Researching the impact of Artificial Intelligence on Personal Identity. 

Hi everyone! My name is Laura, I'm a second year Human Health and Disease Student in Trinity College Dublin. My research project is on assessing "Women's experiences of accessing healthcare services to manage their perimenopause/menopause-related health issues in Ireland ". I am so excited to be part of the Laidlaw cohort of 2023 and I look forward to connecting with other members in the network! 

Hi! My name is Jimena Alvarez and I am a Peruvian second year student in Trinity College Dublin. I currently concluded my second year studying Political Science and Economics. My research project is titled "Exploratory research into the support worker’s perceptions of the integration experiences of Ukrainian refugees in Ireland".  The purpose of the research is to gather relevant and comprehensive data about support worker’s perceptions of the integration experiences of Ukrainian refugees in Ireland. I will be conducting a focus group and individual interviews with 12 support workers in the field of refugee aid.  I am very excited to connect with other Laidlaw scholars regardless of how different our research projects may be. I am always interested in learning from people with different backgrounds and interests. Feel free to contact me. See you all soon in the Laidlaw annual conference here in Trinity College Dublin!  

Hello everyone! I'm Sarah (she/her) and I am a fourth-year undergraduate student in Philosophy at the University of St Andrews. I am particularly interested in the applications of philosophy to social and political issues, and how we can use philosophical arguments to inform policy decisions. As such, my research project concerned the appropriateness of belief and doubt in cases of sexual assault and the implications for university and legal policy. For my Leadership-in-Action, I conducted an evaluation of a sexual violence prevention education programme run by an NGO in Auckland, New Zealand

Hi there! My name is Finn Smyth and I am a final year student in Modern History at the University of St Andrews. For the Laidlaw programme my research focused on how Left political organisations across Scotland have performed, organizationally and ideologically, since devolution. I am also interested in modern political economy, and the emergence of modern political communications strategies and how they have been used in political campaigns since the 1980s.  My dissertation this year focuses on the modernisation of the Labour Party in the 1980s, and among recent projects I have been awarded grant funding to research the rise of populism in Europe alongside colleagues at Charles University, Prague.  

I'm a chemist in my final year of the MChem with Industrial Placement programme at the University of St Andrews. My research focused on improvements to a Dye-Sensitised Solar Cell (DSSC) process used in the St Andrews undergraduate laboratory. For a brief overview, see my poster, or for a deeper dive you can read my research essay. My six week project was with _makesense Colombia and Picacho con futuro in Medellín to create socially innovative solutions to the challenges of sustainability and circular economy, designing and delivering workshops to understand what these concepts meant to the people and then to explore ways in which their lives intersect with the natural world. Academic Interests I'm currently researching solid-state materials including hexagonal tungsten bronzes and their structure-property relationships under selective doping. Outside of my research project, I'm also taking courses in catalysis, asymmetric synthesis and macromolecular bonding interactions. In my degree, I've also studied some astronomy and astrophysics - there's nothing like a good night looking at the stars! Personal Interests Outside of academic life, you'll find me always up for a board game (I was Secretary of a board game society once). I'm learning guitar, doing my best to pick French back up after a few years and have always been a great fan of cooking delicious food!

Hi, I'm Ele, a University of St Andrews Scholar. Primarily, my studies are in psychology but I am undertaking research in biochemistry and biophotonics. The aim of my project is to understand the effect of alpha-synuclein aggregates on astrocyte Calcium signaling in neurodegeneration (more precisely Parkinson's disease). This research has not been conducted before and the aim is to understand astrocytic calcium waves with the hopes of finding an aid to therapeutic targets for Parkinson's. My future research and ambitious lie in clinical and forensic psychology as well as gender psychology. I am also a mental health advocate and I am extremely passionate about raising awareness about mental illness.  Outside of my academic pursuits I enjoy music (especially drums), writing, any and all forms of art, being with my family and friends. and most of all traveling. I am also a die hard football fan and avid watcher.  I also love most things to do with Spanish and Latin American cultures as I am from Madrid myself. If you would like to chat about practically anything, I would be very excited if you sent me a message! I would love to connect and understand your project and personal interests! Have a great day!

Hello! I'm from Edinburgh, and am currently an Actuarial Trainee at Hymans Robertson. Prior to that, I studied Astrophysics at the University of St Andrews, where I was particularly interested in computational aspects of the field (handling and analysing observational data, and simulations). Away from academics, I enjoy playing a variety of sports, exploring the Scottish hills, and am a keen musician. My research project in summer 2023 focused on mapping a region of the sky known to be star-forming, around the Monoceros constellation, with the hope of using analytical techniques to attempt to find new star clusters. My LiA in summer 2024 was with the Timothy Smith Network in Boston, Massachusetts, teaching coding and microelectronics as part of the Elevating Agriculture Technology (EAT) course.

Hello! I'm Yoshino, a third-year student majoring in International Relations and Spanish. I love learning languages, travelling and meeting new people :)

Hello! I'm Heather, a third year student at the University of St. Andrews studying marine biology. As you might imagine, I am interested in almost all topics sea-related and have been enjoying spending my summer researching marine-mammal tracking technology in southern Iceland. The aim of my research has been to quantify the performance of certain aspects of this technology for the first time, the results of which will be used to inform design and procedure of future projects.

Hello! I'm Noura, a University of St Andrews student heading into third year. I study International Relations and Modern History, and I particularly am interested in migrant rights and decolonial histories. My project aims to examine the experiences of children in the trans-Atlantic slave trade, pinpointing the uniqueness of those experiences and utilizing both data and autobiographies of enslaved people in order to come to new conclusions regarding our understandings of the slave trade.  Outside of my studies and project I love the outdoors, baking/cooking for my friends, art in all forms, and cultural exploration!  If you want to chat send me a message! I would love to connect with you about your project or interests, or if you have any knowledge that could contribute to my work!

Hello! I'm Ami, a fourth year English and Art History student from Upstate New York. My research interests include contemporary British and American drama, creative writing, Anglo Saxon, Older Scots, medieval folklore, Renaissance painting and the Dutch Golden Age. For my research project, I examined uses of anthropomorphism, or nonhuman voices, in Old and Middle English dream poetry. In my Leadership in Action project, I am now a Summer Teaching Fellow at the Los Angeles chapter of the nonprofit organization 826, which provides free writing workshops, tutoring and other educational opportunities for kids ages 6-18 around the US. I am assisting with teaching the 2024 Summer Writer's Workshops, as well as working individually with students on their creative writing pursuits.