Current Students and Staff

The popular, multi-disciplinary and celebratory Research Conference event (#LboroResConf18) took place in November and provided all Doctoral Researchers and Research Staff with an excellent opportunity to network with one another whilst learning more about the vast range of research conducted across the University.

The theme of this year’s University Research Conference was ‘The Agile Researcher', which explored how researchers can be flexible and seek out a range of opportunities to enhance their research and future careers.

The Vice Chancellor Professor Robert Allison provided a warm welcome to all attendees and outlined the important contribution researchers make to the institution. Following this, the Pro-Vice Chancellor of Research, Professor Steve Rothberg, provided a candid account of his research career to date and shared what it means to be an agile researcher.

The morning keynote speaker was Fulbright Scholar Dr Enid Montague, who is visiting Loughborough’s Design School from DePaul University in Chicago, USA.  Enid spoke about the benefits and opportunities that have come from being a Fulbright Scholar as well as other opportunities that she has embraced during the course of her research career.

Dr Suzie Imber from the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Leicester was the afternoon keynote speaker and talked about how she has engaged in a wide array of opportunities throughout her career, as well as how she has combined her work with outside interests including sports and mountaineering.

A large proportion of the conference was focused on shining the spotlight on the work of the University’s current doctoral researchers and research staff. Eighteen researchers were selected to present a five-minute snapshot of their research and 66 researchers displayed poster presentations (the largest conference poster display yet!). In addition, in the ‘Inspiring Researcher’ session, there was the chance to hear from four researchers who have undertaken activities beyond those required by their research project.

To mark the end of the conference, the winners of the oral and poster presentations were announced (listed below) by the Associate Pro Vice-Chancellor of the Doctoral College, Professor Elizabeth Peel. Professor Peel thanked all those who attended and contributed to the Research Conference, and also reflected on the success of the event and shared how impressed she was with the amount of high-quality research conducted across the University.

Oral presentation winners

• Morning talk winner (£100): Ciara Sugrue - ‘Are plants fortune tellers?’ - School of Social Sciences (Geography)
• Morning talk runner-up (£50): Callie Merrick - ‘Human wetness perception’- Loughborough Design School
• Afternoon talk winner (£100): Chris McLeod - ‘You can’t eat that now!’ – School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences
• Afternoon talk runner-up (£50): Zahra Rezaie-Yazdi – 'An alternative to antibiotics' - School of Aeronautical, Automotive, Chemical and Materials Engineering

Posters presentation winners

• Best poster (£150): Cansu Bahar Masera - School of Architecture, Building and Civil Engineering
• Runner-up (£100): Diana Mehta – School of Science (Chemistry)
• Highly Commended (£50): Dan Wright – School of Architecture, Building and Civil Engineering
• Delegates Choice (£100): Tan Xiyuan – School of Arts, English and Drama