Prof Tansy Jessop, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Students and Education at the University of Bristol, said: “Our doctoral students are passionate and intellectually curious. They break new ground and drive positive change. More than that, they are at the vanguard of developing new ideas and practices through the painstaking pursuit of questions that matter for society and the planet.”

Amongst this year’s winners is Dr Joseph Pemberton, School of Computer Science, ‘Computational roles of cortico-cerebellar loops in temporal credit assignment’

After four years studying its inner workings, Dr Joseph Pemberton is still fascinated by the brain. A mathematician and computer scientist, Dr Pemberton spent his PhD exploring the role of the cerebellum - the ‘little brain’ -  and how it interacts with another part of the brain, the neocortex. He found that the two areas constantly talk to each other, and that this ongoing conversation helps us learn new skills.

Dr Pemberton said: “There are many individual structures of the brain which go back millions of years and which remain key to our existence. The cerebellum is one such structure and this research hopes to shed light onto its piece in the jigsaw.”

His research was published widely, including in the journal Nature Communications, and he is now a researcher at the University of Washington in Seattle.

Read about the other doctoral prize winners on the University’s news page