John Goodband

I started at Coventry University as an undergraduate in mathematics and accounting in 1999. Having worked for 19 years at Coventry railway station, I had increasingly felt the need to attempt something far more challenging. Since I already had an A grade A-level (1978 vintage!) in mathematics and was friends with the then head of mathematics, it seemed to be a logical move. I enrolled in the joint honours degree because I thought that having vocational qualifications would help me in a new career.

Both my final year project and one of the modules were directly related to control theory, which I enjoyed considerably. I therefore approached the Control Theory and Applications Centre (CTAC) to ask if they would consider me for postgraduate research. I subsequently graduated with a first class honours degree and enrolled as a PhD student in October 2002.

The area of research was exceptionally challenging, as it took me into the realms of medical physics and neural network computing, in both of which I had no previous experience. The PhD training process was intensive and enlightening. From the autumn of 2003 onwards, I was making regular presentations at international conferences in conjunction with peer-reviewed papers, and succeeded in publishing two journal articles. I was also a member of a European cutting-edge research team investigating methods for improving cancer treatment.

In July 2006 I commenced another research project, this time for SIGMA, also based at Coventry University. The work is in yet another new area (for me) – educational research – and involves finding ways of improving mathematics education in higher education.  I was awarded my PhD in November 2006. 

Throughout my eight years at Coventry University I have been constantly impressed by the ethic of friendly helpfulness, first as an undergraduate being coaxed through periods of self-doubt, then as a PhD student receiving the training of a lifetime. I now aim to contribute to that ethic myself.