Harrison F. Squires

Experimental Biophysics PhD Student, University of Edinburgh

Phone: +44 7450 940601
Personal Email: harrisonsquires250@gmail.com
Academic Email: harrison.squires@ed.ac.uk

Research Experience

Experimental Biophysics PhD, University of Edinburgh (Starting September 2026)

Project: “Towards machine olfaction, a new ISR modality”, supervised by Prof. Davide Michieletto and Dr Neal Hopkins.
Research focus: nucleic acid nanotechnology.
Recipient of SPADS CDT doctoral funding.
Awarded an additional £10k annual Research Training Support Grant (RTSG) from the OCSA Bio Tech Centre.

University of Edinburgh (June 2026 – August 2026) Bridging Research Intern

Awarded bridging funding to undertake research prior to commencing PhD studies.
Project: “DNA Nanostars”, supervised by Prof. Davide Michieletto and Dr Jenny Harnett.
Investigated liquid-liquid phase separation in DNA nanostars and their potential application in lanthanide capture.

MPhys Project, University of Edinburgh (September 2025 – May 2026)

Project: “Evaporation of Breath Figures”, supervised by Dr. David Fairhurst and Dr. Joey Kilbride.
Extended a recently published study by investigating the dynamics of the “macroscopic edge effect” in respiratory breath figures and its relation to droplet size distribution.
Designed and built an experimental set-up for imaging large droplet arrays.
Developed image analysis workflows using FIJI and Python.
Produced efficient scripts for data and statistical analysis.

QinetiQ / University of Edinburgh (June 2025 – August 2025) Summer Research Intern

Project: “Terahertz Methods for the Characterisation of Materials”. Conducted a literature-based review aimed at advising the company’s future research direction.
Summarised findings in a final report and developed a comparative table of practical trade-offs.
Funded by the University of Edinburgh through the Career Development Scholarship; project hosted by QinetiQ.

University of Melbourne / Carbon Cybernetics (July 2024 – June 2025) Research Intern

Project: “On the characterisation of carbon fibre electrodes for neural recording”, supervised by Prof. Steven Prawer. (literature review, project report)
Modelling of Intracortical Microwire Electrodes for Brain–Machine Interfaces. Manuscript in preparation. Contributing author.
Designed and built a bench-top testing system to optimise carbon fibre Micro Electrode Array (MEA) performance.
Undertook a meta-analysis of in vivo datasets to inform optimal MEA design.
Automated data acquisition and analysis workflows using MATLAB and Python.
Delivered weekly research presentations to the group, incorporating feedback to guide further development.

The University of Edinburgh (2021 – 2026) Master of Physics (MPhys), Physics with a Year Abroad

Awarded First-Class Honours (75%).
Received the Margaret Campbell-Scott Scholarship for outstanding entry qualifications.
Awarded the Career Development Scholarship for summer project in conjunction with QinetiQ.
Achieved Certificates of Merit for academic excellence in my first two years.
Awarded the Junior Honours Class Medal for top performance in my third-year cohort.
Earned the Edinburgh Award for volunteering contributions to the University Sports Union (Jiu Jitsu Club).
Final-year focus: soft condensed matter (experiment and theory), biological physics, and statistical physics.

Hills Road Sixth Form College (2019 – 2021) A-Levels in Maths, Physics, Chemistry, and EPQ

Achieved three A*s at A-level and an A in the EPQ.
Designed a functional 3D robot using CAD software for EPQ, tailored to competition standards.
Created widely-used Chemistry problem sheets benefiting hundreds of students.

Newman College, University of Melbourne (March 2025 – June 2025) Academic Tutor

Tutored first-year and second-year Bachelor of Science students at the University of Melbourne in Foundations of Physics (PHYC10009) and Quantum and Thermal Physics (PHYC20012).
Ran individual consultations and group tutorials.
Provided personalised academic support, tailoring sessions to address students’ specific areas of difficulty.
Designed original resources and problem sets to help students engage with physics concepts in novel contexts.

IJ Mellis (June 2023 – December 2023) Cheesemonger

Independently managed shop operations, including opening and closing responsibilities.
Completed specialised training in product knowledge and food safety.
Developed expert knowledge of artisanal and regional cheeses.

Jesuit Worldwide Learning (March 2025 – June 2025) English as a Second Language Tutor

Volunteer with Jesuit Worldwide Learning to support refugees in developing English language skills.
Provided personalised, one-on-one language support to a student in Kenya through meaningful, conversational engagement.

Contact details available on request.