Profile
Jack barton
My CV
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Education:
Walton High School (2003-2010); University of Durham (2010-2014); University of Manchester (2015-2018)
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Qualifications:
A Levels (English Literature A*, Psychology A*, Biology A, History A*)
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Work History:
University of Durham, Research Assistant
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Current Job:
PhD student
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About Me:
I am a proud geek, and film fanatic, who loves getting lost and confusing people with my sarcastic sense of humour.
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I live in Manchester as a PhD student. I’m currently in my second year (only over one year to go before I finish…!) and loving every second of it. It is rather amazing to get paid to do what you love.
I tend to find myself soaking in the atmosphere of Manchester in between work and the rest of life. Otherwise, Netflix, movies, and writing about anything which interests people (or not) in my spare time.
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My work involves me tracking people’s sleep with special watches, questionnaires and diaries in order to understand more about their sleep and how this impact their mood and strange experiences.
Colleagues in my lab look at strange experiences (e.g. seeing or hearing things which are not there) in individuals with a diagnosis of schizophrenia. However, I’m interested in how sleep disturbances might put those who haven’t received a mental health diagnosis (yet) at risk for experiences associated with schizophrenia.
I’m usually fighting with technology to get my experiments running smoothly but for the most part it’s plenty of fun – at least when it works!
I’m also interested in assessing the impact of depriving people of sleep on our ability to deal with the stresses of day to day life. Surprisingly, people seem keen to take part in this study…
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My Typical Day:
A typical day involves me answering emails from potential participants, setting up watches to track new participants’ sleep, and catching up with colleagues in the office.
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I usually start the day by checking over a mass of emails and making sure none of my participants have had any technical hiccups with the watches I use to run my studies. If all is clear on the watch front I will then start to plan my next studies and get new people recruited to my current study.
Usually, I’ll also be thinking about ways to get people excited about sleep research (and see the importance of a good night sleep) so I will also draft articles and brainstorm ideas for how best to communicate my own, and others, research to the public.
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What I'd do with the prize money:
I would have students plan, develop, and create a video about an area of sleep, or general, science with the aim of educating their peers about the topic in a fun and creative way.
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
Geeky, inquisitive, sarcastic
Were you ever in trouble at school?
Occasionally, by which I mean once or twice when it completely wasn’t my fault – honest.
Who is your favourite singer or band?
Probably Muse to rock out to and The XX to chill out / work to (that was two, whoops!)
What's your favourite food?
Guylian chocolate – if you have never heard of them you are seriously missing out
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
Ooo another tricky one. Hmm, probably a magic money tree, more energy, and more time to travel
Tell us a joke.
Three Freudians go into a bar and the bartender says, “Can I see some id?”
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