Thanks to everyone who came to the recent PGA/ University event, Meeting of Minds (Monday 2nd June). Feedback was very positive, particularly for the relevance of the guest speakers (media skills consultant Dr John Copley and Cancer Research UK funder Dr Carol Symes) and the very high quality of the postgraduate oral and poster presentations.
The event was not an academic conference in the conventional sense - it was completely interdisciplinary and the focus was not on the research itself, but on the ability to communicate that research to a non-specialist audience and to demonstrate its relevance and benefits to other disciplines and to society as a whole. Speakers, posters and workshop groups were all assessed on factors such as accessibility, presentation skills and explanation of its wider significance.
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Guest speaker presentations
Communicating research to the wider public - Dr Jon Copley
Science communication consultant and former New Scientist writer Dr Jon Copley spoke about the increasing need for researchers to communicate their research to an audience outiside their discipline, including the public, the media, potential employers and funding bodies.
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How to produce an effective funding proposal - Dr Carole Symes (Cancer Research UK)
Senior research manager at major research funder Cancer Research UK, Carol Symes, discusses the importance of clear, accessible communication to non-specialists, as well as exploring the priorities and expectations of funding bodies and how research students should approach drafting a funding proposal.
Postgraduate oral presentations
Presentations were all of an extremely high standard, with their content and technique taking consideration of the non-specialist audience, and the implications for other disciplines and for society (and mankind) were also successfully addressed. A range of methods were used to engage with the audience, including the use of demonstrations and physical models. Presenters all received written feedback from the assessers.
The winning presentation was by James Nevell, with Mark Robinson coming second.
- Improving the oxygen generator - James Nevell (PhD Chemical Engineering)
- Why companies are run by boys, and girls are not allowed to play - Johanne Grosvold (PhD Management)
- The need for road pricing - Sterren Latsky (PhD Electronic and Electrical Engineering)
- The shape of bubbles in foam - Ruggero Gabbrielli (PhD Mechanical Engineering)
- Robust electro-hydraulic force control (and why it's so easy to fall off a log!) - Christopher Lamming (PhD Mechanical Engineering)
- Smoking soldiers and the risk of injury - Mark Robinson (PhD Sport & Exercise Science)
- Automation in aerospace assembly - Jody Muelaner (PhD Mechanical Engineering)
Postgraduate poster presentations
Posters had to be specifically designed for the event, as conventional conference posters would be targetted at an audience already familiar with a research area. Posters had to be attractively designed, simple and accessible and to explain the links to other disciplines and demonstration of a wider significance.
The winning poster was by Pinunta Rojratsirikul, with second prize going to UWE research student Yu Zhou.
Strategic methods of reaping competitive advantage in the cross-border higher education sector - Farshid Shams (PhD Management)
- Ethical supply chain management - Stefan Hoejmose (PhD Management)
- Critically analysing masculinity and dance through the use of visual images - Craig Owen (PhD Psychology)
- Aerodynmaics of flexible membranes - Pinunta Rojratsirikul (PhD Mechanical Engineering)
- Smart ceramic materials - Rhodri Lewis (PhD Mechanical Engineering)
- Does Roaccutane change expression of proteins and/or genes involved with depression? - Simon Trent (PhD Pharmacy & Pharmacology)
- 3-D skin inspection: a computational approach - Yu Zhou (University of West of England)
- Dynamic demand-side management to increase the value of wind power - Vandad Hamidi (PhD Electronic and Electrical Engineering)
Collaborative workshop
Postgraduates had the chance to put into practice what they'd heard from the guest speakers by designing a collaborative project capable of attracting funding, based around ‘living with environmental change’ or ‘ageing: lifelong health and wellbeing’. The workshop groups were made up of a fairly equal split of departments, and had to combine skills from their various backgrounds.
The winning group (Rhodri Lewis, Zeeshan Quadar, Michael Ayers, Jody Muelaner and Yunting Gao) planned a robot personal support project called 'i-friend' in the 'lifelong health and wellbeing' category.