Final year PGRs Hannah Barnard and Dean Patient organised this year’s Summer PGR Conference and the accompanying Summer Ball, both events taking place on 10th June. Hannah comments on the experience of running these events and the motivation behind them:
As a result of COVID over the last year or two, the social interaction amongst members of the CDT has fallen drastically. Thankfully, as things start to stabilise and we see a return to normal life, we were able to organise a Summer Conference followed by a Ball. With the help of, and funding from the CDT management, we were successful in organising a mini-conference and networking event, for all current PGRs. This involved three sessions; the first was a series of ‘speed-talks’ in which the earlier cohorts were given the opportunity to summarise their PhD project in 3 minutes or less. This was great fun, with students coming up with imaginative ways to communicate their research in such a short time frame. After this, we had a poster session, with a whole range of posters from all different cohorts. Over coffee we chatted and discussed our research with one another. Then, everyone attending had the opportunity to vote on their favourite speed talk and poster. Congratulations to both Kyle Arnold and George Braid who won in their respective sessions. We finished the conference with three keynote talks, from some of the later cohorts: Jamie Le Signe, James Capers and Iago Rodriguez Diez. These were much more detailed and not only gave the audience an insight into their work, but was also valuable practice for their own upcoming conference talks.
After the conference, it was on to the Ball, a formal dinner party, hosted at the wonderful Rougemont hotel. Everyone arrived in their finery and got to enjoy a beautiful three course banquet. Staff and PGRs were invited to attend the conference, and we had an amazing turn out from both. Not only does this foster relationships between students and staff, but also gives everyone an opportunity to relax and socialise, after what has been a tough few years for all. The Ball was a huge success and hopefully will become an annual tradition, with more and more alumni returning each year to join us.
Please see below photos from the conference and ball.
