Bournemouth University’s Doctoral College Hosts Successful 15th Annual Postgraduate Research Conference
On 29 November, the Doctoral College hosted their 15th Annual Postgraduate Research Conference, showcasing BU’s postgraduate researchers (PGRs). Staff, students, PGRs, and research partners attended the poster exhibition and postgraduate research presentations.
At the conference, we spoke to Heads of the Doctoral College, Dr Julia Taylor and Dr Fiona Knight: “We have enjoyed talking to all the postgraduate researchers and seeing the phenomenal research they have been doing. Through their presentations, PGRs showed their enthusiasm and excitement for their research. It’s also been great to hear the impact their research can have on society and future generations. It’s important our early career researchers celebrate each other and practise presenting. The more they can get used to speaking about their research in public, the more confident they will feel.”
Postgraduate researcher, Afnan Batterjee and the Heads of the Doctoral College, Dr Julia Taylor and Dr Fiona KnightWe spoke to PGRs whose work was displayed at the exhibition:
Paul Boyce, BU Lecturer in Sports Business and Administration, is studying for a PhD entitled: ‘The transition to the final year in higher education; a social identity perspective.’ Paul’s research was displayed as part of a poster exhibition at the conference.
“We spend a lot of time inducting our first-year students but what about our students who return from placements. My research looks at their experiences reconnecting to their academic and other relevant identities and how students may be supported during this transition. This event is a brilliant opportunity for me to share what I am doing with like-minded people. There has been diverse and fascinating research on display.”
Dr Shelley Thompson, Pro-Vice Chancellor of Student Experience and Paul BoyceAfnan Batterjee, PGR in the Faculty of Science & Technology, is studying for a PhD entitled: ‘Semiotic Analysis and Design Strategy for Preserving Cultural Heritage in Najd Doors.’ Afnan’s research was also displayed as part of a poster exhibition.
“My research focuses on the conservation of Najd doors’ authenticity by employing semiotic analysis to investigate their elements and formulates a design strategy for interior designers to enrich the tourism experience in future designs of hospitality buildings in Saudi Arabia.
“This conference is a great opportunity to get feedback from faculties and think beyond my research subject and listen to other presentations. There are different levels of students’ work on display and their feedback will help me improve my research.”
Professor Sarah Bate and Postgraduate Researcher, McDonald AmaranResearch excellence at BU
UK Research and Innovation, the UK’s higher education funding body’s Research Excellence Framework (REF) evaluates the quality of research conducted at universities. The REF assessment elements include ‘People and culture’, ‘Contribution to knowledge and understanding’ and ‘Engagement and impact’.
We spoke to Professor Sarah Bate, Interim Associate Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research & Knowledge Exchange, about the importance of the Research and Knowledge Exchange Development Framework (RKEDF) to PGR research at BU.
Professor Sarah Bate said: “The Research and Knowledge Exchange Development Framework is really important to supporting our research community. We have seen through the research presentations how students are incorporating their learning from the RKEDF training sessions into their own research. Going forward we want to increase the number of PGRs, the quality of the research projects they are engaged in, and really build upon our existing pockets of excellence. Importantly, we also recognise that PGRs themselves bring new techniques and knowledge, and we can all learn from each other.”