We are deeply saddened by the death of our PhD student and colleague, Ine Martens, who died on 11 October 2026, at the age of 31, following an illness. We were Ine’s PhD supervisors at Heriot-Watt University, and we would like to share something about Ine, their research, and what it was like to work with them.

Ine began their PhD in September 2021, when they were 26 years old. Ine picked up British Sign Language and International Sign remarkably quickly. Their PhD focused on the networks of deaf lesbian women in London. Ine recognised that deaf lesbian experiences, relationships and networks had remained largely invisible in academic research and wanted to change that by making these women’s stories visible.

As a PhD student, Ine was incredibly driven, curious and critical. Ine loved exploring theories, questioning ideas and searching for the right concepts to understand what they were finding in their research. Ine had their own perspectives, asked challenging questions and was not afraid to disagree. Our discussions were always fascinating, and we learned a lot  from Ine too.

Ine was a very talented researcher. They interviewed seventeen deaf lesbian women in Great Britain and had a talent for identifying patterns and making connections across their stories. Ine was also a wonderful writer. Reading their work was always a pleasure. Ine wrote with great respect for the participants’ stories, showing real insight into what those stories revealed, skilfully weaving them together to bring out deeper meanings and connections, and linking the findings with theories.

One thing that stood out about Ine was their determination. When something interested Ine, they wanted to understand it deeply. Ine was persistent, thoughtful and passionate about their research. It was a real privilege for us to supervise Ine and to see their research develop over the years.

Ine was very close to completing their PhD. The research was finished, the thesis had been written, and Ine was working on the final revisions. Sadly, Ine died before formally submitting the thesis. But for us, one thing is absolutely clear: Ine carried out important research and wrote a wonderful thesis.

We are incredibly proud of everything Ine achieved. We are currently exploring what might be possible regarding Ine’s PhD, including whether a posthumous degree could be awarded and how the research might be shared more widely. No decisions have been made yet.

Annelies Kusters and Robert Adam
PhD supervisors, Heriot-Watt University