More than 30 postgraduate research students took part in this year's poster competition, which challenges PGRs to explain their work to a lay audience
True crime podcasts, designing an AI-immersive experience at a theme park, the effect of stress on Parkinson’s Disease and how employers can better support neurodiverse staff are just some of the fascinating topics that Â鶹Íø’s postgraduate researchers are investigating.
This week more than 30 of Â鶹Íø’s postgraduate researchers (PGRs) took over the Campus Centre for a showcase of their research as the Doctoral College held its annual PGR poster competition.
The challenge was to convey their research, which can often be highly technical or specialist, through posters to explain the ideas, progress and impact of the research to a lay audience.
Judges from across the university were asked to assess the merits of each one and award a score. The winners will be announced at the Doctoral College guest lecture by Sir Lenny Henry, on November 17, which kicks off Â鶹Íø’s Research and Innovation Week.
Professor Philip McTernan, APVC (Research) and Head of the Doctoral College said: “Today has been a real triumph for our students and research community at Â鶹Íø. This event has really highlighted the sheer breadth and depth of the research being undertaken by PGRs at our university.
“Our community of postgraduate researchers is tackling some of the most pressing global challenges and societal issues that impact us all. It is so inspiring to learn more about their projects and to bring our research community together in this way. These students are our next generation of research stars and we could not be prouder of them.”
The competition also gave researchers the chance to share what motivates them.
For Worku Molla, who came to Â鶹Íø from Ethiopia where he was a lecturer in textiles, the move has been transformative. He said: “Coming to Â鶹Íø has been the best move I have made. The supervisors have a deep interest in the area as well as expertise. I am always in the lab and the labs at Â鶹Íø are very well equipped.”
His project focuses on recycling waste wool, extracting polypeptides using enzymes that could open new sustainable pathways for the textile industry.
Paminder Nagra is exploring how workplaces can better support people with ADHD, drawing on her own experiences. She was a second year Â鶹Íø student studying psychology when she was diagnosed and noticed the difference in the support she received at university to that given at work.
She is in her second year now and passionate about making a difference. She said: “I want to know if employers and managers know enough about ADHD to effectively support staff. I’ve already done 90 interviews with people who have diagnoses and now I want to hear from employers.”
Jessica Samuel, part of the Midlands4Cities Doctoral Training Partnership, is researching how the Manchester Guardian reported on suffragette militancy in the late 1800s, with a focus on Evelyn Sharp, a writer with the newspaper: “Today, the suffragette movement is well known, but women like Sharp, who were widely read in their time, are still little known in popular culture.”
Adaobi Umeze is just four months into her PhD looking at barriers stopping Nigerian SMEs from embracing digital technology.
She said: “I have only been here four months but I am loving it. I heard about this competition and entered because I want to learn from the judges. The feedback has been so good, I have not stopped making notes all morning!”
As well as showcasing results, the event reflected the supportive research culture at Â鶹Íø. Timothée Lim Weihao, the winner of this year’s Three Minute Thesis competition at Â鶹Íø, took part, while many newer researchers used the competition to build confidence in sharing their work publicly.
The poster competition is one of the Doctoral College’s flagship events, underlining Â鶹Íø’s commitment to creating a vibrant and inclusive research community.
The full list of those who took part is below:
Abedlrhma Moustafa (HLS) - Intranasal preparation of peptide-based emulgels for haemagglutinin influenza subunit vaccine delivery.
Adaobi Umeze (BAL) - Sustainable digital transformation adoption on SMEs in the Nigeria Retail Industry.
Ahsan Syed (TAC) - Optimal Data-Driven Cyber Security Investment Planning in Dynamic Industrial Environments Using Optimisation and Machine Learning Techniques
Alicja Spaleniak (HLS) - An assessment of two humidity ovens for the development of latent finger marks with ninhydrin.
Amina Bibi (HLS) - How does a variable amine substituent alter the fluorescence of naphthalimides at different temperatures and viscosities?
Amiraixchel Ramirez Salgado (TAC) - Mapping Methodological Territories for Dance Research through the Concept of Cuerpo-Territorio (Body-Territory)
Ankara Clarke (BAL) – Walking Interviews as a situated methodology: The lived realities of rural creative workers informing policy
Anthony Maduabum (TAC) - Assessment of Indoor Thermal Conditions of Primary School Classrooms Built with Interlocking Compressed Earth Blocks In Anambra State, Nigeria.
Chiara Blows (HLS) - Neurons in Distress: Does Chronic Stress-Induced Damage to Gut and Brain Health Play a Role in Parkinson’s Disease Pathogenesis?
Christine Lalley (TAC) - Direct Democracy or feudal relic: the role of the Parish Meeting in English local government in the 21st century
Dolgormaa Janchivlamdan (HLS) - The effects of HCoV-OC43 on Tie2:Tie1 ratio and Ang1 induced Tie2 signalling in endothelial cells
Duc Nguyen (HLS) - Characterization of the annealing process by through-vial impedance spectroscopy (TVIS)
Ekene Okonkwo (HLS) - The influence of formulation parameters on the setting time of calcium sulfate for local antibiotic delivery in diabetic foot osteomyelitis
Gemma Cooper (HLS) - Developing broad spectrum antivirals from natural products and drug repurposing strategies.
Imade Osagie-Harrison (BAL) A Comparative Analysis of Student Learning Engagement in Immersive Virtual Reality Versus Non-Immersive Learning Environments
Jake Dunlop (HLS) - Visualising biofilms within industrial laundry machines
Jessica Samuel (TAC) - Suffragette Militancy and the Manchester Guardian
Keisha Patel (TAC) - Investigating Autism Through Drosophila (fruit flies)
Lauren Amos (HLS) – Investigating the role of RAB39B
Leah Mills (TAC) - From Physical Space to Digital Realm: The Shifting Semiotics of Clown Performance
Lee Knowles (TAC) - Regenerative architecture and design in the tourism industry
Li Yao (HLS) - Enhancing the Stability of D-Ribose via Cocrystallisation
Mahfuza Maisha (HLS) - How a brain channel called Kv3.1 might affect schizophrenia: Focus on the cerebellum
Megan Lupton (TAC) - Podcasters' Motivations for Engaging with True Crime Content
Noel Jengwe (TAC) - Real-Time Anti-Malware Solution for Driverless Car using Reinforcement Learning
Olutayo Ekundayo (TAC) - Exploring the behavioural elements of active community-scale flood resilience
Paminder Nagra (HLS) Using Thematic Analysis to explore the Experiences of Employees with ADHD in the Modern Workplace and How to Better Support Them.
Rubi Akter (TAC) - The Evaluation of Daylight and Window Optimization for Comfort and Energy Efficiency in the Tropics-Dhaka
Sina Aalikhani (TAC) - Building Information Modelling (BIM) in Sustainable Architecture
Steven Baguley (BAL) - An Exploration of the role of Second Generation Mindfulness Based Interventions (SGMBI's) on Workplace Wellbeing and Coaching practice
Timothi Lim Weihao (TAC) - Personalising Prosocial Play: A Social XR Framework for Generative-AI Attractions
Worku Molla (TAC) - Recycling and Reuse of Waste Wool: Enzymatic Extraction of Polypeptides and Their Application
Zuzanna Kula (HLS) - Fat, Flies, and the Future of Parkinson’s Treatment