This event brings together PGR administrators in Divisions, Departments, Schools, Faculties, CDTs and research institutes as well as colleagues from central offices to share expertise, knowledge and ideas.

All colleagues involved in PGR administration at the University of Manchester are welcome to attend.

The last event was held on Thursday 8th December in the MANDEC lecture theatre. 

For further details about the Postgraduate Summer Research Showcase (PSRS) please visit http://www.psrs.manchester.ac.uk/.  

University of Manchester Three Minute Thesis (3MT) 2023

Once again the University of Manchester will be taking part in the national Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition.

PGRs from across the University are invited to present a compelling spoken presentation on their research topic and its significance in just three minutes only using one static PowerPoint slide.

In the UK, the 3MT national competition final is hosted by Vitae. Individual UK universities run their own competitions and put forward one winner per participating institution for the national finals. 

Why take Part

3MT develops academic, presentation, and research communication skills and supports the development to effectively explain research in language appropriate to a non-specialist audience.

You will also have access to exclusive 3MT participant training on Thursday 9th March 2023. 

Also, don't forget the prizes...

• Winner - £500
• Second prize - £250
• Third prize - £100

What are the rules?

The rules are simple:

• Presentations are limited to 3 minutes (presentations exceeding 3 minutes are disqualified).
• 1 static slide is required to accompany the presentation.
• No additional props (e.g. costumes, musical instruments, laboratory equipment and animated backgrounds) are permitted within the recording.
• Presentations are to be spoken word (e.g. no poems, raps or songs).
• No additional electronic media (e.g. sound and video files) are permitted within the video recording.

All presentations will then be judged according to the same 3MT judging criteria. 

Am I eligible? 

The competition is open to all active second to final year PhD candidates (including candidates in their submission pending period or whose thesis is under examination) by the date of the registration deadline (31st March 2023). 

How do I register?

You have until Friday 31^st March to register. You can register using the online form.

What is the timeline? 

1. Sign up for 3MT online training session on 9 March 2023.
2. Complete the registration form on/before Friday 31st March 2023.
3. Create your presentation slide and film your presentation.
4. Submit your final 3MT presentation / slide by 21 April 2023 - please use https://wetransfer.com/ (or similar) to email your video file and slide (either PDF or JPG) to mdc@manchester.ac.uk. 
5. Video Judging (22 April - Mid May)
6. Finalists announced - Mid May. 
7. Finalists training session with individual feedback - Late May 2023 (TBC).
8. UoM Final Event - 9th June 2023 (full details TBC) 
9. National final - September 2023

Is there any guidance on how I should contruct my slide and video?

Yes, we have created a guide to help you create your slide and video. There are also some useful external guides / resources that you might want to refer to:

Presenting your research effectively and with confidence - By previous 3MT finalists (Taylor & Francis resource)

How a competition changed my academic life - By Jamie Khoo, 2018 UK People's Choice winner

Is it worth doing the three minute thesis? - By Mary Woessner, Victoria University

How to win the 3 minute thesis - By Dr Inger Mewburn (aka @thesiswhisperer)

Making the most of your 3 minutes - Simon Clews, University of Melbourne

Talk nerdy to me - Melissa Marshall's TED talk

Vitae's 3MT webpages

As a University we are proud of the achievements our postgraduate research students and research supervisors. To recognise and celebrate their success the MDC annually hosts the Postgraduate Research Excellence Awards. 

The awards celebrate student and supervisor achievements in the following categories:

• PGR Student of the Year (President’s Distinguished Achievement Award)
• Best Outstanding Output
• Best Contribution to PGR Environment
• Best Contribution to Society
• Best Contribution to Internationalisation
• Supervisor of the Year

Further details of the awards, including the criteria against which Faculty nominations are judged and the Faculty nomination process can be found in the MDC Excellence Awards Guidance 2022-23‌.‌

Faculty Nomination Forms:

• ‌Postgraduate Researcher of the Year Award - Nomination Form 2022-23‌‌
• MDC Excellence Awards - Nomination Form 2022-23‌
• ‌MDC Excellence Awards - Supervisor of the Year Nomination Form 2022-23‌‌

Nomination and Award Timeline:

• September 2022 - Call for Distinguished Achievement Awards and MDC Excellence Awards to be released.
• 10th January 2023 - Faculties submit nominations to the Research Degrees and Researcher Development team for PGR Student of the Year Award (DAA).
• January 2023 - Faculty nominations for the PGR Student of the Year Award (DAA) to be presented to the MDC Strategy Group for consideration and then submitted to the President's office.
• 16th May 2023 - Deadline for Faculties to submit their nominations for Best Outstanding Output Award, Best Contribution to PGR Environment, Best Contribution to Society, Best Contribution to Internationalisation Award, and Supervisor of the Year Award. Nominations should be submitted to MDC via the Research Degrees and Researcher development team. 
• 24th May 2023 - Faculty nominations for Best Outstanding Output Award, Best Contribution to PGR Environment, Best Contribution to Society, Best Contribution to Internationalisation Award, and Supervisor of the Year Award to be presented to the MDC Strategy Group for consideration.
• June 2023 - The President and Vice Chancellor will present the PGR Student of the Year Award (DAA) winner with their award at ceremony.
• June/July 2023 - MDC Excellence Awards ceremony 

For more information about the award process, please contact mdc@manchester.ac.uk

2020/21 Research Staff Excellence Awards - Winners and Highly Commended

Many congratulations to the winners and highly commended researchers who were nominated for their outstanding achievements, impact and successes in their research. The winners and highly commended were selected by a panel comprised of academics leads for research staff and researcher development and chaired by the Associate Vice President for Research. You can read about the achievements of our winners and highly commended in Biology, Medicine and Health, Humanities and Science and Engineering.

2020/21 Research Staff Excellence Awards

The Research Staff Strategy Group (RSSG) has introduced an award scheme to recognise and celebrate the achievements of research staff. 

Definition: For all categories, a researcher is defined as someone who is either a research assistant, research associate, postdoc or research fellow (including Presidential Fellows) employed at the University on the date of the nomination being submitted.

Awards for 2020/21 were given in four categories:

Research Staff of the Year (one award per Faculty)

The nominee should be an outstanding researcher who has excelled in some significant manner, for example, a journal publication or contribution to securing a major research grant.

Best Outstanding Output by Research Staff (one award per Faculty)

The nominee should be a researcher with a first, last or sole authored high quality research output.

Best Outstanding Contribution to Research Impact by Research Staff (one award per Faculty)

The nominee can be an individual researcher or a team (a researcher must play a leading role in the team) who undertake high-quality engagement and impact activities which can be shown to have an impact on society either in the UK or internationally.  

Best Outstanding Contribution to the Research Staff Environment (one overall winner)

This nominee can be an individual researcher or a team (a researcher must play a leading role in the team) who have made a positive impact on the research environment, for example, through the organisation of events which bring together the research staff community; identifying an area of development within the research staff community and providing a solution to this.

Criteria

1. At the time of being nominated the researcher must be a member of staff at the University employed on a research contract and be categorised as a research assistant, research associate, research fellow (including Presidential Fellow) or postdoc.
2. All nominations must be made through the completion of the nomination form and all forms must be accompanied by two statements of support from either the nominee’s peers or relevant members of academic staff.
3. Self-nomination is permitted; two statements of support are still required.
4. Researchers can be nominated for more than one award but a separate nomination form must be completed for each award.