Science and Health Undergraduate Summer Research Internship 2023
Below are details of the Projects available under the Undergraduate Research Summer Internships 2023 initiative.
Interested applicants should complete the attached Undergraduate Research Summer Internship 2023 application form before the deadline on Friday 7th April 2023 at 5pm.
Recent empirical studies of intraday Financial market data suggest that stochastic volatilities (“fluctuations of prices”) should be modelled via the recently introduced class of affine rough models with the rough Heston model as their main representative. The affine structure enables practitioners to implement these models via fractional differential equations. In contrast to ordinary differential equations, for fractional differential equations, the derivatives are essentially replaced by fractional derivatives (of orders smaller than 1). Consequently, applications in option pricing, portfolio optimisation, and pricing of energy contracts can be carried out via numerical simulations of deterministic fractional differential equations.
During this Summer Research Internship, the student first implements the numerical scheme known as the “fractional Adams method” for such rough volatility models and henceforth makes these models readily applicable to real-world financial market data. Moreover, the student develops jointly with Martin Friesen and the PhD student Ole Canadas an extension of this method to a larger class of fractional kernels as used in applications. Finally, based on good progress in this direction, the student will be offered the possibility to also collaborate with Dr. Camilla Hahn (Statkraft, Norway) and Dr. Jonas Kremer (apoBank, Germany) to extend these findings towards applications in electricity markets.
This Summer Research Internship also aims to prepare students and increase their chances of success for possible future PhD studies in Mathematics and applications in Finance. For this purpose, the student will be offered opportunities to present their research at the
- Mathematical Finance Research Seminar at the School of Mathematical Sciences, DCU.
- Upcoming conference “Stochastics in Mathematical Physics and Finance” taking place in Hammamet October 16 – 20, 2023.
The essential requirements for this internship are:
- Good knowledge of Ordinary Differential Equations
- Proficiency in programming with R or Python
- Basic understanding of Numerical methods
- Willingness to learn
For further information contact the project lead:
Dr Martin Friesen | School of Mathematical Sciences
Email: martin.friesen@dcu.ie
The computational astrophysics group in CfAR (Centre for Astrophysics and Relativity) has developed one of the world's only multi-fluid magnetohydrodynamics codes capable of simulating star forming regions and the complex dynamics of proto-planetary discs. The code, HYDRA, has been used as the main simulation code in tens of international, peer reviewed papers in top quartile journals since 2009.
We are now extending HYDRA to incorporate the complex astro-chemistry occurring in these regions using the widely-used Krome package.
The chemistry involved is highly temperature-dependent and so, to perform these simulations reliably, it is necessary to solve the so-called "energy equation" which allows us to accurately determine the temperature throughout the simulated region. We have now developed the necessary code. We now require suitable tests to ensure that the code is performing properly. Developing these tests involves determining the actual solution of the governing equations under carefully chosen conditions, and comparing this with the output of the HYDRA code.
These tests can be developed (e.g. Falle 2003; O'Sullivan & Downes 2006, 2007) through converting the governing equations into a system of ordinary differential equations which are then solved using dynamical systems approaches. We propose to work with an intern to write down these equations and, using standard (undergraduate) numerical methods, to solve them computationally. The resulting solutions will be compared with the output of the HYDRA code to determine whether the latter is performing correctly.
The intern will work as part of the computational astrophysics group, and as a member of the Centre for Astrophysics and Relativity. She/he will be exposed to a vibrant research environment with researchers involved in a wide variety of activities. I am confident that this internship will be a success in terms of the work completed, but also in terms of giving the intern a positive and insightful experience of working in a research environment.
For further information contact the project lead:
Professor Turlough Downes | Centre for Astrophysics and Relativity
Email: turlough.downes@dcu.ie
The EU emits 13.4 million tonnes of CO2 due to plastic production. Up to 99 % of all plastic is sourced from fossil fuels such as oil and gas. There is a strong reliance on fossil fuel-based plastics in the life sciences sector and it has been estimated that global life-sciences (e.g. biology, medicine) create plastic waste of approximately 5.5 million tonnes/year. This research project aims to reduce the reliance on single-use plastics in research laboratories. The biodegradable bioplastic polylactic acid (PLA) has been used to produce single-use labware that is commonly used in research laboratories, including Petri dishes and pipette tips. This labware has been produced in-house in DCU using 3D-printing from commercially available lactic acid filaments.
Rigorous testing has been carried out on the 3D-printed PLA Petri dish, generating quantitative data that benchmarks it against the commonly used polystyrene Petri dish. This project will focus on the biocompatibility of the PLA labware, using common bacterial strains and work streams seen in undergraduate teaching laboratories. The main goal is to determine whether the new material can replace fossil-fuel based laboratory consumable plastics. This project will include basic microbial techniques, such as aseptic and cell culturing techniques. It will also involve data analysis and reporting of experimental data, comparing bacterial cell viability of culture grown using PLA plastics with culture grown using traditional plastics. SOP development and publication contributions will also be a key aspect of this project.
The candidate would be reporting to Dr. Jennifer Gaughran (PI), School of Physical Sciences, who has experience in material science and polymer technologies and to Dr. Jennie O Loughlin, School of Physical Sciences, who has experience in microbiology. This is a dynamic and inter-disciplinary team and the successful candidate will be helping to develop STEM-led solutions to the reduction of plastic waste.
For further information contact the project lead:
Dr Jennifer Gaughran | School of Physical Sciences
Email: jennifer.gaughran@dcu.ie
Electrical breakdown characteristics of ultra-thin SiO2 films are a key measure of film quality and atomic scale defect concentration. We study this by cycling films through voltage cycles and detecting electrical breakdowns (i.e. arcing leading to current flow). Using a range of sites on a sample one can develop datasets of breakdown fields which can be analysed using failure analysis, specifically Weibull statistics (https://www.itl.nist.gov/div898/handbook/eda/section3/eda3668.htm). This technique is widely used and is a powerful and useful method for an undergraduate student to gain experience in.
The intern will grow ultra-thin films (10 SiO2 films with thicknesses from 1.5 to 20 nm) using newly developed methods (see section on PI research) and then study their electrical breakdown behaviour as a function of film thickness, using existing capacitance-voltage measurement systems. Datasets obtained from this study will be analysed using Weibull statistics, to extract standard scale and shape parameters, with the scale parameter giving information on the critical electric field strength. The variation of film quality (as determined by the scale parameter) with thickness will be the focus of the first stage of the work.
Depending on the progress and intermediate conclusions at this stage, the student will then grow a second set of films with the same thicknesses which will be plasma treated using a simple desktop plasma system (using N2), and another electrical breakdown behaviour analysis will be undertaken and the results compared with the untreated samples to ascertain the effect of plasma treatment on the film quality.
Because the SiO2 growth and capacitance-voltage measurement systems are already available the intern should be self motivated to work on their own initative whilst liaising with both the PI and the PhD student working on the main project topic to ensure they are well supported in the laboratory.
For further information contact the project lead:
Professor Enda McGlynn | NCPST (National Centre for Plasma Science & Technology)
Email: enda.mcglynn@dcu.ie
The effects of climate change have already been seen globally, with predictions of higher rainfall and increases in storms modelled for Ireland. Coastal wetlands are known sinks for carbon and can continue to act to mitigate climate change even as sea levels rise.
Recently, scientists have pushed to highlight and protect carbon stored in coastal wetlands, known as blue carbon. Blue carbon is the term for carbon sequestered by the world’s ocean and coastal ecosystems. Tidal wetlands and vegetated coastal marshes have a very high capacity for uptake and long-term storage of carbon.
Bull Island (BI) is a coastal sand spit formed as an unintended consequence of the construction of north and south Bull walls, built over 200 years ago in Dublin Port, to alleviate silting of the shipping route. BI’s tidal wetland zones shares the capability of coastal wetlands to sequester carbon, create wildlife habitats and provide protection from sea-level rise and storms.
We recently published the first study to recognise Bull Island sediments as a functioning blue carbon ecosystem (Grey et al, 2021). We investigated sediment geochemistry and provided information on storage of organic matter and anthropogenic contaminants across BI. The overall study provided a baseline record of sediment geochemistry and the influence of urbanisation on a coastal ecosystem in a highly productive blue carbon area.
Planned research emanating from this baseline study can be subdivided into three separate but complimentary studies:
1. What is the source of carbon in Bull Island (e.g. marine, terrestrial, anthropogenic)?
2. How stable/labile is it?
3. Incorporate data from our recently deployed data buoy (https://www.dcu.ie/predict) to understand marine inputs and sediment dynamics in the bay.
If successful, the candidate will contribute to sediment chemical analysis and field trips in an investigation of the carbon holding capacity of an Irish Blue Carbon zone.
Carbon is essential for life and has many forms in nature. It cycles between air, water, soil, sediments and rocks and it is important to understand these processes if we are to use carbon wisely and predict change. Much of our work involves the investigation of carbon in chemical and biological forms and how it changes when going from one medium to the next. We study carbon in soil, water and coastal sediments. We also use our technical approaches to investigate subjects such as past environments on Earth, the search for extra-terrestrial life and recycling of waste. We study these subjects by combining advanced spectrometric, metagenomic and stable isotope analysis in collaboration with colleagues in many areas of specialisation including microbiologists, mathematicians and physicists.
The intern will begin by assisting researchers in their daily work. This will involve simple work such as cleaning lab. ware and preparing samples. As the student gains confidence there will be many opportunities to develop their understanding of the practicalities and theory of the research. Depending on the ambition of the student, this could include access to advanced instrumentation and software, field trips and being involved in research that is eventually published. The analytical approaches that we use are completely applicable to industry and so experience working on this project can very much enhance the student’s CV. In the past, interested students have used this experience to pursue a PhD and potentially a career in research and/or industry.
For further information contact the project lead:
Dr Brian Kelleher | School of Chemical Sciences
Email: brian.kelleher@dcu.ie
This project will have scope to explore content and modes for the teaching of practical skill and theory in Chemistry in virtual environments. This will include using and testing simulation softwares as well as using and testing (commercial and own) apps in Virtual Reality with an Oculus headset. With the support of the team, the intern will help in the development of worksheets to support the assessment of practical skill learned in these environments. It is envisaged that the intern will be mostly computer-based (PC-simulations or VR) but the link to the practical laboratory will be important and so there may be some use/testing of instrumentation.
The PI is leading a project on assessing Virtual Laboratory content for its effectiveness in teaching practical skill. This project has been rolled out in 3rd year practical chemistry modules in School of Chemical Sciences for the last 3 years. This roll out has involved developing new pedagogical approaches to teaching practical skill - including new pre-lab preparatory content, eg quizzes, videos; assessment of lab techniques via video-making, virtual twin development of instrumentation in VR; and introduction to simulations. The Summer Intern will get the opportunity to explore and look at developing out some of these approaches to support the teaching of practical skill to ensure our graduating students have the excellent practical and transversal skills needed for the workplace.
For further information contact the project lead:
Dr Aoife Morrin | National Centre for Sensor Research & School of Chemical Sciences
Email: aoife.morrin@dcu.ie
The continuous global increase in population and consumption of resources due to human activities has a significant impact on the environment. Therefore, assessment of environmental exposure to toxic chemicals as well as their impact on biological systems is of significant importance. Freshwater systems are currently under threat and monitored; however, current methods for pollution assessment cannot provide mechanistic insight or predict the adverse effects from complex mixtures of pollutants. Using daphnids as a bioindicator, we assess the impact in acute exposures of individual chemicals from a diverse set of categories; metals, pharmaceuticals, pesticides, stimulant, and their composite mixtures, combining phenotypic, biochemical and metabolic markers of physiology.
In this internship the student will learn to operate independently in a lab, generate and process toxicity data for a variety of pollutants. Following the intern will proceed to chronic exposures of chemicals on daphnids and assess their impact with markers of physiology such as enzyme activity and phenotypic assays. Statistical analysis and presentation of results will be a point in this study to improve the student’s skills in writing and presenting their findings. Given the fact that this internship will lead to new data, these will be supportive to interns who plan for a research career in the field with potential future application for funding for postgraduate studies.
Taking into account that continuous population increase and consumption of resources has led to a significant impact to the environment, the careful monitoring and safeguarding the ecosystem is of highlighted importance. Traditional approaches for pollution monitoring were mostly based on evidence of the presence of chemicals in the environment, however, such measurements are weak and quite limited to their detection but also fail to produce any diagnostic insight or predict any future impact before pollution reaches precarious levels. Therefore, modern ecotoxicology is moving towards using species as bioindicators to enhance our acquisition of meaningful data in relation to the status of the environment. In this context, the PI is funded by Science Foundation Ireland to study the molecular responses of the water flea - Daphnia magna, a key species in freshwater ecotoxicology, upon exposure to different pollutants. We collect toxicity data upon exposure to pollutants and we combine phenotypic, biochemical and holistic approaches to understand the underlying mechanisms of pollutants. The intern will join a dynamic team of researchers in the School of Biotechnology and generate publishable results for the next phase of our research. During this internship, the student will be trained by the PI and senior members (currently 4 post graduates and 1 postdoc) working in this field of research. The project will be divided into work packages and will guarantee that the intern will deliver their project within the specified time schedule. The student will acquire transferrable skills which extend from culturing daphnids and algae (food source of daphnids) and gain experience in toxicity assessment of chemicals in parallel to advancing their statistical analysis and scientific writing. This project would be suitable for students in STEM, biological and environmental sciences.
For further information contact the project lead:
Dr Konstantinos Gkrintzalis | School of Biotechnology
Mindfulness, capturing the tendency to be attentive to the present moment in a non-judging and non-reactive way, has received increasing interest in Western psychology (Karl et al., 2022; Karl & Fischer, 2022). Mindfulness has been shown as a strong correlate of positive functioning across human populations (Fischer et al., 2020) potentially by supporting long-term positive development (Karl et al., 2021). One area in which mindfulness has been shown to support healthy functioning is body image. Recent studies have shown that mindfulness is related to greater body image flexibility (Linardon et al., 2021) and in line with this mindfulness interventions have been shown to significantly improve body satisfaction and reduce negative emotions around individuals’ body image (Linardon et al., 2019; Turk & Waller, 2020). While this provides evidence that mindfulness might provide a beneficial strategy to reduce body image disorders, the specific pathways are currently poorly understood. While most research treat mindfulness as a single construct this might obscure the differential effects of mindfulness sub-facets (Karl et al., 2020; Karl & Fischer, 2020). The current study aims to address this current disconnect between the wide implementation of mindfulness as stand-alone or combined intervention to address issues concerns around body image and the lack of systematic knowledge about the potential underpinning mechanisms by providing a comprehensive meta-analysis which examines the relationship between body image and mindfulness at a facet level. In order to conduct this review, the student applicant will systematically search multiple databases, including EMBASE, Medline, Web of Science, CINAHL and PsycINFO using relevant controlled vocabulary terms and free-text words. The student applicant will extract relevant data from included papers using a standardized data extraction template and, along with a second reviewer, will appraise the quality of included studies using an established checklist.
Given the absence of an extant meta-analysis on this topic and global recognition of the importance of difficulties in body image, the proposed review has the potential to be published in a high-ranking psychology journal (e.g. Mindfulness) and presented at important international conferences (e.g. European Association of Social Psychology Conference).
Conducting a meta-analysis involves learning a structured approach not taught on the DCU undergraduate psychology programme. This involves learning an important set of research skills for anyone considering pursuing research further as a career, and transferable skills for administration and data processing. The successful student would also be a named co-author on future journal publications or conference presentation outputs arising from the systematic review.
The specific tasks that the student would learn would also help to structure the studentship by week:
1) Familiarization with the research area
2) development of appropriate search terms
3) constructing inclusion/exclusion criteria for studies
4) carrying out searches using controlled vocabulary terms and free text
5) screening abstracts for inclusion
6) sourcing full-text articles for review
7) conducting a quality appraisal of studies
8) completing a data extraction table for included studies
9) if possible, contributing to writing of the manuscript for publication.
For further information contact the project lead:
Dr Johannes Karl | School of Psychology
Email: johannes.karl@dcu.ie
Clinical supervision of practice is a central part of the training of psychotherapists, psychologists and other health professionals, and post-qualification attendance at clinical supervision has become increasingly common across various health professions. Clinical supervision is understood to have three main functions: formative, contributing to supervisees’ continued professional development; normative, involving professional, ethical review of supervisees’ work; and restorative, supporting supervisees’ welfare and resilience (Proctor, 1988). Health professionals’ regular engagement in supervision is also promoted as part of good clinical governance by the Irish Health Service Executive (2015).
Traditionally, practitioners became clinical supervisors following experience in the field and did not have training or supervision for their supervisory work. However, there is now a widespread understanding that clinical supervision is a professional practice which also requires specific training and supervision to foster competence and continuing professional development. This study aims to contribute to our understanding of the competencies and processes involved in supervision work, by focusing on an investigation of supervision of supervision practice (also called supervision consultation or metasupervision). This study involves a participatory action research study of the work of a once-monthly, two-hour, multidisciplinary metasupervision group (including psychology, nursing, psychotherapy and social care professions). There is a paucity of literature and research on metasupervision and on supervisor development following training in supervision so this research aims to develop understanding and knowledge in this area, which can then inform further developments in supervision training and practice.
The successful candidate would benefit from the PI's experience by being guided step by step through thematic analysis from coding to theme development to write up. Additionally, there will be several other opportunities for the intern. We will be presenting at the Society for Psychotherapy Research conference in Trinity College Dublin in June 2023. The intern will have the opportunity to join us at this conference, and meet and network with leaders in the field of psychotherapy. It is planned that the intern would engage with fundamental research and collation of information for a literature review. This would allow them to engage with the principles of systematically reviewing articles and relevant clinical literature. The intern will have the opportunity to be a co-author of subsequent study publications and further conference presentations.
This internship will take place between May and July 2023
For further information contact the project lead:
Dr Stefanie Finan | School of Nursing, Psychotherapy and Community Health
Email: stephanie.finan@dcu.ie
Common mental disorders (CMD), such as anxiety, depression and distress, are prevalent in male Gaelic games players, with 47.8% experiencing symptoms of anxiety/depression, and 48% reporting 2 or more symptoms of CMD (Gouttebarge et al., 2016). However, there is no current research examining female Gaelic games players’ experience of CMD. Despite an acknowledged need for sex parity in research (Smith et al., 2022), female athletes are under-researched and there is a focus in mental health research on eating disorders (Perry et al., 2021). Therefore, the current project aims to 1) examine the prevalence and comorbidity of symptoms of CMD in female community sport athletes participating in Ladies Gaelic football and/or Camogie and 2) determine the relationship between potential mental health stressors and symptoms of CMD.
To meet this aim, the study will adopt an observational cohort design and utilise similar methods previously used to examine CMD in male Gaelic games players (Gouttebarge et al., 2016). Data collection, to be conducted by the undergraduate intern, will be completed online using Microsoft Forms (licensed by DCU). This will involve the anonymous completion of questionnaires examining players’ experience of symptoms of CMD, namely, psychological distress, anxiety, depression, sleep disturbance and adverse alcohol use. Potential mental health stressors (severe musculoskeletal injury, surgery history, recent life events and career dissatisfaction) will also be measured. Participants will be recruited from the current playing population of the Ladies Gaelic Football Association, Camogie Association and Gaelic Players Association, organisations with whom the principal investigator already has established research links. Discussions are currently in process on how each organisation can support participant recruitment for this project. Cohorts of elite and sub-elite ladies Gaelic games players will be recruited, which will allow the examination of mental health directly in both cohorts and the comparison between playing levels. Preliminary analyses will be conducted by the student intern.
The intern will facilitate data collection and complete preliminary analyses on the data. The intern will provide full time commitment to participant recruitment, which is key to the success of this project as a large sample size will be required to successfully examine the experience of CMD in ladies Gaelic games players. The intern (anticipated by the principal investigator to be an undergraduate at the end of 3rd year) will have completed modules in injury psychology (SS217) and research methods and data analytics (SS411) and thus will have the necessary expertise to support this project. This expertise will be crucial to the success of the project, while also preparing them for future postgraduate research.
For further information contact the project lead:
Dr Sinéad O'Keeffe | School of Health and Human Performance
Email: sinead.okeeffe@dcu.ie