University scientists receive prestigious fellowships

Two scientists from the University of Bath have been awarded prestigious University Research Fellowships by  The Royal Society. The pair are among 44 researchers named as fellows across the UK and Ireland for 2016 who will take up their new posts in October. Dr Matt Roberts from the  Department of Mathematical Sciences uses mathematical structures that resemble family trees to investigate complex systems where the average behaviour is misleading. The techniques that he studies can be used to understand problems as diverse as disease epidemics, solid-state physics and tele networks. The title of his fellowship is 'Spatial dependence in branching structures'. He said: "It's an honour to be awarded this fellowship from the Royal Society, and also really exciting to be able to concentrate on my research for the next five years. This will give me the chance to make progress on some fundamental mathematical questions." Dr Alex Cresswell joins the  Department of Chemistry in October from the University of Edinburgh and is interested in in developing and understanding new synthetic methods for organic chemical synthesis.