Name: Kiki Bordean (She/Her)
Thesis title: Reconstruction of the spatial ecology of pleistocene Ursidae
School of Geosciences, Department of Archaeology
Description: My pumpkin depicts a brown bear which makes a good Jack O' Lantern because whilst bears are cute from afar, up this close to one is pretty scary. The focus of my PhD is reconstructing the ecology of Ursidae species in the Pleistocene. I will be comparing cave bears, brown bears and maybe even polar bears. My job is to find out what they ate, where they roamed and if any of these changed with space or time. This is a negative carving meaning I carved out the highlights as opposed to the shadows like in regular sculpture.
Name: Lucy Koster (She/Her)
School of Geosciences, Department of Archaeology
Thesis Title: Fragments of a soul: integrating (and interrogating) a DNA and multi-isotope data to reconstruct the individual.
Description: My thesis is about using multiple scientific methods such as DNA and isotope studies to investigate the lives of individuals, including mobility and familial relatedness from early medieval Scotland. To do this, I have taken samples from skeletons and analysed many different types of data. My pumpkin shows a skeleton gleefully with a drill and beaker to show the scientific aspect of my PhD, but also the joy of telling the of each of these people from the past, with them at the centre of everything!
<aside> ➡️ Spooky Halloween, everyone!
Your Open Research team would like to invite all PGR students to take a little break from your research and have some holiday fun, while also improving your research communication skills. We’re challenging you to create the best, spookiest representation of your thesis in pumpkin form. Inspired by the annual Dance your PhD contest from Science magazine, we want you to think outside the box, and inside the gourd. Carved or painted pumpkins are welcome, and while we will happily accept neepie lanterns, the University does not accept any liability for any hand injuries that may occur when trying to carve a turnip. Send photos of your completed pumpkins along with a short (under 100 words) explanation of how your Jack O’ Lantern relates to your thesis, along with your name, pronouns, Thesis title, and school to [email protected] or tweet them @OpenResearchUoA on X or @openresearchuoa.bsky.social on Bluesky by 25 October
Winners will receive glory, bragging rights, a £25 book voucher, and an extremely questionable trophy.
See below for resources and inspiration to get your started on your pumpkin journey.
A Friend of the Folklore Society, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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We will close submissions at the end of the day on 25 October, by the 28th we will choose the top entries and open them for voting. The best PhD pumpkins will be posted on online and in the lobby of Sir Duncan Rice Library. Be sure to promote your pumpkin across your own social media, for the glory of your own lab or team! Voting will close at 9:00GMT on 31 October and a winner will be announced by end of day.
Mhairi McInnes (She/Her): Winner! School of Engineering Inertial Sensors for Clinical Movement Analysis of the Upper Limb: Improving Accuracy and Accessibility
My PhD is all about using inertial sensors for tracking joint angles of the human arm. Human movement data can be really useful for assessing patients with any kind of disordered movement (e.g., stroke, spinal cord injury, cerebral palsy, Parkinsons). Inertial sensors are a simple bit of tech which can be easily attached to the body segments you want to track, but their accuracy can be unreliable and dependant on the attachment method. The aim of my project is to improve the accuracy and reliability of inertial sensors by incorporating the constraints of a musculoskeletal model
Georgia Cash (she/her): Runner-up!
School of Biological Sciences
Thesis title: The evolution of sociality in subsocial animals
My dissertation will look at the evolution of social living in subsocial animals, using Blaptica dubia cockroaches as a model species. I will work with a laboratory population of dubia roaches, as well as studying these roaches in the wild in their native South America, to investigate the factors which promote the evolution of sociality and group living in subsocial animals. I carved a dubia roach on my pumpkin to represent my project, and also share my love for my study species!