May 2, 2017, by Lisa Chin

UNMC Research Showcase 2017

Share what you do with the world!

The Graduate School recently held its annual Research Showcase on Thursday, 27^th April 2017. First started in 2009, the Research Showcase is a competition designed to provide an opportunity for postgraduate research students to effectively present their research, in poster format, to a general audience.

There were 15 participants this year. The participants represented a diverse range of background and culture. We believe that this international perspective and diversity is one of the many characteristics which makes The University of Nottingham a stimulating research environment and a truly global university. The participants were first required to submit a press release outlining their research work and explaining why it is important to the wider community. They then had to design a poster representing their research work. During the showcase, they presented their poster, explained their research and its real world implications.

The showcase aimed to promote public engagement, open discussion and exchange of views and opinions with a wider audience, who were not necessarily acquainted with the research topic or field. It provided the platform for members of the public to meet with world-leading researchers of the future, to hear about their research and question them about the impact towards the society. At the same time, the participants got the chance to improve their communication skills and engage with the wider public. Members of the audience were subsequently invited to vote for their favourite entry which counted towards the People’s Choice Award.

Apart from the on-site voting, the competition also featured a voting system via an online voting platform. The online voting platform showcased the participants’ poster presentation through a short video. The video-recorded poster presentation aimed to cultivate the creativity in communicating and presenting their research work through a non-traditional educational medium. The online voting was first introduced in 2015 where it saw effective engagement and outreach within a larger audience not limited to the postgraduate community.

This year’s judging panel was made up of members of non-academic University staff and we were delighted to have three external judges, Ms Ladyana Zoraya Abdullah, Founder and Vice President at Brainy Bunch International Montessori, Ms Zuraida Zainal Abidin, Senior Manager of Communications at Crops For the Future (CFF), and Mr Azlan Aliuddin, former Head of Security at The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus. On behalf of The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus, the Graduate School would like to once again thank the showcase judges who had volunteered their time and supported the event.

We were also delighted to host a group of 10 Graduate Ambassadors from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) as members of the audience. “The showcase was very informative and I acquired some interesting knowledge especially on cancer detection and early intervention. The showcase was also very well organised and all exhibitors were well prepared with good communication and presentation skills”, quoted from one of the Graduate Ambassadors.

The awards and winners are listed below:

People’s Choice – Rayan Sabra, School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Science

[Title of Poster – Spicing the Road of a New Anticancer Hope!]

Best Press Release – Lahari Murali, School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Science

[Title of Poster – The Curious Case of the Cannabinoid Receptors] 

Best Poster – Tham Shiau Ying, School of Biosciences, Faculty of Science

[Title of Poster – Beyond the Magic Bullet: The Multitargeted Anticancer Drugs Cocktails]

Overall Winner – Tham Shiau Ying, School of Biosciences, Faculty of Science

[Title of Poster – Beyond the Magic Bullet: The Multitargeted Anticancer Drugs Cocktails]

The Research Showcase enabled us to showcase the breadth and originality of the research undertaken by our postgraduate students. The skills they had developed in communicating their often highly complex and technical research to a non-expert audience are of great importance to them in their careers. Kudos to all the participants for a job well done!

We are very proud of them and delighted that a wider audience was able to contribute to the success of this Research Showcase and learn more about the fascinating work of our postgraduate students.

Acknowledgements

Judges: Ms Deepa Kumari Veerasingam, Ms Ladyana Zoraya Abdullah, Ms Zuraida Zainal Abidin, Mr Azlan Aliuddin and Ms Vimaleswari Danapal

Trainers: Dr Tissa Chandesa and Dr Lee Jiin Woei

Postgraduate Student Representatives: Mohammed Ayoub Juman, Akesh Babu Kakarla, Muthuletchumi Lin A/P Sakrawathi, Wong Xin Yi, Olaoluwa Duro-Bello, Kasra Babaei and Ashrakat H Mohammed

Photographer and videographer: Ms Siti Nur Fazlin (IT Support)

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