Despite physics being the subject I found most difficult at school, or maybe because it was, I decided to pursue it further. I spent four years at the University of Cambridge, UK, and then moved to London to start my PhD. For the past 18 months I have been based at Fermilab, a particle accelerator in the United States, near Chicago. Fermilab currently has the highest-energy accelerator in the world and is an exciting place to work.

At Fermilab, we ask the most fundamental questions of the Universe. Where do we come from? How was the Universe created? How will it end? These are some of the most challenging questions humanity can ask, and are for me the most inspiring ones.

But I also want a job that provides a tangible benefit to society and that makes a difference to people, if only in a small way. Although I feel enormously lucky to do what I do, I also recognize that my research is very esoteric. I would enjoy a career that allows me to share some of my passion for science with others, for example to walk into a classroom and excite and enthuse children about what Fermilab does. My biggest decision after finishing my PhD in the next year is whether to continue in my field of research, or to choose something that touches society a little more directly.