by Charlene Cross, Daniel Haid, Ben Archer and Jill Dickinson
The Sheffield Institute for Policy Studies (SIPS) is delighted to have hosted its 4th Annual Postgraduate Research Poster Competition. The Competition is open to postgraduate students at all levels, and within all disciplines, across Sheffield Hallam University. The event was organised by a staff/student team including Dr Jill Dickinson, Benjamin Archer, Ruth Squire, Tracey Holland, Elouise Hearnshaw, Katrina Fleming and Sophie Negus.
Following a welcome talk by Professor Paul Hickman, Co-Director of SIPS, delegates were invited into breakout rooms where students presented their posters and discussed their research.
Professor Julie Nightingale, Dr Laura Kilby, and Dr Will Eadson judged the posters and awarded prizes for Academic Significance, Research Impact, and Delegates’ Choice. The prizes were kindly sponsored by Oxford University Press, Palgrave, Policy Press, and Emerald.
Praising the high quality of the posters, Professor Julie Nightingale commented: “The judges wanted to pass on their congratulations to the student presenters for the high standard of their posters and their excellent presentations delivered online – a first for many of us! All of the students created visually interesting posters that clearly and effectively communicated their messages to a multi-disciplinary audience. They made it easy to engage with their topics and provided a window into their own research training journeys. We would like to congratulate the prize winners and wish all the students the best of luck with their projects.”
Daniel Haid, winner of both the Academic Significance and Delegates’ Choice awards, commented: “I was really excited to see that the poster event was going ahead despite all the lockdown measures. Preparing the poster was a welcome relief from my everyday PhD work while still doing something that felt meaningful to the progress of my project. The preparation was largely based on the work I did for my RF1 and the feedback I got will now feed into my RF2. My motivation to participate was fuelled by two intentions. Firstly, I thought of it as an opportunity to receive feedback on my research and, secondly, to connect with and compare myself to other students. It was an honour to win two awards and I am looking forward to working with the organisational team for next year’s event.”
Charlene Cross, winner of the Research Impact award, noted: “Two key motivations for participating in the Poster Session were to engage with the research community at Sheffield Hallam University, and to develop as a researcher through communicating information using a visual format. My poster was designed to generate questions within my audience regarding ‘The secret life of empty buildings’. Although designed for an in-person event, I am grateful to the committee for facilitating an opportunity for knowledge exchange during Covid-19. Transitioning to Zoom poster presentations was very straightforward, and I found it encouraging to read the Zoom chat and see delegates engaging with the topic by discussing the potential positives of keeping this site vacant. As a first year PhD student, this opportunity for feedback was incredibly helpful, virtually or otherwise. I was delighted to receive the Research Impact Award, and would like to thank the judges, and Oxford University Press for their sponsorship” (Photographs from Charlene’s poster entitled: ‘The Secret Life of Empty Buildings’ accompany this blog.)
The team are delighted to welcome both Daniel and Charlene to the organisational committee and are already working with them on the planning for next year’s event!
For more information about the event, please contact jill.dickinson@shu.ac.uk.
Photographs below by Charlene Cross
Top Picture: vegetation affecting an empty building, 11/12/19.
Bottom Picture: The site remains vacant, but cleared vegetation observed on 19/02/20 suggests the owner conducts site maintenance.
The Sheffield Institute for Policy Studies 