Danny G
ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS
Oxford University, PhD Biochemistry
Currently at The University of Oxford, where he attained a scholarship to study for a PhD in Biochemistry. His research focuses on cell mechanisms and dynamics during mitosis, with the hope of finding potential new therapeutic drug targets for cancers.
University College London, MSci Physics
· Fourth Year
Grade: 1st (First Class)
Modules: MSci Project, Molecular Biophysics, Advanced Quantum Theory, Particle Physics, Advanced Topics in Statistical Mechanics, Quantum Field Theory
Third Year
Grade: 1st (First Class) – 84.33 AVG
Modules: Quantum Mechanics (95.06), Nuclear & Particle Physics (82.90), Experimental Physics, Solid State Physics, Scientific Computing Using Object Oriented Languages (Java), Theory of Dynamical Systems, Electromagnetic Theory, Physics Group Project
Second Year
Grade: 1st (First-Class)
Modules: Laboratory (Practical Physics 2A), Laboratory (Electronics & Computing), Mathematical Methods 3 (notably 83.13%), Electricity & Magnetism, Quantum Physics, Atomic & Molecular Physics, Statistical Physics of Matter, Environmental Physics, Developing Effective Communication 2
First Year
Grade: 1st (First-Class)
Modules: Laboratory (Practical Skills and Python Coding) 1&2, Mathematical Methods 1&2, Classical Mechanics, Thermal Physics, Atoms Stars & the Universe, Waves Optics & Acoustics, Developing Effective Communication 1
King Solomon High School, Head Boy
A-Levels: Mathematics (A* - 92%), Physics (B), Economics (B) Further Mathematics (B) – Learnt alongside my degree as an extra qualification.
Awarded with the Academic Award for A-Level Mathematics by the department.
AS levels: Mathematics (A - 94%), Economics (A), English Literature (A), Physics (B)
GCSEs: Mathematics (A*), Further Additional Science (A* - 94%), English Literature (A*), Spanish (A*), ICT (A* - 97%), Electronics (A*), Religious studies (A*), Core Science (A), Additional Science (A), English Language (A), History (A), Geography (A)
Teaching Experience
Love Learning Tutors
GCSE: Mathematics, Physics
A-Level: Mathematics, Physics, Further Mathematics
I first started tutoring when I was in Sixth Form for GCSE Mathematics and Physics.
From 2017, I began tutoring A-level Mathematics and Physics.
I work with closely with the Outreach Coordinator on various events for the Department of Physics and Astronomy at UCL. These events usually involve going into schools/ working with visiting schools to teach students different areas of Physics (such as time dilation, constructive/destructive interference, wave propagation), predominantly using demonstration-based techniques.
SKILLS AND INTERESTS
Previously, I attained a First-Class honours in my MSci Physics degree at University College London (UCL). For my masters project, I was able to work at the Francis Crick Institute for Biomedical Research to work on a Biophysics-based project. As far as hobbies go, I enjoy singing, gaming, and photography!
For the past 4 years, I have co-developed and co-run a Computational Physics course (in Python) aimed at Sixth Form students planning on taking a science-based subject at university, and is designed for absolute beginners! I have already run three iterations of this course, which were great successes, with 95%+ attendance/engagement across all sessions (with some iterations lasting 8 weeks!). I thoroughly enjoy running this course, and the atmosphere created in the classroom/ online made it an absolute pleasure to teach; seeing my students’ confidence and abilities grow over the duration of the course made it all worthwhile.
WORK EXPERIENCE
- I have been twice-elected the lead academic representative for the Department of Physics & Astronomy for the academic years 2019/2020 and 2020/2021, and in 2020 I was awarded two UCL Education awards; Academic Representative of the Year across all UCL Faculties, Academic Representative of the Year for the Faculty of Mathematical & Physical Sciences.
- I was an observatory demonstrator at UCL’s observatory in Mill Hill. This required operating various mechanical and electric telescopes for demonstration purposes to both the public and visiting schools and being able to convey complex information in a more concise, and comprehendible way.
- I was an ambassador for UCL, and regularly participated in open days/offer holder days for prospective Physics & Astronomy students (both in person and online).
- At 16, I participated in a 10-week internship at Bloomberg, a financial data solutions company situated in Central London, in the Information Systems department. This required troubleshooting issues for internal clients with regards to both the software and hardware of their computers. From this high-pressured environment, I gained experience of how to assess a problem quickly, find a viable solution, and implement it within a short space of time. Liaising with full-time employees and working together as a team of 6 allowed us to win a company-wide competition with the goal of finding solutions to problems that we felt the company faced. Additionally, I won the #BloombergIntern award, which was an award set to highlight the person who was most interactive within the social media network at Bloomberg, and who could use it most effectively.
PERSONAL STATEMENT
In my mathematics classes at high school, I had a teacher who really inspired me to do well. I felt their constant support in lessons, and that they tried to push me just outside my comfort zone by giving me slightly harder questions to tackle. They really helped my love of Mathematics grow, to the point where I chose to take an extra further maths module at school (which was not offered at the time of my A-Levels), and eventually went on to take up a very maths-heavy degree! Having a teacher believe in you and give you the confidence to believe that you can achieve was so important to me in my education, and I would love to be that person for somebody else! From my previous tutoring experience, I have seen first-hand how beneficial it can be. One pupil I tutored needed help understanding A-Level Physics as he was struggling at school and attained a D grade at the end of year 12. After around a month of tutoring, going over many past paper questions and discussing exam techniques, his grade had risen to a high B. I found that the topics he needed the most help with had not been addressed by his school teachers, and that by spending time going through them and trying to use various analogies and real-life examples to aid understanding, the student was fully capable of achieving a higher grade. One thing I always tell any student before I tutor them is that no question is a silly question, and never be afraid to say you don’t understand something, it’s what I’m there to help with!
I have also been co-running my own course on Computational Physics and recognise the important of making sure that each student’s needs are met. Some students might understand the content straight away, and others might need some more explanations; both of which are okay! For students who understand a topic faster, there is always an extension task to push them, and for students who require additional help, it is always available!