Litmus Project

‘Litmus Project’ pairs MA and PhD Creative Writing students from Humanities with PhD researchers in Biological Sciences, Electronics and Computer Science, Physics, Chemistry and Engineering. Scientific subjects under the spotlight include complexity modelling and imaging, complexity science, genetic adaptation to rising CO2 levels in plants, the nature of biological individuality, how life on Earth developed from simple physical/chemical systems to biological systems, numerical modelling of wave resistance, vibration and noise in cars, trains and airplanes, the voice following cochlear implantation and photonics.

This project started with a pairing of poet Robyn Bolam, resident Royal Literary Fund Fellow in Humanities, and Professor Paul Lewin from Southampton’s High Voltage Laboratory; participants have also taken part in guest workshops run by the poet Allen Fisher and novelist and epidemiologist Sunetra Gupta.

The fruits of the students’ collaboration were seen in a performance of the resulting creative writing and an exhibition of the science during Multidisciplinary Research Week (6-10 February 2012).

People

  • Peter Middleton
  • Will May