Microbiology research and jewellery may seem worlds apart, but according to scientist and part-time jeweller Astrid Woollard they are perfect partners.

She said: “Jewellery design, just like science, allows a lot of room for imagination and creativity. Many people might think they do not go well together but they actually do very well.

“In my opinion, scientists are artists — they just use a different toolbox.”

She first became interested in jewellery at the age 14, when her godmother took her to a jewellery artist’s private viewing in Vienna, where Ms Woollard grew up.

“I was fascinated and inspired by the beauty of the jeweller's designs. She used many different beads from all over the world.

“I realised there was an unlimited potential of designs through different combinations of those beads. I desperately wanted to do the same — learn how to design and create jewellery.”

She went to workshops and started to design her own pieces, but at 16 she decided to become a scientist, eventually taking a master’s degree in microbiology and genetics at the University of Vienna.

Now 27, she is a DPhil student at St Catherine’s College, Oxford, but also runs a thriving jewellery business, Angels Love Beauty.

She had not considered turning her hobby into a business until friends urged her to consider selling her creations. Last year, she began selling her individual designs at gift and craft fairs around Oxfordshire.

Encouraged by the positive reaction, she has already expanded her business with a website for direct sales and is in the running for a European Design Award for her Elizabeth necklace, made from Swarovski crystals and pearls.

She came to Oxford not just because of the university’s reputation for academic excellence.

“I wanted to explore my English roots. My father is English and coming here has given me the chance to live here and get to know the English side of my family,” she said.

She finds creating her designs hugely rewarding, especially when she is making an original piece as a gift. She is passionate about the art and craft and the actual making of her jewellery.

She said: “My aim is to offer individual designer pieces at affordable prices. I love talking to customers at craft fairs where I get immediate feedback.”

She is now working on a new range of jewellery from around the world, using Murano glass from Venice, natural wood from Africa, Swarovski crystals from Austria, and “something glitzy from the States, I haven’t yet decided what.”

She also offers workshops and jewellery-making parties for children and adults, bringing a bar full of beads with colours or styles themed to the event.

o Contact: www.angels-love-beauty.com, e-mail astrid@angels-love-beauty.com or call 07960 232433.