associate Professor of Clinical Neurology, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences 

Public Engagement in Medical Education Research 

The Royal College of Physicians report ‘Advancing Medical Professionalism’ states ‘there is increasingly a gap between what doctors are trained to do and the realities of modern practice’. To address this, it explores seven key aspects of medical professional identity: healer, patient partner, team worker, manager and leader, learner and teacher, advocate, and innovator. We plan to use a humanities-based approach in a novel ‘Brain, Behaviour and Society’ module for 5th Year Oxford Medical Students to teach and assess professionalism. Engaging patients with chronic neurological conditions (multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease and peripheral neuropathy) will enable us to create a patient relevant professionalism curriculum with patient-focused assessment tools. 

We plan to reach out to patients by attending relevant disease society meetings, providing feedback training and organising seven focus groups (one for each key aspect of medical professional identity). The project will culminate in an event attended by patients, students and medical educationalists at the Ashmolean Museum, a non-clinical environment where the output from focus groups will be combined, discussed and refined. 

The aim is to produce an evidence-based method of teaching and assessing professionalism for integration into medical education curricula more widely ensuring that we train doctors with skills that sustain them through their entire careers. 

3.4 Dr Gemma Hughes 

Health Services Researcher, Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences 

Robots in the Museum 

This project brings robots to the Pitt Rivers Museum in a series of activities designed to engage public audiences of different ages in debates about the possibilities of robotics in addressing health and social care challenges.  

The project would build on previous collaboration between health services researchers at the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences and the Pitt Rivers Museum on public engagement in the Studies in Co-creating Assisted Living Solutions (SCALS) research. Messy Realities: the secret life of technology was created to engage the public in research into assistive living technologies (ALTs), funded by the Wellcome Trust and led by Professor Trisha Greenhalgh. 

A new collaboration is proposed with the Oxford Institute of Robotics (ORI) to explore social and cultural views of robotics, which will not only raise awareness of the capabilities of robots, but will inform new, emerging research questions about how robots can be integrated into health and social care systems and services. 

3.5  Dr Shing Law 

Clinical Research Fellow, Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences 

Using ultrasound for Public Engagement  

Our research into inflammatory arthritis is made possible by the donation of tissue from patients. Using an ultrasound guided needle, tissue samples are removed and used for our research. We plan to use this grant to purchase a portable ultrasound so that participants can attempt to carry out a simulated version of this procedure where they take a ‘biopsy’ of a grape hidden in a block of tofu. This activity will be part of a cluster of activities that illustrate inflammatory arthritis and our research some of which we already use e.g. Joint models and gloves which simulate having hand arthritis and some which will be developed to compliment the biopsy activity. 

This suite of activities will be taken to a range of venues and events including science festivals and meetings of patient groups to enable us to talk about our research. 

3.6  Dr Niall McGowan  

Post-doctoral Researcher, Department of Psychiatry 

Digital sleep technology in therapeutic communities for personality disorders 

Sleep is a fundamental aspect of health that is increasingly encroached upon by modern life. For people with mental health conditions the consequences of poor sleep are particularly pronounced. Our on-going work focuses on understanding and facilitating better sleep in people with personality disorders. 

Therapeutic communities are supportive spaces for individuals with personality disorders to relay their experiences and garner support from communal sharing. This project will engage and consult therapeutic community members about their experiences with sleep and attitudes about sleep research. Our aim is to promote insight and curiosity about individuals’ experiences with sleep using the therapeutic community as a forum for discussion. We will provide wrist-worn digital sleep monitors to participants so that they can experience tracking their own sleep. A key objective is to democratise access to wearable data used in scientific research as a means of empowering and inspiring patient and public groups that our research involves. 

This project will challenge us to reflect on how our scientific work is disseminated to and perceived by the public and will lay the groundwork for tailoring future research questions connected with patient engagement. 

3.7 Dr Susannah Murphy 

Public engagement at community events 

The Psychopharmacology and Emotional Research (PERL) Group carries out research to better understand the neurophysiological basis of mental health disorders, such as depression, and to improve current treatment approaches. We are actively involved in a program of public engagement activities, and see this as a central aspect of our work. This project aims to improve and expand upon our current library of public engagement resources. We will develop interactive activities that will appeal to all ages, for example, a ‘Play your emotions right’ game, based on the television show ‘Play your cards Right’; this game will help explain how negative perceptions of facial expressions play a key role in depression. The games will be produced professionally so that are durable and fit-for-purpose for outside events. We will trial the new resources at five local community festival and public engagement events to gain feedback from participants. 

3.8 Dr Rachel Rowe  

Senior Health Services Researcher, National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit, Nuffield Department of Population Health 

after birth: a pop-up play about maternal mental health 

This project will develop and pilot a pop-up theatrical production to engage audiences, including pregnant women, recent mothers and their families, with research evidence about maternal mental health, during pregnancy and after birth, with a view to raising awareness, reducing stigma, encouraging discussion and ultimately improving care and outcomes for women affected by perinatal mental illness. Based on a full-length theatrical piece developed in a collaboration with academics and women with lived experience of postnatal mental illness, this stripped-back mobile production will be followed by a question and answer session to encourage engagement and discussion, answer audience members’ questions and hear their perspectives. As part of this pilot project we will explore the opportunity to reach wider audiences through the development of the production as a training tool for health professionals and voluntary organisations working with pregnant women, recent mothers and families. 

3.9 Dr Bryony Sheaves  

Research Clinical Psychologist, Department of Psychiatry 

Being around people whilst hearing voices 

Hearing voices is one of the most common symptoms of schizophrenia. The content of voices can vary (some can be positive) but this project is focused on voices that are derogatory and threatening (e.g. “I could be just told [by the voices] to hurt myself all day, that I am worthless”). 

Hearing these nasty voices can make it difficult to maintain relationships. Isolation and loneliness is therefore common, but also makes the voices worse. This project will create a two minute animation to share our recent research on the two-way relationship between the severity of voices and social isolation. We will share the reasons why being around people can be helpful for alleviating voices, as well as the common barriers to being around other people for voices hearers. The animation will share top tips on how to manage being around other people whilst hearing voices, generated by people with experience of hearing voices. Our hope is that this resource helps people who hear these nasty voices to overcome the common barriers to managing relationships, prompts conversations with others about what it is like to hear these voices and inspires people to be empathic and supportive when with voice hearers. 

Section 4 - Social Sciences funded projects 19-20  

4.1  Dr Lucy Baker  

Research Associate in Urban Mobility, Transport Studies Unit, School of Geography and Environment 

Technologies and tensions in everyday Indian urban mobility 

Taxi-like mobility services are increasingly booked through smart phones, yet, commuters are often unaware of the impacts that changes in technologies have for operators. The penetration of digital technologies has significant implications for drivers who often are low-income citizens and heavily reliant on cash for everyday transactions like food and utility bills. New technologies promise to increase the efficiency of user-operator encounters, yet the project will observe why drivers cannot fully transition to accept digital fares that have evolved to meet the needs of middle-class millennials. This has resulted in daily conflicts between the public and drivers as payments are negotiated and an overall poor experience for the public. A short documentary film traces the day-to-day lived experiences of auto-rickshaw drivers who form a key component of Indian mobility systems. The film demonstrates both the positive and negative effects of emerging technical systems for operators and users; however, it brings into question the possibility of achieving equitable cities through solutions that are comprehensively technological. The project engages with Bangalore’s historically active citizen groups to address these challenges. Its success is measured by the level of impact the film has in changing perceptions of auto-rickshaw drivers and reducing daily commuting conflicts. 

4.2 Dr Courtney Nimura  

Researcher, School of Archaeology / Wolfson College 

More than Money: Rethinking Coins in the British Iron Age 

The introduction of coins is seen as marker of change in Iron Age society in Britain. It is easy to see these early coins as equivalent to the money of today – they are round, made of metal, and have consistent weight. They feel very familiar, but research shows that the ways in which they were used were often surprising. Through a hands-on event at the Ashmolean Museum and sets of online resources, More than Money will inspire audiences to think about how coins were made and used, and what this tells us about society in Iron Age Britain. 

Over the course of a day at the Ashmolean Museum, families will be able to make their own Iron Age coins, look in detail at the ways in which they were created and ornamented through video installations, 3D models and giant replicas. Visitors can follow a trail of activities designed to inspire them to (re)think how  coins were used in later prehistoric societies. The resources created for this event will form the basis of an online platform aimed at teachers and will have significant legacy as a foundation for future engagement activities. 

4.3  Dr Erika De Berenguer Cesar 

Senior Research Associate, School of Geography 

Seeing through the Smoke 

‘Seeing through the Smoke’ is a series of five short videos that provides evidence-based information about the drivers of fires in the Amazon, as well as their socio-ecological impacts. This series is narrated in both Portuguese and English to make it accessible to the general public in Brazil, the country that holds the largest portion of the Amazon, and the UK. These videos aim to debunk the series of myths regarding the Amazon that were disseminated during the 2019 Amazon fire crisis, in which Brazil played a central role. By linking my research on Amazonian fires with an issue that has gained a lot of interest recently, I aim to contribute with much needed knowledge surrounding the largest tropical rainforest in the world, as well as one of its main threats – fire. 

4.4 Dr Alexander Geurds 

Associate Professor in Middle and South American Archaeology, School of Archaeology 

Irene Torreggiani 

DPhil Candidate, School of Archaeology 

The River Flow Memory Book Project 

Water is a key element in the interplay between humans and their relations with each other and their environments. Multiple scientific studies demonstrate how archaeological research and local knowledge can shed light on non-invasive and efficient adaptation strategies to changing fluvial environments through time. Nevertheless, in order to effectively apply this knowledge, it is necessary to actively include the local populations in the knowledge-sharing process. 

We will combine photography and storytelling techniques in recollecting local memories related to water and fluvial environment. The project is located in the extraordinary Mayales river valley of central Nicaragua, where local communities are constantly affected by fluctuations in water availability. Through personal interviews, the community members will be asked to describe their daily and extraordinary relation with their surrounding environment. This water memories will be collected in a photographic book as part of the “Memory book” project directed by the National Geographic photographer Alvaro Laiz. 

Finally the “River Flow Memory Book” will be presented in a public event at the nearby city of Juigalpa. The final aim is to create a new shared knowledge that combines archaeological, botanical and traditional knowledge to face together modern problems of water availability and climate change. 

4.5  Dr Uma Pradhan 

Leverhulme Early Career Fellow, Oxford School of Area and Global Studies 

For the Better Future 

‘For the better future’ is an audio-visual project that documents the students’ lived experiences in the schools affected by 2015 earthquake in Nepal. Through partnerships with students and teachers in earthquake-affected schools, this project will co-produce a vivid display of visual experiences through 30 photographs and a participatory video. These media will be the basis for a series of exhibition and public talks in Nepal and the UK, in order to engage with the general public, researchers, and policy officials. This public engagement project will provide a glimpse into the students’ achievements, hopes and despairs in post-earthquake schools, thereby enabling the audiences to appreciate human experiences of natural disasters and illustrating the ways in which people utilise education to construct their ‘better future’. ‘For the better future’ builds on Uma Pradhan’s ongoing research on exploring education as a part of the social project of future-making in the Global South.