Category Archives: Competitions and awards
What would your research look like as an image? Images of Research is back!

Winner of the UON Images of Research 2021-22 by Oluwaseyi Omoloso (as chosen by our guest judge)
The Graduate School’s Images of Research (IoR) competition returns! All researchers (staff or research students) at the University of Northampton are invited to participate as the Call for Images is now open. Create a unique image – a painting or a photograph – that captures the essence of your research or captures an element of it in an artistic way. Include a catchy title and a 150 word summary and your entry for Images of Research will be ready for submission. You can find more information on how to apply in the IoR 2022-23 Rules and Guidelines.
Read the rest of this entry3-Minute Thesis 2022 – and the winner is….
The Graduate School’s 3-Minute Thesis competition for PGRs took place online, on Blackboard Collaborate, on September 8th.
Nine of our postgraduate researchers took part, gallantly stepping up to undertake this not-so-easy challenge. To take part, they were timed and judged – presenting their research in just three minutes with only one simple slide!
The winner of our 3MT was Carey Allen, part-time PhD student in Psychology, with her presentation entitled “Can sound bath meditation help students experience durable inner peace?” Judges Prof. Matthew McCormack, Dr Hala Mansour and Simone Apel rated each presentation on content, delivery and slide design. Carey will now represent UON at the East Midlands Doctoral Network (EMDoc) Conference 3MT Competition on 21st September, which will also be held online. Congratulations to Carey and good luck in the EMDoc 3MT!
All PGRs are welcome to attend the EMDoc conference – click on the link above to register. As well as Carey, two other PGRs from UON are presenting their research there. Zoe Stevens from Arts and Humanities, with a paper on “The Female Body: An Interdisciplinarity Approach” and Sally Sharp from Education on a joint presentation (with PGR Rachel York from the University of Derby) entitled “Interprofessional collaboration in qualitative doctoral research”. Best of luck to all presenters.
3-Minute Thesis – call for applications
In 2022 the Graduate School’s 3-Minute Thesis competition for PGRs will take place online on Collaborate on September 8th from 11:30am to 1pm.
To take part, you will be required to outline your thesis in a three-minute presentation and one slide, written for a general audience in plain English! In order to apply you must be a PGR at Northampton going through Transfer at present or have passed the Transfer stage of your PhD. DBA and Professional Doctorate students are encouraged to take part too but you must be in the research phase of your doctorate. Click here for the entry form.
The winner of our 3MT will have the opportunity to represent UON and present at the East Midlands Doctoral Network (EMDoc) 3MT Competition later in September, which will also be held online.
Read the rest of this entryReviewing the UON Research Conference 2022
The annual UON Research conference was held on Tuesday 21st June online on Collaborate and on Wednesday 22nd June on campus in the Town Hall. The hybrid format allowed off-site students and those not able to come onto campus a platform to present and to attend, but still gave those people who wanted to come onto campus the opportunity for a traditional conference format, to meet and network. Over the two days we had 2 keynotes, a brand new (for us!) Pecha Kucha style of presentation, 38 oral presentations from both postgraduate researchers and staff and 4 ‘Roundtable’ sessions.
Read the rest of this entryUON Images of Research 2021-22 – Results!
Dr Cathy Smith, Dean of Research, Impact and Innovation, announced the winners of the 2021-2022 Images of Research competitions yesterday at the UON Annual Research Conference. Congratulations to the winner of the main competition, Oluwaseyi Omoloso from B&L, chosen by our Guest Judge Haley Morris-Cafiero from Art and
Design. Oluwasyi’s image was submitted in collaboration with Ebenezer Laryea, Amin Hosseinian Far and Adrian Pryce and was entitled FRESHPPACT: Levelling our Mounting Plastic Problem (above).
Haley’s runner-up was Dr Peter Jones from FAST, with his image Desire Lines of Physical Activity (right). Images with their abstracts can be seen in the catalogue of entries below.
Read the rest of this entryShowcasing the very best research at UON’s 2022 Annual Research Conference
Tuesday 21st June (online) and Weds 22nd June (on campus)
Hosted by The Graduate School

The University of Northampton’s Annual Research Conference will be a hybrid in 2022 – Tuesday 21st June online and Wednesday 22nd June back on our beautiful campus for the first time since 2019.
The conference provides an ideal opportunity for all researchers – postgraduate researchers, early career researchers and experienced researchers – to present their research and to discuss and share good practice with others in a supportive environment. And we have a great opportunity for you to network and catch up with colleagues over lunch and breaks on our face to face day on Weds. Our Conference Twitter is #UoNResearchConf22 so do feel free to promote the event.
Read the rest of this entryCelebrating live events at the 2022 Graduate School Poster Competition

On Tuesday 24th May the Graduate School held their first poster competition for 3 years, running alongside the annual Update Day. The exciting face to face event was held in the Creative Hub space, with posters displayed on the fixed TV screens, with postgraduate researchers presenting their research alongside.
The winners were announced by Professor Matthew McCormack, Head of Graduate School. First prize, a £100 Amazon voucher, was won by researcher Hadiza Azi from Health and Biological Sciences. Hadiza’s poster was entitled “Utilisation of Maternal Health Care Service in Bauchi State, Nigeria: Exploring the Limiting Factors”. Hadiza said of the competition “The event was great, and it provided us the opportunity to meet face-face after such a long time.” Two second prizes of £75 in vouchers were won by Allyson Green from Humanities and Patrick Yeboah from Accounting and Finance. Congratulations to all the winners.
Presenters commented how good it was to back on campus for an event. One said “I met some lovely people and it’s so interesting to discuss research with each other. Reinforcing what we are doing helps the critical discourse and reflection.” Another commented “. I got a lot out of the day as it gave me the confidence to talk about my research and really own it. I wasn’t sure what to expect initially but I’m trying to challenge myself more this year and it was a great experience. I would definitely welcome more face-to-face activities. It was good to meet new people and catch up with others.”
Invitation to the Annual Research Student Poster Competition 2022
The Graduate School would like to invite you to their Annual Postgraduate Researcher Poster Competition on Tuesday 24th May 2022, 1pm to 4:15pm, in the First floor exhibition space of the Creative Hub, Waterside campus. The poster competition is a development opportunity for doctoral research students, who present their research on a research poster, giving short 1-1 verbal presentations alongside. So why not come along to meet some of our PGRs. Read the rest of this entry
UON Annual Research Conference 2022: Call for submissions extended to Monday 23rd May
Tuesday 21st June (online) and Weds 22nd June (on campus)

Hosted by The Graduate School
The University of Northampton’s Annual Research Conference provides an ideal opportunity for all researchers to present their research and to discuss and share good practice with others in a supportive environment. We are offering researchers the opportunity to present online on Tuesday 21st June and on-campus (with synchronous live streaming) on Wednesday 22nd June.
If you do not wish to present but would like to help at the Conference, for example as a session Chair, then please also get in touch with Simone.
Read the rest of this entryPostgraduate Researcher Award 2022

PGRs are invited to apply for funding from the 2022 Postgraduate Researcher Award and have until Friday 29th April to do so. The Postgraduate Researcher Award provides up to £1,000 to support a research student in the pursuance of their research degree programme at the University of Northampton. The Award is available to full-time or part-time postgraduate research students at the University of Northampton. DBA and DProfPrac students must have completed the facilitated modules and be eligible for registration on the Professional Research Module.
The intention of the Award is to support and enhance research activity of various kinds (for example, additional travel costs, purchase of specialist equipment, researcher development). Funds awarded must be spent by 31 July 2022. Read on for conditions and how to apply.
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