Taru Medha
James Tippett
Maka Mutamiri
Maree Perkins
Mark Bennett
Ben Taylor
Hannah Slack
Sarah Hastings-Woodhouse
Isabel Aberdeen
Charlotte Boyd
Rachel Calder
Gaia Cantelli
Holly Giles
Noma Mguni
Sofia Raftopoulou
Alice Clubbs Coldron
Chantelle Francis
Chris Banyard
Kristine Bagdassarian
Lydia Chantler-Hicks
Marcus Holt
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Meet the Editorial Team
FindAPhD.com was founded in 2005 as a database of PhD project and other research programmes, aiming to connect students across the world with their ideal course. We’ve since grown into one of the largest websites of our kind, with millions of visitors every year. Our advice guides are produced by a dedicated team of writers with personal experience of Masters and PhD study along with many years covering postgraduate education.
We pride ourselves on using official government data sources wherever possible and in regularly checking our pages to make sure they’re completely accurate and up-to-date. We stay on top of the latest developments in the postgraduate sector, keeping a community of thousands of newsletter subscribers informed about scholarships, visa opportunities and much more.
If you’d like to get in touch – whether that’s about blogging for us or about something you’ve noticed on our website – drop us an email at editor@findaphd.com.
Role: Content Writer
Taru joined FindAMasters and FindAPhD in 2022. She is focused on creating well-researched, thorough content that can make the study abroad journey for prospective postgraduate students just a little bit easier! She writes blogs and guides making sure they are informative without being tedious. She equally enjoys making short video content for our social profiles so students can access this information in a format they like!
University education
Taru has a Bachelor's degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from Bennett University in India and completed a Masters degree in Global Journalism from the University of Sheffield in 2021.
Postgraduate expertise
Taru flew across continents to complete a Masters in Global Journalism from Sheffield. Originally from India, she is no stranger to the postgraduate experience as an international student. From applying to a university abroad to then juggling assignments and building a life in a new country, she’s done it all and is happy sharing her tips with other prospective students.
Even though this is her first stint working in the UK’s education sector, Taru is no stranger to creating content for the web. She has previously worked at a few English-language publications in India creating both long and short-form web content.
Role: Senior Content Creator
James joined the Student Engagement Team in 2024. He loves creating relatable content that is genuinely helpful and easy to understand. James’ role combines content creation and strategy, allowing him to create and plan content that answers all the burning questions postgrad students have.
University education
James graduated from the University of Sheffield in 2016 with a Bachelor’s degree in English Language and Linguistics. His understanding and love of language allows him to write for a variety of audiences.
Role: Content Creator
Maka joined the Student Engagement Team in 2024 with a passion for helping all students have a smooth journey to postgraduate study in their dream field. She enjoys a mixture of research, writing and visual content creation.
University education
Maka has a Bachelors in Magazine Journalism from the University of Derby, which she completed in 2021. While the course title was specific, the modules were broad, and she enjoyed studying a range of subjects from PR and online to photo and broadcast journalism. One of her favourite modules was magazine design.
Postgraduate expertise
After completing her undergraduate degree, Maka stayed at Derby to study her MA Journalism. At the time, the course was new to the university, making her a great source for tips, advice and information for the next generation of MA students. After graduating in 2022, she was invited to be a Masters guest speaker at the university which sparked her desire to help the next generation of students.
Role: Head of Student Engagement and Development
Maree joined FindAMasters and FindAPhD in 2021 originally working on content and insights for our university customers. She jumped over to be our Student Content Manager in 2022, focusing on taking all the complicated areas of postgraduate study and distilling them into simple and useful info through guides, blogs, videos and more. She's now supporting the team to do this from her Head of role!
University education
Maree has a Bachelor’s degree in Multi-Media Journalism from Bournemouth University and completed her Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL) with BPP University, London in 2017.
Postgraduate expertise
Maree studied her GDL part-time, alongside her full-time job, so she’s no stranger to the professional postgraduate experience. Balancing assignments and exams with her day-to-day work life was challenging, but she’s happy to share her tips and tricks to future postgraduate students, and explain how finance works (as well as self-funding which is what she did for her studies).
Before coming to FindAMasters and FindAPhD, Maree worked in student recruitment at a number of UK universities, helping students find the right undergraduate and postgraduate degree for them.
Role: Director of Audience & Editorial
Mark joined FindAUniversity to develop our first ever advice articles in 2013 and now serves as our Director of Audience & Editorial, making sure our websites and information are as useful as possible for people thinking about Masters and PhD study.
Postgraduate expertise
He has a PhD in English Literature from the University of Sheffield, as well as Bachelors and Masters degrees from the University of Kent and the University of South Wales. His specialist subject used to be gothic fiction, but these days it’s student finance and postgraduate education policy.
Role: Student Content Manager
Ben helped lead the FindAUniversity content team from 2017 to 2022 working as our Student Content Manager to produce well-researched advice across a range of topics in related to postgraduate study. He’s since gone on to work at UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).
Postgraduate expertise
Ben has a Bachelors degree in English Literature from the University of Sheffield and a Masters from the University of Amsterdam. Having also spent a semester at the University of Helsinki through the Erasmus programme, he’s no stranger to study abroad (or cold weather!).
Role: Senior Content Writer
Hannah joined FindAUniversity in 2020 as one of our Content Writers. She started with us part-time whilst studying for her PhD and has contributed engaging content from the perspective of a postgraduate student. In 2023, after handing in her thesis, she began working with us four days a week managing our student newsletters, writing insightful blogs and guides, and championing the student perspective before spreading her content writing wings and moving into a different company with an engineering and technology focus.
University education
Hannah has a Bachelor’s degree in History from the University of East Anglia. She completed a Masters in Early Modern History from the University of Sheffield in 2019 where she continued on to study for her PhD on Early Modern English seafarers. She handed in her thesis in 2023 and is currently awaiting her viva.
Postgraduate expertise
Having completed both a Masters and a PhD, Hannah has a strong grasp on the postgraduate experience. Having worked part-time throughout both her degrees, she understands the multiple academic, financial and time pressures faced by students. While she stands by her years of education as being some of the best in her life, she’s aware they haven’t always been the easiest. That’s why she’s passionate about discussing the realities of postgraduate study to help prepare prospective students to make the best decisions for themselves.
Role: Content Writer
Sarah joined FindAUniversity as a Content Writer in 2021 and focuses on producing polished and thoroughly researched pages to inspire and inform prospective postgraduate students.
University education
Sarah has a Bachelor's degree in English Literature from the University of Exeter. Her research, analytical and writing skills help her seek out the most important information in the world of postgraduate study – and present it to aspiring postgraduates in the simplest and most engaging way possible.
Postgraduate expertise
Prior to working at FindAUniversity, Sarah gained over a year’s experience writing content for aspiring medical students – so she’s no stranger to helping students navigate the complex process that is applying for a degree programme!
In her time at FindAUniversity, she has gained a comprehensive understanding of the postgraduate journey, from choosing a Masters or PhD through to studying and completing a programme. She has also engaged with hundreds of prospective postgraduates while manning the funding stand at our popular in-person study fairs, tackling their funding-themed queries and concerns.
Guest contributors and interns
Role: Assistant Content Writer
Postgraduate expertise
Izzy has recently joined FindAUniversity as an Assistant Content Writer on a six months internship, to share her insights and experiences of PhD life (that her past self wishes she’d known!). She is currently a final year PhD student at the University of Warwick on a Doctoral Training Partnership. Her PhD project investigates a bacteria that infects the lungs and how it finds nutrients. Izzy’s journey is a little different as she didn’t do a Masters before her PhD, instead she studied Biomedical Science with Industrial Experience at The University of Manchester. Most of her days are spent inside the lab with a pipette in hand, but outside of the lab she enjoys figure skating, cooking and travelling.
Role: Guest Contributor
Postgraduate expertise
After completing her Integrated Masters degree in Biomedical Science at Cardiff University, Charlotte decided to leave Wales for her PhD. She is pursuing a PhD in Cancer Research at Sheffield Hallam University while also developing her teaching skills as a Graduate Teaching Assistant within SHU.
Role: Guest Contributor
Postgraduate expertise
Rachel took the slightly unconventional career route of a History degree at the University of Cambridge followed by eight years of hostel work/helping out on small farms/generally drifting about, and then a MSc in Sustainable Food and Natural Resources at the Centre for Alternative Technology (Wales). Having fallen for science, she went on to start a bioscience/soil science PhD at the University of Birmingham, investigating how mycorrhizal fungi respond to rising carbon dioxide levels. She is interested in the arts/sciences divide (and how we can break it down), in widening access to education, and in achieving “real-world” impact through scientific research.
Role: Guest Contributor
Postgraduate expertise
Gaia has been a frequent guest author on FindAPhD, sharing her advice on applications, funding and work/life balance whilst completing a PhD in Molecular Biophysics at King’s College London (having previously studied at the University of Cambridge). She’s since gone on to complete a postdoctoral fellowship and lectureship at Duke University and has held roles at the European Bioinformatics Institute and the Open University.
Role: Guest Contributor
Postgraduate expertise
Holly is a second year PhD student at the University of Reading. Her undergraduate degree was in Biomedical Sciences at Cardiff University during the pandemic. Following this she moved to the University of Liverpool for an MRes in Musculoskeletal Ageing, before coming back home for a PhD in Food and Nutritional Sciences. Her research focuses on food science for older adults in the prevention of ageing diseases. She also has four dogs and loves walking them as a break from research.
Role: Guest Contributor
Postgraduate expertise
Noma Mguni is a full-time PhD student at the University of Derby and founder of PhD Hard-talk, an online community for academics and students to share their research and advice. She has over seven years of experience working in Human Resources and currently works as a mentor for De Montfort University and for the University of Leicester’s Future Leaders programme. In addition to all her hard work, she find time to enjoy food, travel and poetry!
Role: Guest Contributor
Postgraduate expertise
Sofia began guest posting on FindAPhD in 2018 during her doctorate in Tumor Immunology at the Medical University of Graz (Austria). She helped cover a range of topics, including advice on PhD interview technique and reflections on the impact of Covid 19 on a lab-based PhD. She’s since gone on to work in industry in a range of project management and Bioscience information roles.
Role: Intern
Postgraduate expertise
Alice joined our editorial team in 2019 whilst completing her PhD in Biochemistry at the University of Liverpool (having previously studied at the University of Leeds). She explored a range of topics, including the best (and worst) reasons to do a PhD and how common a doctoral degree actually is. She currently works as a scientist at QIAGEN, a leading provider of laboratory equipment for Bioscience.
Role: Intern
Postgraduate expertise
Chantelle was the first person to join Mark on the FindAUniversity content team, way back in 2016. Arriving with an MA in Public Humanities from the University of Sheffield, she played a key role in getting the FindAMasters and FindAPhD blog sections off the ground whilst offering a range of advice on postgraduate funding and applications. Chantelle has since gone on to work in public transport administration and is currently training to become a full-stack Web Developer.
Role: Intern
Postgraduate expertise
Chris helped expand our student advice content in 2018, whilst working towards a PhD at the University of Sheffield. He shared honest and amusing advice on making mistakes, accidental self-sabotaging and managing rejection during a doctorate as well as reflecting on his own experience skipping a Masters before his PhD. Chris has since gone on to play a key role at IN-PART, a technology start-up simplifying connections between academia and industry.
Role: Intern
Postgraduate expertise
Kristine was one of the first PhD students to join our team, arriving in 2018 to share her experiences as a Durham University doctoral researcher working on Mathematical Modelling and Biology – with a passion for literature and creative writing! As well as substantially revamping our book review section, Kristine helped develop some of our most popular blogs, including advice on research proposal writing, choosing a supervisor and managing multidisciplinary research. She now works as a Manager Editor at Researcher, an innovative app and resource platform for PhD students and faculty.
Role: Intern
Postgraduate expertise
Lydia was one of the first content writers to focus on FindAMasters, joining us in 2017 after an internship during her Journalism MA at the University of Sheffield. She’s since gone on to work in a variety of roles in online and print journalism, currently working as a reporter for the London Evening Standard.
Role: Intern
Postgraduate expertise
Marcus brought his experience and expertise in data analysis and project management to the FindAPhD team in 2020, whilst completing a PhD at the University of Leeds (focusing on insect viruses and protein production). He experienced the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on doctoral research first hand and helped share honest advice and support with prospective students. Marcus currently works as a Methodologist for the UK Office for National Statistics.