The University of Westminster hosted its annual Graduate School Festival, offering a range of interactive activities and workshops, a film screening and the 3 Minute Thesis (3MT) competition.
During the three-day event, students, colleagues and external guests were able to experience the diverse and fascinating doctoral research taking place across the University.
The festival started with the panel Thinking of Doing a PhD? This online event provided the opportunity for people to find out more about what it is like to undertake a research degree here at Westminster and apply, with the bonus of hearing from the experiences of current doctoral researchers. The panel was led by Dr Polly Hayes from the School of Life Sciences who was joined by Jess Porritt Best, Isang Emeneka, Callum Kirwin, Jiahan Lin and Obasanjo Okekunle.
The festival got into full swing on Tuesday evening with a screening of Alice Walker: Beauty in Truth, an award-winning documentary created by doctoral researcher and film-maker Pratibha Parmar from the School of Arts. Parmar’s films and writings have shaped the politics of feminist, queer and diasporic visual cultures for over four decades. The screening, held at the Regent Street Cinema, was followed by a Q&A with the film-maker, chaired by Pamela Gomez-Jiminez, doctoral researcher in the School of Arts.
Wednesday was all about research communication, with doctoral researchers experiencing a new workshop on podcasting, delivered by an expert team of podcasters. A lucky group also benefited from a hands-on podcasting recording session at Zone29, the University’s new home for careers and enterprise, making use of one of the new recording studio spaces. The recordings will form part of the growing Doctoral Dialogues series which is now available across a wide range of audio platforms. The series brings together doctoral researchers in conversation to discover common interests and themes that emerge in distinct and diverse research projects.
The final day of the festival focussed on the difference research and research-related activities make to the wider world and how research can drive demonstrable change. Two workshops were held, with the first, Research Impact: Creating Meaning and Value, being led by Anna Brown and Morgan Lirette, and offered the expertise and support of Dr Jay Mackenzie, Reader in Suicide Prevention, Dr Doug Specht, Head of the School of Media and Communication, and Lilian Miles, Professor of Sustainability and Social Enterprise.
The second workshop, From Theory to Impact, was designed and led by doctoral researcher, Irina Polukeeva from the School of Management and Marketing, and aimed to foster peer support, interdisciplinary dialogue and greater confidence in articulating the broader significance of doctoral work.
The annual Three Minute Thesis (3MT) Competition closed the festival in celebratory style. Founded by the University of Queensland in Australia, 3MT is an academic research communication competition that offers doctoral researchers an opportunity to communicate the significance of their research to audiences beyond their field and colleagues in just three minutes, using only one slide and no notes.
The competition featured eight presentations from across Westminster with Akma Nazar from the School of Architecture and Cities being named the Judges’ Winner for her presentation entitled Counterdrawing the Home: Design, Dispossession and the Kerala Housewife. The presentation will now be entered into the national Vitae 3MT competition.
On her experience of taking part in 3MT, Akma said: “Distilling my research into a snappy, theatrical narrative for the 3MT competition was such a fun and exhilarating challenge. After weeks of nerves preparing, all I felt on-stage was pure excitement and the joy of sharing my research story with the audience.
“Being chosen as the Judges’ Winner was an unexpected honour for which I'm truly grateful; the conversations that followed were more precious still. Hearing how my research resonated with others was a powerful self-reminder of its value, rekindling curiosity, faith and pride in my work.”
Akma Nazar
The People’s Vote was awarded to Sanika Ghayal from the School of Life Sciences for her presentation entitled Restoring Balance. She said: “The 3MT competition pushed me to think differently about how I communicate my research and reminded me of the importance of making science accessible to a wider audience.”
About the festival, Dr Elle Larsson, Doctoral Researcher Development Manager, added: “The Graduate School Festival is always a fantastic event, and this year was no exception. It is a real highlight in the Graduate School calendar, offering a wonderful opportunity to celebrate and showcase the rich and diverse research being undertaken by our doctoral researchers. It is a real pleasure to help organise an event that brings this work to a wider audience and shines a spotlight on the talent, creativity and dedication within our research community.”
The festival directly contributes to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4: Quality Education. Since 2019, the University of Westminster has used the SDGs holistically to frame strategic decisions to help students and colleagues fulfil their potential and contribute to a more sustainable, equitable and healthier society.
Find out more about Graduate School Festivals.
Learn more about the Graduate School at the University of Westminster.
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