Record numbers at annual Festival of Doctoral Research

What do 181 of our postgraduate research community have in common? They all attended our rapidly growing Festival of Doctoral Research.

This annual event, known as DocFest, is the highlight of the Doctoral College’s calendar. It brings together postgraduate research students (PGRs) and University staff from every faculty to celebrate the vibrant and varied research that is going on at Portsmouth. Encouraged out of offices and labs, our PGRs have the opportunity to showcase their research to the wider University community.

Research culture is high on the priority list for the University, and by holding this event we encourage networking and interdisciplinary interaction among our PGRs and staff. DocFest offers our PGRs space to present their research in a range of formats, most of which help prepare them for the wider world of conferences, academic life, or industry. They can apply to give a 15-minute talk, a lightning talk (five minutes and five slides), record a one-minute elevator pitch, or convey their thesis through an image, or even as a craft. Getting creative is a great way to explain research to a lay audience.

This year the festival was hosted by three enthusiastic PGRs: Kristen Goseine, Jack CT Adams and soon to graduate Dr Rachael Odunmbaku. They seamlessly guided the audience from one session to the next, introducing speakers and making sure everything kept to time.

Community and belonging

Since its inception, the main rationale behind DocFest has been to allow PGRs to come together and celebrate their achievements, build on existing friendships, broaden their academic circles and to show how valued they are in the University community.

“Wandering around the festival you could really feel the sense of belonging and hear it in the conversations that were going on during the breaks and networking session,” said Jo Fairwood, DocFest organiser. “There was laughter and chatter throughout the day, along with a real sense of camaraderie and support, both during presentations and at the prize giving.”

Final year PhD student Lexi, from the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, said the event is: “Always one of my favourite days as a PhD student!”

“Always one of my favourite days as a PhD student!” Lexi, PhD student, School of Criminology and Criminal Justice.

Festival competitions

This year DocFest saw 90 entries across all competitions with an overwhelming 50 research posters being submitted. We were delighted to be able to display them all. MRES student Diana said “The conference workshops and poster presentation encouraged me to engage with my research and learn. My poster being selected, even though it was not the elaborate one, made me proud as participation mattered and recognition too.”

“Thank you so much for the overall arrangement. The conference workshops and poster presentation encouraged me to engage with my research and learn. It also helped me in my research work. The opportunity to present at the conference allowed me to share my research with an audience and helped build my confidence as I got good comments from all. My poster being selected, even though it was not the elaborate one, made me proud as participation mattered and recognition too. Thank you so much to the entire team.” Diana, MRES, School of Area Studies, Sociology, History, Politics and Literature.

Hybrid festival

As well as participating in-person, students could take part online either by watching or presenting. Two students chose to present remotely for the Five by Five competition and dialled in live from wherever they were located in the world.

During the in-person Networking My Thesis competition, the online delegates were put into breakout rooms where they were also able to participate in the game. PhD student Allison said: “The online set-up gets better and better each year.”

“The online set-up gets better and better each year.” Allison, PhD student, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Prize winners

Once again our panel of Professors were on hand to judge and give out the prizes for the Research Poster and Elevator Pitch competitions. Prof Sarah Charman, Prof Hom Dhakal and Prof Lincoln Geraghty have become an important part of the DocFest, bringing a sense of gravitas thanks to their expertise in research and academic presenting.

All 181 attendees were invited to judge the Five by Five, Visualise Your Thesis and Craft Your Thesis competitions, adding extra engagement and fun to the day for those in the audience.