Category: Space
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What is my PhD about? (In simple terms)
This blog is inspired by a blog post from PhDemi, where she says that she feels that in order for her research to be useful, it must be understandable – and I couldn’t agree more! Much of academia is inaccessible to the general population because hidden away behind walls of unnecessarily confusing language. Not only…
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World Space Week!
World Space Week (4–10 October) is here, and this year’s theme, Living in Space, invites us to imagine what it means to exist beyond our little blue planet. From astronauts living and experimenting aboard the International Space Station to engineers designing lunar habitats, it’s a theme that celebrates human ingenuity and creativity. But “living in…
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Starplot Glasgow – Stargazing from Your Browser
I’m very excited to share a new little project I’ve been working on: Starplot Glasgow. It’s a web app that lets you generate star plots of the night sky as seen from Glasgow. You can choose the date, time, and plot type, then sit back and enjoy a colourful map of the stars overhead.
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Reaching for the Stars: My Week at the European Space Agency
I imagine that taking off in an aeroplane is nowhere near as exhilarating as blasting off into space on top of a rocket. But if any flight were to come close, it would be the one taking me to the European Space Agency to fulfill a lifelong dream. This was me on the 5th May…
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Good things I read or saw this month – April 2025
This post was inspired by a similar blog post by Beth Marshall from the start of 2024, so I’ve had this layout sat in my drafts for a good while! This month, I’ve come across a few cool articles, books, events and tools that I wanted to share, and also bookmark things for my future…
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5 Ways to Bring Space Closer to Home
Space can often feel distant, which is very understandable since the Kármán line (where space is usually defined as starting) sits 100km above the Earth’s surface. But many applications of space technology are closer to home than you may think. Satellites orbiting us provide a variety of services, such as GPS navigation, weather forecasting, and…
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One Giant Leap for StudentKind: Top Tips from my First Conference as a PhD Student
Last week I attended the 75th International Astronautical Congress in Milan to present a paper I worked on about smart maintenance of satellites. This was the first conference I’d ever attended as a PhD student, as well as being the first time I’d ever presented a piece of academic work! Having never been to a…
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PhD Reflections: 6 Months In
If you’re reading this, then that means I have passed my 6 month review for my PhD! (Phew!) Looking back over the last 6 months, I have learned so much! I feel like I’m finally starting to settle into the rhythms of a PhD and getting used to the cycle of academic life. It feels…
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PhD Reflections: One Month In
To say the first month of my PhD has been a whirlwind would be a huge understatement. I have learned so much already, about my research area, of course, but also about myself, and about academic life. And I still have 3 years and 5 months left to go! When starting something new, I think…
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Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway: Starting My PhD
Sometimes in life you have to take a chance on yourself, and earlier this month I did just that. I left my job and my five year career as a software engineer to chase my dream: starting a PhD in the space sector. If childhood Beth could see me now, she would say, ‘Well of…
She Codes the Cosmos 