‘Knowledge Works’ uses analog as well as digital processes: painted surfaces, historic books’ title pages, scattered and appropriated imagery, scanned and layered and interwoven via digital tooling to create small to very large prints on paper. The pages are found in science, philosophy, and science-vs-religion books from the 17th to early 20th centuries, probing that epoch’s history of revolutionary change in human thought and knowledge.
David Schwartzman is a Research Fellow (Informatics), School of Engineering and Informatics, University of Sussex.
“I study how stroboscopic light stimulation (SLS), flickering light viewed through closed eyes, can alter conscious experience in powerful yet controlled ways. My work examines the visual patterns and altered states SLS can produce, why people respond differently, and how we can study these experiences safely.
A big part of my research is about subjective experience: what people actually feel, see, and report during these states, and how that relates to what is happening in the brain. I’m interested in SLS both as a tool for understanding consciousness and perception, and for its possible practical uses in mental health.
I currently lead an MRC-funded research programme exploring whether SLS could have therapeutic potential for depression. More broadly, my work asks a simple question: if we can safely and reliably shift perception, can that help us better understand the mind — and potentially support wellbeing too?”
We Go Way Back, an exhibition exploring how ancient DNA is revealing new insights into human evolution, migration, culture and disease, will open at the Francis Crick Institute on 16 July 2026.
Ancient DNA is the genetic material from our ancestors long gone. These fragments of DNA are extracted from bones and teeth, before being processed in an ultra-clean laboratory and sequenced to reveal the underlying genetic code.
Joshua Weston is a PhD Candidate, School of Mathematics and Physics, Queen’s University Belfast.
“My research sits at the intersection of time-domain astrophysics, machine learning, and the societal implications of large-scale scientific automation. In particular, I am interested in how algorithmic systems can be designed, monitored and interpreted to translate high-volume survey data into reliable, high-fidelity transient discoveries, while retaining meaningful human oversight.
My current research focuses on:
Machine Learning for Transient Discovery and Host Association: I develop and deploy ML pipelines for real–bogus classification and extragalactic transient–host matching in major sky surveys. For the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS), I retrained convolutional neural networks that reduced false positives in the data and significantly lowered human validation demands. I have also built software tools for the Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s Legacy Survey of Space and Time Deep Drilling Fields, integrating archival data and applying interpretable ML to improve host galaxy identification for faint, high-redshift transients. Ongoing work focuses on early alert filtering via brokers such as Lasair and constructing robust transient samples.
AI, Citizen Science, and Responsible Survey Automation: As part of the Leverhulme Interdisciplinary Network on Algorithmic Solutions (LINAS), I examine how AI systems reshape discovery, expertise and public engagement in astronomy. I am developing a citizen-science framework to label early Rubin alerts and systematically compare expert and public classifications, quantifying their impact on model performance, bias and interpretability. This work situates large-survey automation within broader questions of transparent and sustainable human–AI collaboration in scientific research.”
Claude E. Gagna, Ph.D., is a Professor of Biological Sciences at the New York Institute of Technology. His research focuses on the structure and function of DNA and RNA, including noncanonical (unusual) nucleic acid conformations in biological tissues. In parallel, he develops interdisciplinary bioart. ‘Biological DNA Art: Beauty is in the Eye that is Beheld (Bulbus Oculi)’, is a series of mixed-media works developed as an ongoing experimental and archival practice, focused on stabilizing and integrating non-human eye globes and purified DNA from multiple species within acrylic composite matrices on canvas supports. The work is conceived not only as visual art, but as a form of biopreservation and experimental archive, in which biological materials are maintained with consideration for long-term molecular integrity and the potential for future retrieval. It also engages in an evolutionary framework, bringing together biological materials from multiple species to reflect shared structural origins and divergence across life. The work emerges from laboratory-derived, peer-reviewed methodologies adapted for artistic production, raising questions about the boundary between preserved scientific specimens and visual artifacts.
Enrique Gaztanaga is Professor of Astrophysics at Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, University of Portsmouth.
“I also have a civil servant (on leave) appointment as Research Professor in the Institute of Space Studies (ICE) working for the Spanish National Research Council (www.csic.es) and the IEEC in Barcelona. My background is in Physics, Astrophysics and Cosmology. My expertise is in the area of theoretical models of Cosmology and the building and analysis of the largest Cosmic maps. I am currently director of the PAU Survey (pausurvey.org) and the Science Coordinator of ESA ARRAKIHS (arrakihs-mission.eu) space mission. I have lead and co-lead hundreds of publication in referee journals.”
Stephen Nowlin is Los Angeles-based artist, curator, and writer whose practice is inspired by science, the histories of science and art, and theories of knowledge. His work employs the use of digital tools, photography, and scanning technology, resulting in small and large-scale limited edition archival pigment prints. Artist in Residence, Mount Wilson Observatory, California.
During April 2026, Gayle Chong Kwan interrogated the history of the scientific canon with a major installation in the Grand Gallery of the National Museum of Scotland for Edinburgh Science Festival. Through a large-scale site-specific sculptural installation, the work reflects on the cultural legacy of science, exploring and rethinking scientific histories through Chong Kwan’s detailed research into scientific artefacts and archives across eight major collections and speaking with communities.
Professor Marika Taylor is Pro Vice Chancellor and Head of the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences. Marika commenced her career as an undergraduate student studying Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge, inspired to follow this pathway having read “A Brief History of Time” by Stephen Hawking. After completing her undergraduate studies, Marika undertook a PhD with Hawking; her thesis “Problems in M-Theory” focused on black holes, string theory and holography.
Following a research fellowship at St John’s College, Cambridge, Marika moved to the Netherlands, working first at Utrecht University in the group of Nobel Laureate Gerard ‘t Hooft and then at the University of Amsterdam. In 2012 she moved to the University of Southampton as part of a strategic investment to establish a new research centre (STAG) bringing together gravity, high energy physics and astronomy. She later took on a variety of leadership roles at Southampton including Head of the School of Mathematical Sciences. She became a fellow of the Alan Turing Institute in 2019.
Her research interests range from mathematical and theoretical physics through to geometric AI and its applications; mathematical modelling for defence, security and finance, and the sociology of science. Marika has held many academic leadership roles nationally and internationally, including REF2021 panel member; advisory board of the Academy for Mathematical Sciences; advisory roles to government departments and agencies; chairing of research council committees and divisions in the UK and Europe, and leadership of the CERN GenHET initiative.
Peter Coppola is a Visiting Researcher, Cambridge Neuroscience, University of Cambridge.
“Most of my work focuses on network dynamics, graph theory and consciousness. I am very interested in neurological and neuropsychological cases and what these can tell us regarding consciousness. I intend to investigate how the neuroscience of consciousness can be integrated in clinical psychological practice and ethics.”