PhD testimonials

“I am an Occupational Therapist working in a specialist Assessment Unit for the Elderly in a small general hospital in Ireland. My motivation in completing a PhD is to further my professional interest in working with people with dementia, as well as develop personally. I’ve found that a PhD is not so much about the thesis itself, but about the process: speaking at international conferences, writing journal articles and interacting with others at the top of their fields. It has been a very rewarding experience to contribute to the development of services at both local and national level and help design nursing home environments for people with dementia, improving the quality of people’s lives.

"Changing circumstances over the course of my PhD have led to my research being quite different from that on which I first embarked. This has required me to be adaptable and flexible, as well as confident in my ability to be self-directed and independent in my professional learning and development. Looking back, I can see how this process has been guided by Marcus as my supervisor and both he and Rita have been incredibly friendly and hospitable throughout. For me, a PhD has been a life changing experience, both personally and professionally”. - Mark Morgan-Brown, part-time PhD student.

“I have always been interested in the ways in which people with diverse capabilities can be supported through the design of buildings and their surroundings and came to SURFACE through the Accessibility and Inclusive Design course while working as a professional architect. Having completed my postgraduate diploma, I wanted to further my research interest in inclusive design and applied for an EPSRC-funded scholarship to remain with SURFACE; thankfully, successfully. Having moved to the UK from Colombia, I am currently in my second year of PhD research, working towards the development of a child-sensitive framework for the design of inclusive children's outdoor environments. Rita and Marcus have been very supportive and encouraging from day one and thanks to them my PhD is an enjoyable experience." - Maria O’Sullivan, full-time PhD student.

“I developed an interest in access and inclusivity while studying for my MA in Three Dimensional Design and am currently undertaking an assessment of the street furniture found within the UK’s zoological gardens, focusing upon accessibility and ease of use. The primary philosophical basis for this research is rooted within an appreciation of inclusive design and a desire to represent it as an ideology, fundamentally concurrent with human rights. I am also motivated by the fact that inaccessible street furniture influences the percentage of the population most likely to benefit from a zoo as an educational resource. I hope my research will provide guidance for future installations of street furniture within zoological gardens and believe that the subject-specific expertise within SURFACE will allow me to achieve this objective”. - Michael David William Richards, part-time PhD student.

"When I was registered blind in 1981 and disability became my world, I resolved not to bemoan the fact that I was inconvenienced, but to do something about the inhospitable environment I faced. I became an Access Officer with a local authority and rose to Vice President of the Access Association (a position I held until 2002). I completed my MSc in Accessibility and Inclusive Design in 2005 (with SURFACE) and thought that it would be the last of my academic endeavours. However, in 2007 I fell and badly broke my right arm – leading to five further operations – and, three years on, my wife had a fall and fractured her hip, which resulted in a full hip replacement. These two incidents proved to be the catalyst for my PhD topic.

"Falls in older adults become more frequent and have far reaching consequences; not least the real or perceived fear of falling again. Much research is carried out relating to older adults and falls, but it tends to concentrate on intervention strategies designed to assist in the home environment, while ignoring the more hostile – and potentially more unpredictable – environment of the outdoors. By excluding the external environment, researchers and professionals are preventing outdoor rehabilitation and could be exacerbating this fear of falling. Supported by the expertise at SURFACE, I hope my PhD goes someway to redressing the balance." - John George Gregory, full-time PhD student.

"Having trained as an Architect and Urban Planner in Bangladesh and Hong Kong, I have always been interested in people-oriented design, public participation and designing for special needs. Committing to my PhD at SURFACE – with the ultimate aim of informing best practice in the UK and beyond – was one of the most important decisions I’ve ever taken in furthering this interest and has been a steep and rewarding learning experience. Currently, I am writing up my thesis on the barriers to older people’s access of pedestrian crossings from an inclusive design perspective; drawing on my involvement in I’DGO TOO (the second phase of the EPSRC-funded Inclusive Design for Getting Outdoors research project). I consider myself to be very lucky to have Marcus and Rita as my supervisors and am greatly indebted to them for giving me the opportunity to undertake full-time research, collaborate with experts in the field of inclusive design, learn from them and publish internationally." - Mohammad Faruk, full-time PhD student.