This Autumn, we will host the first student-led colloquium as part of our regular colloquia series. The idea for this first came from second year PGR Connor Sait, whilst networking at a conference. When he brought the idea back to the CDT, it evolved into giving a PhD student from outside of the CDT the opportunity to give an hour talk on their research, in the style of a normal colloquium.
Five students volunteered to be part of the organising committee (third year Emily Glover, second years Connor Sait and Katie Lewis, and first years Leanne Stanfield and James Laurenson). They have undertaken all of the planning, learning a lot about how colloquia are run in the process. Naming it the Minerva Prize, after the Roman goddess of wisdom, it was decided that any PhD student would be able to submit an abstract for an hour-long talk on their research, to be held on October 2nd at 12:30pm (BST). The winning student would also win a £250 prize.
While the original plans were to hold this special colloquium occurrence in person, it has been decided to move towards a virtual event. While this decision was made due to the current climate, we hope that this will allow more PhD students to apply regardless of geography.
How to apply:
Email a short abstract for your talk (maximum 1 page of A4) to minerva-xm2@exeter.ac.uk, as well as your institution, a contact e-mail address and where you are in your PhD. To apply, you must be a PhD student who is yet to graduate and be able to align your research to research carried out in Exeter. Students who are part of the CDT are not eligible. The submission deadline is the 28th August. We aim to announce the winner on the 4th September.
For queries, please contact minerva-xm2@exeter.ac.uk, or check out the Minerva Prize website.