Start date: 28-09-2013
Academic department: Life Sciences
Title of research project: Molecular Information Processing Underlying Cell Fate Decisions
Academic supervisor: Professor Michael Stumpf
Native country: Hungary

How has the scholarship award enabled you to pursue your ambitions? 

My research field (systems biology) is a relatively new interdisciplinary direction of Biology and Mathematics, and therefore only limited options were available in my home country. The scholarship made it possible to come to the UK, where there are many great established researchers working on this area, and get involved in world-class academic life without any compromises. Moreover, having this funding, I did get to participate in many leading conferences in my topic to further develop my connections and understanding of the research field I want to work in.

Why did you choose to study at Imperial? 

I was particularly keen on conducting a PhD using mathematical tools that help us understand crucial processes in cell biology. I primarily came to Imperial because of my supervisor, Prof Michael Stumpf, with whom we had a quick understanding about possible developments in theoretical systems biology. Moreover, I learnt that Imperial has an excellent record in cell biology that was my main biological interest. I also preferred to be based in the capital, being from the capital of Hungary myself.

What are your plans now that the programme has finished? 

I have just submitted my thesis, and will have my viva in the coming month. Currently I am employed at my research group and working on finishing a few side-projects that arose during my PhD. Afterwards, I would like to move onto the field of cancer genomics, combining the huge datasets gained by modern sequencing techniques and my experience in statistics and modelling, to understand how tumours evolve. I plan to stay in London for at least the next couple of years.