TCES Impact Story · Adam Curtis Collaboration Award 2025
From collaboration funding to specialist research training
A TCES-supported research visit helped University of Bristol PhD student Zhipeng Deng learn rheology techniques and generate data for an ongoing project developing regenerative biomaterials. The datasets were being prepared for publication when this account was submitted.
Zhipeng Deng · University of Bristol
I am a PhD student in the Armstrong Group working in Translational Health Sciences at the University of Bristol. My research focuses on developing injectable granular hydrogels that can stimulate endogenous vascularization and regeneration of non-union bone fractures. The Adam Curtis Collaboration Award enabled me to visit the laboratories of Prof. Dave Adams and Dr. Emily Draper to evaluate the complex rheological properties of my composite biomaterials. During a two-week placement at the University of Glasgow, I received comprehensive training on rheometry and conducted detailed rheological characterizations—including strain sweeps, frequency sweeps, time sweeps, viscometry, and shear recovery—on my hydrogel systems. These experiments generated high-quality datasets that are now being prepared for publication.