Tag: Blog

Hear from our work experience students: Maduri Varathakumaran

With an interest in pursuing research, Maduri joined us for a week of work experience in June 2024. At the time, she was a Year 12 student (now in Year 13) at Nower Hill High School, a school which joined the Study of Cognition, Adolescents and Mobile Phones study in 2023. During her time with us, Maduri learnt about public engagement in research including interviewing academics, designing promotional materials and conducting a SCAMP social media takeover) as well as the research process and academic writing. Along with fellow work experience students, Maduri also produced and narrated an animated video (using Lego) and attended various Imperial events. At the end of her week with us, we asked Maduri to write about her experience so we can continue to improve our work experience programmes and learn through young people’s lived experiences. Here is what she had to say:

This week has been incredibly interesting. It was packed with adventurous tasks, exceeding my expectations and was beyond just doing ‘office’ work as I had initially expected. There were multiple roles, from making a Lego stop-motion video to interviewing Professor Dougal Hargreaves.

Working with SCAMP was not just about conducting research and sitting behind the computer but meeting new people and networking during Mohn Mingle sessions, during which I was able to widen my knowledge of the world of work and research. The team were welcoming, enabling me to build my confidence as we discussed their career trajectories which led to their current roles. My perception of this work field changed as a result of this very open working environment.

There were several growth opportunities during this placement, such as learning more about Professor Dougal Hargreaves’s career and what his work in adolescent health meant to him. We also got the chance to learn more about their ADR UK project. He provided us with a better understanding of the whole process of this project and the effect it would have in the North-West of London. This will impact me directly, as I am from this area. The interview enabled us to gain a better understanding, and once we had finished interviewing him, we could ask questions related to our future careers, which was very helpful.

When researching ADR UK and the use of administrative data, we created a stop motion video, targeted towards 12-year-olds (see below). This introduced us to and allowed us to dive deeper into the process of analysing data. But most of all, seeing the reactions of the Mohn Centre staff when they watched what we had created allowed us to see our work was appreciated and entertaining, creating a sense of joy and satisfaction. This video allowed us to bridge the barrier between teenagers and their understanding of how their data is anonymised and used.

While we had our fair share of fun, we also conducted literature reviews. I was tasked with reading articles and papers written by other academics and categorise their findings and research. The skills I developed from this task better prepared me for what will be asked of me when I go to university and in the future when I enter the work field. Despite having a few difficulties at the start of the process, including trying to figure out what this task even meant, with practice, I was able to improve my understanding and be more concise with the sources I found. There was also support from the staff, so that this was not a process I had to go through on my own.

Despite our school providing us with career learning opportunities, this experience was different from anything I have previously been shown, as it was more relevant to my personal interests. I enquired about placement opportunities with the Study of Cognition, Adolescents and Mobile Phones (SCAMP) during their data collection session at my school, which put me in contact with Nicole Curtis, a researcher at SCAMP. This is certainly an opportunity that I would recommend to others. I learnt new research skills and improved my social and communication abilities, allowing me to step out of my comfort zone and interact with new people. I hope to come back to the Mohn Centre and work alongside SCAMP in the future, as I had a wonderful experience. The skills that I have learnt in the past week will allow me to apply to my future career path in Law with confidence.

Overall, I had a spectacular experience working alongside a wonderful team, who taught me new skills which will come of use in the future, allowing me to gain experience of working in a research field. I would love to work with them again, as I believe they provide you with several opportunities whilst showing you the community they have built which focuses on the improvement and wellbeing of others.

Hear from our work experience students: Mahisha Elavarathan

With an interest in pursuing a degree in Psychology, Mahisha joined us for a week of work experience in June 2024. At the time, she was a Year 12 student (now in Year 13) at Nower Hill High School, a school which joined the Study of Cognition, Adolescents and Mobile Phones study in 2023. During her time with us, Mahisha learnt about public engagement in research including interviewing academics, designing promotional materials and conducting a SCAMP social media takeover) as well as the research process and academic writing. Along with fellow work experience students, Mahisha also produced and narrated an animated video (using Lego) and attended various Imperial events. At the end of her week with us, we asked Mahisha to write about her experience so we can continue to improve our work experience programmes and learn through young people’s lived experiences. Read about her week with us in her own words:

If I had to choose one word to describe my experience at SCAMP and the Mohn Centre this past week it would be eye-opening. I am currently in year 12 and taking A-Level Maths, Psychology and Business. I aspire to study Psychology at university and so, after taking part in the SCAMP data collection, I decided to enquire about work experience with SCAMP as I was particularly interested in mental health and factors that could potentially affect our wellbeing. Having no prior experience in research, I was quite anxious and unsure as to what I should expect from this week. Having said that, this has been one of the most engaging and educational weeks ever. The placement was a journey in terms of all the tasks we were given the chance to carry out. The opportunities we were given this week were vast and being able to not only investigate research but also have the chance to work creatively had a huge impact on me.

We started by learning about ADR UK and their Linked Local Data project. I found it interesting to see the ways our data is used to improve society. We were given a brief to create a video explaining to 12-year-olds what administrative data is, so we devised a plan to create a Lego stop- motion. Creating the video was by far my favourite activity of the week as it allowed us to harness our creativity and helped me understand administrative data better, as I was unaware what it actually meant at the start of the week. I found it so rewarding to be able to almost act as a bridge for young people to learn about what happens with their data and how it is used. I love the fact that I was able to learn about the Linked Local Data Project, as I am now able to think about times in which data may have been collected from me and how they could be linked together.

During this work placement, we were able to interview Dr Dougal Hargreaves. This was an incredible experience as I discovered his experience of working in paediatrics and neonatal intensive care units abroad. Hearing how he dealt with issues such as language barriers was very inspirational. The ability to have a conversation with him about his experiences with choosing the pathway he went down, and university applications really aided me in further solidifying my own decisions for my future as I was able to hear about research that he was interested in exploring such as how absenteeism links to child mental health. This made it clear to me that there are multiple pathways that I can take to reach my goals in life.  I especially enjoyed the format of the interview as I was able to formulate my own questions that I was interested in hearing the answers to which made the interview feel more relaxed and conversational. It helped me feel more confident and really improved my communication skills, as I had initially felt nervous about interviewing an expert. However, the whole experience allowed me to figure out how to convey my thoughts clearly and work on my confidence.

Being able to attend the Mohn Mingle was also another highlight of my week. The Mingle allowed me to hear about other research projects taking place in the Mohn Centre. Being able to learn from other professionals was fascinating, as I was not limited to hearing about projects only within the SCAMP study but was given the chance to broaden my knowledge by hearing from academics from different fields, and how all of them interconnect. The Mohn Mingle was also an opportunity for me to meet and converse with staff members who I otherwise would not have met. This permitted me to ask questions related to their jobs, creating further connections and come across potential pathways I could explore in the future.

Although we had many creative and fun tasks, we also were given the opportunity to conduct a literature review on the topic of BMI and social media usage. We learnt how to find related articles across different academic journals and how to decrease the pool of articles that would appear in our search. Although reading through some of the articles was quite challenging due to how academic they were, as time went on I found it easier to spot information that would be useful to me and the topic I was given.

Overall, this week has been a wonderful opportunity to expand and improve my skills whilst interacting with a wide range of people. Meeting all the lovely staff was a highlight, as I felt very welcomed and having the opportunity to meet not only researchers, but other supporting staff helped me majorly increase my confidence. I would love to be able to come back as it was not just a placement, it was a learning experience.

Hear from our work experience students: Jevan Sathyamoorthy

A sixth form student with a passion for psychology, Jevan joined the Mohn Centre this summer for a work experience placement. During his time, he was able to gain a better understanding of the research cycle by working with the Study of Cognition, Adolescents and Mobile Phones (SCAMP) research team. Jevan was able to meet and learn with SCAMP Research Challenge students taking part in the study at a data analysis workshop held by the team. The workshop taught these young people how to use R software for statistical analysis. He also worked on a news article which transformed a recently published research paper into digestible information for the general public. You can find his piece, ‘How Air Pollution and Traffic Noise are Silently Damaging Teenage Development’, on our News page. We also tasked him with writing about his experience with us, this is what he had to say…

During my time at the Mohn Centre with the SCAMP study (Study of Cognition, Adolescents and Mobile Phones), I was introduced to many skills that would be essential to have in any workplace, especially one concerning psychology. On my first morning, as part of the SCAMP study’s part in being a community-based research centre, I took part in an informative data analysis class with three other teenagers from participating schools in the study. We were taught the crucial skill of how to plan out and then present analysis of data collected through a clear crash course in the software R. We were then shown how to compare different data types and we were given examples on how to conduct a literature review, providing good experience into how research papers are written.

As mentioned, research papers are extremely important to psychology, and any academic field, and through my work experience at the SCAMP study, I became comfortable and familiar with them. I learned how research papers are laid out and how to quickly summarise their most important parts, a critical skill in finding where there are gaps in knowledge and what new research should be aimed at finding.

As well as being able to read research papers, I also learnt how to summarise and simplify papers into a blog post; this allows anyone from the general public to read and understand research fully. This is a crucial skill that enables research to become widely known outside of academia, shown by the blog that I was able to write which was put onto the SCAMP website.

Overall, my time spent at the SCAMP study has allowed me to understand what it is like to be in a workplace, improving my knowledge on how academic research is presented and then how to simplify it. I was able to see how the psychological research is created and my time at the SCAMP study will hopefully lead to further interaction with them and continuing to increase my knowledge in psychology.

How Air Pollution and Traffic Noise are Silently Damaging Teenage Development

Budding sixth former, Jevan Sathyamoorthy, joined the Mohn Centre for work experience. Read through his summary of a recent research article.

With a passion for psychology, Jevan was interested in learning more about the Study of Cognition, Adolescents and Mobile Phones during his work experience at the Mohn Centre, before beginning his A levels in September. Read through his summary of a recent paper published by the team titled “Air pollution, traffic noise, mental health, and cognitive development: A multi-exposure longitudinal study of London adolescents in the SCAMP cohort”.

Teenage years are a critical period for the development of a healthy brain. This stage of life serves as an important time for us to establish key life skills, such as learning how to manage emotional and behavioural difficulties to effectively complete day-to-day tasks in our later years. However, a study conducted by the Study of Cognition, Adolescents and Mobile Phones (SCAMP) across Greater London has shown that higher exposure to air and noise pollution is linked to worsened mental development during adolescence.

Until a person’s mid-twenties our brains are ‘fine tuning’ themselves, leaving us more vulnerable to the potentially negative impacts of environmental factors on our mental development and wellbeing. Although multiple studies have investigated the effects of factors such as air pollution and traffic noise on our brains, a gap in understanding remains regarding the impact of said factors on teenagers’ development. Many studies have failed to separate teenagers from younger children, which overlooks how mental changes during adolescence differ greatly from those experienced in childhood. These oversights potentially miss the specific effects these harmful factors have on teenagers’ development. To address this knowledge gap, the SCAMP team focused solely on teenagers, using data from young people aged 11 to 12 and 13 to 15 for follow up. Furthermore, this is the first study to significantly research the effect of ozone pollution on adolescent’s brain development.

SCAMP collected data from 39 schools across Greater London. After assessing participants’ answers from a series of questions relevant to their cognition and mental health, it was found that higher ozone exposure not only resulted in slower cognitive development but also caused a rise in emotional and behavioural problems. After the levels of noise that teenagers were exposed to was determined, the results showed that higher levels of traffic noise correlated to an increase in anxiety, regardless of the time of day, and this was shown to be even more significant when there was 24-hour noise exposure. These findings reinforce the claim that air and noise pollution negatively affect brain development and highlight the detrimental effects of high levels of ozone exposure. Further, the findings also showed a ‘slowing down’ of the ‘refinement’ of cognitive systems (these systems affect our mental and physical fitness, behaviour, and academic achievement, among other things).

Research into the impacts of air and noise pollution may provide solutions for local authorities, as they aim to reduce the negative impacts of pollution, improve environmental quality and tackle climate change. However, care should be taken when developing schemes aimed at reducing air pollution (e.g. NO2), as research has shown how the implementation of schemes like ULEZ (Ultra Low Emission Zone) could lead to technology use that instead increases the levels of ozone, thus maintaining the negative impacts on young people. Overall, this paper has shown how air pollution and traffic noise, including the impacts of high ozone exposure levels, have a potentially detrimental impact on young people’s development. This should therefore add to the public case that to improve young people’s psychological health, these environmental conditions should be improved, protecting, and promoting healthy brain development as young people grow up.

Mohn in Morocco

Charlotte Gredal, Scientific Manager of the Mohn Centre, reflects on her recent trip meeting young people in Morocco.

In April of this year, Charlotte was invited out to Rabat, Morocco by the Association Marocaine des Petits Débrouillards to attend their 17th annual conference of scientific leisure. The festival promotes scientific curiosity for children and young people across Morocco through interactive experiences.

Charlotte standing in front of the Hassan Tower in MoroccoVisiting Morocco has always been on a list of countries I hoped to visit, with its vibrant culture, colourful pottery, and of course the delicious food! This year, I had the extraordinary opportunity to not only visit but participate in a significant event that celebrates the curiosity and creativity of young minds – the 17th annual festival of Scientific Leisure hosted by the Association Marocaine des Petits Débrouillards (AMPD).

I was fortunate to meet AMPD colleagues through one of the Mohn Centre’s community partners, the Harrow Club which supports young people in North West London. Together these organisations are working to set up an exchange programme for young people in Rabat and London.

While over there I was fortunate to see some of the city’s sights and monuments though a guided tour by one of the youth workers in Rabat as well as meeting colleagues at British Council Morocco. I was also able to visit some of the institutions which support young people. One organisation which resonated with me was the Al Amal Association’s socio-educational support complex in Salé which supports young people in unstable situations in innovative ways. The organisation is committed to breaking the cycle of social and economic exclusion. It gives these children and young people a home and the opportunity to learn new life skills to reintegrate into family and social environments. Programmes are vast and focus on different professions to teach skills such as hairdressing, patisserie, mechanics and entrepreneurship. The innovation and level of care that goes into these approaches was amazing to see.

The festival itself was a spectacular gathering that brought together young people from across Morocco to engage in scientific experiments, hands-on activities, and interactive workshops. The importance of such events cannot be overstated. They provide a platform for young individuals who may not usually have this opportunity to experience the excitement of discovery and the thrill of scientific inquiry, something we also pride ourselves on at Imperial through the work of the Invention Rooms and Great Exhibition Road Festival.  Witnessing the enthusiasm and seeing young faces light up with curiosity was truly inspiring.

One of the highlights of my visit was participating in a panel discussion where I had the privilege to share insights from the work of the Mohn Centre. Our discussion focused on public health issues affecting young people in London, drawing parallels and contrasts with the situation in Morocco.

It was invigorating speaking with the young people working with the AMPD. They all spoke with such passion and motivation to improve the lives of young people growing up in both cities and rural areas of Morocco. We delved into various topics, including mental health, access to health care, environment and sustainability, education and the importance of creating supportive environments for young people. It was an enriching experience to exchange ideas and learn about the unique challenges and innovative solutions being implemented in their communities.

Beyond the discussions and experiments, we embarked on a creative project with Moroccan young people and professionals. Together, we created a video capturing the most pressing topics impacting young people’s lives in Morocco today.

My visit to Morocco was a blend of cultural exploration and professional engagement, leaving me with lasting memories, connections and desire to perfect a tagine! The festival showcased the incredible potential of young people when given the chance to explore and experiment. The panel discussion and video project underscored the universal nature of the challenges faced by youth and the importance of cross-cultural collaboration in addressing them.

I am grateful for the opportunity to be part of such an inspiring event and look forward to future collaborations with the incredible young minds I met along the way.

Find out more about the Association Al Amal https://www.association-al-amal.ma/about.html

Find out more about the Association Marocaine des Petits Débrouillards https://lespetitsdebrouillards.ma/