PGR Festival

Research Zines: creative research communications

We’re all familiar with the traditional ways of sharing research: presenting at conferences, research posters, and publications. But these are not the only methods through which we can share our research goals and our findings, and we often need different approaches to engage different audiences.

Our Zine workshop will give you a hands-on introduction to a different, exciting way to present your research, with a focus on creating opportunities for a diversity of people to access and engage with your research.

Dr Michaela James is a research officer for the National Centre of Population Health and ADR UK. Her main research areas include the health and wellbeing of young people, in particular play and physical activity. She manages HAPPEN-Wales, a national network aimed at improving the health, wellbeing and education outcomes of primary school children across Wales. Her research involves advocating for the wants and needs of young people in their local communities to improve health and wellbeing. Her work is primarily co-produced with young people to help give them a voice on matters that affect them.

Michaela is also the founder of Girls To The Front, a movement to inspire young girls to put yourself and others at the front by using your voice, taking up space and being your own brand. Alongside weekly confidence-building fitness sessions, Mickey runs Zine Workshops to inspire others through the power of DIY.

We’ll explore how we can communicate research creatively through creating zines, explore what a zine actually is, think about how to share the key messages of your research, and provide everything you need in order to make your own zine.

There’ll also be the opportunity to distribute copies of your zine at the PGR showcase taking place on 22^nd May.

When: 1 May, 11:00 - 13:00

Where: Singleton: Faraday 309

Get involved: Research Zines: creative research communications

Learn how comics have been used to communicate climate research, and have a go at creating your own research comic!

Resources to make your comic, as well as refreshments, will be provided.

Find out more about the Climate Action Research Institute here

When: 2nd May 10:00 - 12:00

Where: Singleton Campus, Taliesin Mall Room

Get involved: Turn your research into a comic - with the CARI PGR Committee

Postgraduate Research students from two of Swansea's Research Excellence schemes will be sharing insights into their current research. Each student will have up to five minutes and must use a form of visual media as part of their talk.

Research Snapshots is a great chance to see what other students from across the university are currently working on, and there’ll be an opportunity for the audience to ask questions after each presentation.

All students are welcome to attend. Refreshments will be provided

When:7 May 2024, 10:00 - 13:00

Where: Singleton Campus, Faraday 309 and online

Get involved: Research Snapshots

Join the PGR Society for a relaxed meet and greet as part of the PGR Festival. Help yourself to a hot drink, some snacks and get chatting with other student researchers at our activity tables. There’ll be a cookie decoration station and much more – don’t miss out!

The PGR Society is run by PGRs for PGRs.

You can find out more about the PGR Society, their events, and how to get involved here. https://www.swansea-union.co.uk/activities/society/pgr_society/

When: 8 May, 14:00 - 16:00 Where: Singleton: Faraday 313

When: 15 May, 14:00 - 16:00 Where: Bay:The College, 017

Get involved: PGR Society meet and greet (Singleton), PGR Society Meet and Greet (Bay)

Publishing your research is one of the most important means of sharing your findings and communicating the impact of your work. There are a wide range of options, from academic journals to monographs, so as well as working out what you’re going to write, it’s important to think about how and where you might publish this. You may also need to think about obligations to make your work available Open Access so that the widest possible audience can benefit from your research. In this session, aimed at those new to publishing, we’ll explore all of these issues, and answer your questions too.

This session features 2 voices of experience:

Carys Worsley

Carys is a postdoctoral researcher in Professor Trystan Watson’s research group working on printed mesoscopic carbon perovskite solar cells (CPSCs). Her work is focussed on optimising CPSC performance and stability using sustainable, scalable methods.

Before starting her PhD at Swansea, Carys completed a masters’ degree (MChem) at the University of Bath, where she helped work on developing liquid crystal templates for producing ultrathin metal nanowires.

Caroline Rauter

Caroline is the Swansea University Scholarly Publications Officer working in the library to support Open Access, Open Research, REF and repository management. 

As a key project lead for the recently implemented ‘Swansea University Research Publications Policy’, Caroline is keen to ensure openness and sustainability by widely disseminating the publicly funded research produced by our vibrant research community.

Refreshments will be available.

When: 8th May 2024, 11:00 - 12:00

Where: Hybrid event - PGR Hub, level 3, Faraday Building, Singleton Campus and Zoom.

Get involved on Singleton Campus: Publishing for first timers and the world of open access 

Get involved online: Publishing for first timers and the world of open access (Zoom)

Aprons at the ready for Bake Your Thesis, an event that does exactly what it says on the (cake) tin.

A chance to show off your creative side by decorating a bake to represent your thesis topic.

From cakes to cookies, shop bought or home-made, whether vegan, gluten-free or a family favourite recipe, we’ll be looking for the most creative depictions of research.

We’ll have prizes for the bakes that best communicate your research, and every participating baker will receive a contribution towards the cost of ingredients and a keepsake for taking part.

If this seems like a tasty opportunity, sign up now.

If you’re still not sure take some inspiration from research students at Otago University whose bakes ranged from fantastical to hyper realistic.

We’re looking forward to seeing, and tasting, your bakes.

When: 9 May, 12:00 - 14:00

Where: Faraday 313, Singleton Campus

Get involved: Bake Your Thesis

Talking Research is student-led initiative aimed at creating a relaxed social space for PGRs from across the university to socialise, share their research and gain an appreciation for different research projects through short, informal talks.

We have developed into a growing community of PGRs ranging from Masters students to final year PhD candidates, so if you are new to research, Swansea or all of the above, Talking Research provides a relaxed environment to engage with other PGRs.

When: 9 May - 17:00 - 19:00

Where: Taliesin Studio, Singleton Campus

Get involved: Talking Research 

Who we are as individuals, and the relationships we have with others, play a huge role in influencing both the nature of our research and our experiences when carrying out research.

In this informal workshop, we invite you to reflect on your own research identity and relationships and create personalised Lego scenes to help explore and understand these. We will also explore how you might incorporate reflexive practice on researcher identity into your thesis. 

Refreshments will be provided

When: 10 May, 13:00 - 15:00

Where: School of Management, MBA Suite, Room 043, Bay Campus

Get involved: Building research identities

The supervisory relationship is central to the success of PGR students, and the foundation of research relationships and collaboration.

Our SUPERvision events bring together PGRs and supervisors to share their perspectives on the supervision process, to discuss their experiences and shareideas on enhancing supervision.

Our aim is to get to the bottom of what makes supervision super!

This year’s event focuses on inclusivity and belonging within the supervisory relationship, from the perspective of both supervisors and students. We’ll explore how we can make the most of our diverse research communities to foster a sense of belonging for all, and how this impacts on research communities as a whole.

Themes we’ll be discussing will include:

• What does belonging look like? – to PGRs and supervisors
• Cultural competency in supervisory relationships
• Fostering inclusive research relationships – what works?
• Challenges and barriers to inclusion and belonging 

Lunch will be provided so please register in advance to ensure we can cater for everyone.

When: 14th May, 13:00 - 15:00 (lunch from 12:30)

Where: Engineering Central, B001, Bay Campus

Get involved: SUPERvision: equality and belonging in PGR supervision

We know that impact is an important part of research, but what does impact actually mean and why do funders and universities talk about impact so much? In this workshop, we’ll explore what is meant by research impact, both within and beyond academia, enabling you to think about what the future impact of your own research could be. You’ll be encouraged to think about how your research could feed in to major national or international frameworks such as the Wales Future Generations Goals or the UN Sustainable Development Goals, helping to put your research and its significance into its wider context. We’ll finish with time to informally share your ideas, allowing you to take inspiration from other researchers and gain feedback on your own ideas.

Refreshments will be provided.

When: 15th May 2024, 10:00 - 13:00

Where: PGR Hub, Level 3, Faraday Building, Singleton Campus

Get involved: Finding Impact in your Research

PGRs Talk Teaching offers an informal space for PGRs who teach, or those who plan to, to get together and discuss their experiences.

Many PGRs get their first taste of teaching while completing their research degree and while training can help you prepare one of the best ways to enhance your teaching practice is through sharing ideas and issues with your peers.

Over tea, coffee and cake we’ll discuss experiences of teaching, covering everything from what you wish you’d known before your first class to engaging online learners.

PGR development lead Dr Teresa Phipps and SALT’s Dr Pamela Styles will be on hand to offer additional support and guidance, and some first-hand experience from their own teaching.

When: 16 May, 13:00 - 14:30

Where: Faraday 309, Singleton Campus and online

Get involved: Singleton Campus or online

Do you suffer from writer’s block? Do you have an upcoming deadline for your next paper or thesis chapter? Need some extra motivation to help you progress with your work? The PGR Writing Club, based in the PGR Hub, is a new monthly activity that will provide structure, support and motivation to help you achieve your writing goals. The day will be structured with goal setting, quiet writing sessions, and breaks to connect with other PGRs and discuss your progress.

Please bring a laptop and have an idea of a specific writing goal for the day. Docking stations, plugs and lunch/tea/coffee will be available.

When: 17th May, 10:00 - 16:00

Where: Singleton Campus, Faraday - PGR Hub 312 and 313

Get involved: PGR Writing Club

Our annual celebration of the PGR community, featuring some of the most exciting postgraduate research happening at Swansea and bringing together PGRs from across disciplines.

Showcase is the home of the  the final of Swansea 3MT, and the PGR Awards.

The 3MT final is always one of the high points of the festival, hearing from some of our best and brightest PGRs from across the three faculties who will be sharing their research topics in just three minutes, with only one slide to help them. 

We’ll round off the day with the PGR awards, recognising those who have contributed to enhancing the student experience over the last year.

There’ll also be an opportunity to find out more about the research being done in our PGR community with a display of the top entrants from across faculty research poster competition and a chance to pick up a Research Zine created as part of the festival.

Schedule: Poster Event 10am-12pm, lunch 12pm-1pm, 3MT final and Awards 1.30pm-4pm. Come for the whole day or drop in for individual events.

When: May 22nd, 10:00 - 16:00

Where: Taliesin

Get involved: Sign up here