Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU) hosted 170 doctoral students from nine universities for a lively and forward-thinking for East Midlands Doctoral (EMDoc) network research conference last month.
EMDoc is a network of nine universities from across the East Midlands created to recognise and support doctoral research. The EMDoc Conference is held annually, to give doctoral students the opportunity to meet together and to showcase their progress, in a supportive environment.
Keynote presentations were delivered by Professor Wasyl Cajkler, University of Leicester, and Professor Niro Siriwardena, University of Lincoln, who each emphasised the importance of planning for and encouraging a positive impact from research, both within and beyond traditional academic settings.
They were joined by a number of the attendees who delivered presentations of their research, either in a traditional oral presentation format, as a research poster or in a snappy “three minute thesis” (3MT) format, emphasising the impact of their work.
Dr Caroline Horton, Reader in Psychology at BGU, who co-organised and hosted the conference with Dr Phil Wood, Reader in Education, described how the diverse conversation created at the event made the hard work that went into it worthwhile:
“Organising and hosting a conference is no mean feat. But the experience was made possible, and much more enjoyable, with the support of BGU’s PhD students. The conference rooms were full of lively discussions about interdisciplinary issues, ranging from mechanical engineering to music education.
"Many delegates commented on how enjoyable the event was. We hope the event built some collaborative networks, and highlighted the importance of research impact from the outset of a research career.”
In addition to hosting this year’s conference BGU are excited that Dr Wood will chair the network’s meetings in 2019-20 as BGU’s representative.
You can find more information on the fascinating events and conferences taking place across the University on our events page.