Rhythms of Life staff launch brings together researchers from across Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»
On 30 September 2026, Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»'s Rhythms of Life Leverhulme Doctoral Scholarships Programme held its staff launch event, bringing together over 80 colleagues from across the University to explore opportunities for interdisciplinary research and collaboration.
The event welcomed staff from a wide range of academic disciplines, including Environmental and Natural Sciences, Ocean Sciences, Health Sciences, North Wales Medical School, Computer Science and Engineering, Psychology, and Sport Sciences, reflecting the broad interdisciplinary scope of the programme.
Dr Amy Ellison opened the event with an introduction to Rhythms of Life, outlining the programme's aims, opportunities and processes for developing and selecting PhD projects.
Guest speaker Dani Robertson, Dark Skies Officer for Wales and lead of the North Wales Dark Skies Partnership (Prosiect Nos), provided a fascinating overview of ongoing work to investigate and mitigate the impacts of light pollution across Wales. The presentation highlighted exciting opportunities for collaboration between the Partnership and Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³», particularly in understanding how artificial light at night affects biological and environmental rhythms.
The event concluded with interactive networking activities, giving colleagues the opportunity to discover shared research interests, exchange expertise and develop new connections across academic schools. These discussions provided a valuable starting point for building interdisciplinary supervisory teams and generating innovative PhD project ideas aligned with the Rhythms of Life themes.
The strong turnout and enthusiastic engagement demonstrated the breadth of expertise across Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³» and the exciting potential for new collaborations through the Rhythms of Life programme.