We have an exciting set of prizes for the Research Poster Conference 2015 presenters! Bring your A game on the day and you could win one of the following! 

Overall winner: £1000 towards your research (provided by the University Graduate School)

College of Arts and Law winner: £100 Amazon voucher (provided by College of Arts and Law PGR development fund) College of Engineering and Physical Sciences winner: £100 Amazon voucher (provided by College of Engineering and Physical Sciences PGR development fund) College of Life and Environmental Sciences: £100 Amazon voucher (provided by College of Life and Environmental Sciences PGR development fund) College of Medical and Dental Sciences winner: £100 Amazon voucher (provided by College of Medical and Dental Sciences PGR development fund) College of Social Sciences winner: £100 Amazon voucher (provided by College of Social Sciences PGR development fund)

Not just that, we have got some additional fun prizes for presenters as well! Woo! 

Best Poster: One month use of Birmingham Open Media work space (provided by Birmingham Open Media) Best Presentation: Group ticket for four to Thinktank (provided by Thinktank, Birmingham Science Museum) Best Research: 2 tickets to Jazz in the Garden (provided by Winterbourne House) and a spot on the 3 Minute Thesis final judging panel PGMSA Peer Award: £50 Amazon Voucher (provided by the PGMSA, Postgraduate and Mature Students Association)

Birmingham Brief: press releases from each College will be selected by External Relations to be developed further and potentially used as a Birmingham Brief – short opinion pieces on the University’s main website that comment on policy issues: http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/thebirminghambrief/index.aspx

Jim Bell works planning events and communications for the University Graduate School. His background is in science communication and biology, so he tends to spend any spare time that his young family affords him doing incredibly nerdy things like organising nights of stand-up comedy about research (Bright Club), doing podcasts that fact check pop songs for science content (Geek Pop) and talking to people about his bizarre love of spiders (Bugexplorers). As the project manager for the Research Poster Conference 2015, Jim is looking for an even better event this year than in 2014. Judging by the amount of entries and enthusiasm from PGRs for the conference this year it looks like that might just happen! He is also known to be generous with tips to those getting ready to present this year as you may have seen in this video! 

Cleo White is currently a second year PhD student; her research focuses on developing a 3D model of human gum tissue to look at the interactions between this and dental implants, with a view to modify implant surfaces to improve interactions. Her PhD is somewhat of a continuation of her undergraduate degree in Biomedical Materials Science. When she is not thinking of interactions between materials in our body, she does a lot of pottery (a website is on its way we are told!) and is an avid flautist. Cleo decided to be part of the team to get a different perspective to conferences, especially organising them as one seldom gets the chance to as a participant/attendee. She is thrilled about this year’s RPC seeing the vast array of research at the University on display. It’s an event one shouldn’t miss, she says!

Panagiota Axelithioti (or Joulie, as we know her!) is working towards her PhD in Science Education. Being naturally curious, she found herself at wonderland unexpectedly when she went to the Research Poster Conference last year. One of the highlights for her is the access to the many departments outside her own that a conference of this nature gave her, and that has led her to join the team this year. She also feels strongly about organising a conference as a valuable skill, being a doctoral researcher herself, to better appreciate her own participation in conferences in her own field hereafter. We also like to think of Joulie as a socialite, one that we all enjoy having around, and she wanted to bring that to the RPC team and finally, the event itself. Joulie has now been a visitor, an organiser, and aims to present a poster at the conference next year!

'...judges want to know the context of your research and why it stands out; lead the judges in by telling a story because they will not know the exact area of your research.’  

We spoke to Jim Bell who has some wonderful tips about presenting your research at the Research Poster Conference, with key tips from his experience of organising the conference last year. A must see for those getting ready for their big day this year. Thank you so much, Jim! 

'It'll increase your confidence to talk about your work, but also highlight the areas to focus on when people ask questions.'

We spoke to Asmaa Alduhaim about her experience at the Research Poster Conference 2014. Some great tips here for those applying to the conference this year, including her thoughts on press releases as a way to get ready to talk about you work. Thank you so much, Asmaa!