Top students supported on hearing research path
2 September 2010
Four top university science and medical students have been awarded the Deafness Research UK Vacation Scholarships, giving them an opportunity to experience cutting-edge scientific research in action in hearing loss and tinnitus research laboratories.
Every year, we award a number of scholarships to the most promising students undertaking their first degree, enabling them to undertake a specific project in a hearing research laboratory. The aim is to encourage the cream of lab based students to consider a career in hearing research once they graduate, while also exploring new areas of enquiry.
The research projects are eight weeks in duration over the summer holidays, with Deafness Research UK covering the students’ stipend for the two month period of the project. The students get a unique opportunity to be mentored and advised by some of the current leading lights in deafness research throughout the country.
Vivienne Michael, Chief Executive of Deafness Research UK, said: “We are committed to funding scholarships because they offer a wonderful opportunity for the brightest young students to gain valuable experience of the research laboratory, while encouraging them to develop their talents. We hope they will then seriously consider further research in the field of hearing loss, deafness and tinnitus in their future careers. It can be difficult to tell at the outset which projects will succeed, but many of our most fruitful research has begun in this way, so we wish all our students every success with their respective research projects.”
The four students who have been awarded scholarships include Annie Wolley, Amelia Davies, David Green and Leah Glover.
Leah is currently working in the laboratory of Deafness Research UK’s Chief Research Adviser, Professor Quentin Summerfield, who is based in the Psychology Department at the University of York on a project on cochlear implants and Annie is working in the School of Psychological Sciences at Manchester University also around cochlear implants, under the supervision of Dr Karolina Kulk-de-Kort.
Ameila is focusing on the way speech is processed by the brain with Dr Jennifer Bizley at the celebrated Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics at Oxford University; while David Green is working with Dr Mark Wallace at the MRC Institute of Hearing Research (IHR) in Nottingham. David won the scholarship specifically focusing on tinnitus research, which is one of our priority research areas and his work will focus on tinnitus caused by noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL).
David’s see his scholarship as a valuable opportunity to learn some essential new skills prior to undertaking his PhD, which will be supervised by Dr Wallace in October this year. “Being awarded a scholarship is great,” said David. “It gives me the opportunity to get a head start on my PhD work and avoids the need for me to take a break away from my research during the summer months. I will be able to hit the ground running in October so I am grateful to Deafness Research UK for giving me the means to carry on my research. Tinnitus research is an exciting field and I’m looking forward to playing my part in hopefully unearthing some new discoveries, particularly in NIHL.”
Anyone interested in scholarships and the latest research into hearing loss, tinnitus and deafness related issued in general, can contact the charity’s Advisory Service on or visit the website at www.deafnessresearch.org.uk
