Monday 18 – Friday 22 January 2021
This event will take place online
The Coventry University Research Hootenanny is a vibrant mix of activities to showcase research excellence at CU, to celebrate our researchers’ successes and to explore new ways to undertake and to share research locally, nationally and internationally. All sessions will take place in an online format.
Create your own bespoke programme of events by browsing the programme & signing up for the sessions that are of interest to you.
Monday 18 January
AM Parallel Sessions
10.00 – 12.00
Impact and the CovenTree
As the submission deadline for REF 2021 is almost upon us, it is important to reflect on how Coventry University’s commitment to Excellence with Impact has been met through work carried out across research centres and disciplines over the last 7 years. This short presentation will give an outline of the pathways taken by four very different research projects as they have developed from discussions, research questions and words on a page into catalysts for change.
10.00 – 10.30
Why should Researchers care about Wikipedia?
Presenter: Andy Mabbett, Coventry University Wikimedian in Residence
In this short (20 minute) presentation, Coventry University’s Wikimedian in Residence, Andy Mabbett, will explain how using Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia that anyone can edit, and the 5th most visited website on the planet can help to improve public engagement with and perception of the subjects PhD candidates study.
PM Session
14.00 – 15.30
Three Minute Thesis (3MT) Heat 1
This is a popular competition held both nationally and internationally between universities. During the 3MT competition heats doctoral researchers talk about their research for 3 minutes only and a winner is selected by a panel of judges. The emphasis is on communicating research clearly and coherently to a non-specialist audience.ne winner will be selected from Coventry University.
Tuesday 19 January
10.00 – 12.00
Alternative Guide to Postgraduate Funding
Presenter: Dr Luke Blaxill, Alternative Guide to Postgraduate Funding
Are you a current PhD or PGR student who needs extra funding for fees, living expenses, research, conference or 4th year PhD writing-up costs? Have you been adversely affected financially by the Covid-19 Coronavirus? If the answer is yes, then considering attending this webinar!
It’s all about funding from unusual places you probably haven’t heard of! As well as explaining the more unusual postgraduate funding options available, it’s mainly about alternative grant-making bodies in Britain: principally charities, trusts, and foundations.
12.00 – 13.00
Doing Research during a Pandemic: Making the most of virtual interfaces
Presenter: Dr Valerie Van Mulukom, Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations (CTPSR)
Research is rarely an isolated event: We work together with others in a team, we work with samples in a lab, we visit people in their own surroundings, we go to libraries to read sources. So, what to do then, when a pandemic strikes? In this talk I will lay out several ways in which research can continue while working from home, whilst using examples from my own recent research.
14.00 – 15.30
Three Minute Thesis (3MT) Heat 2
This is a popular competition held both nationally and internationally between universities. During the 3MT competition heats doctoral researchers talk about their research for 3 minutes only and a winner is selected by a panel of judges. The emphasis is on communicating research clearly and coherently to a non-specialist audience.ne winner will be selected from Coventry University.
16:30 -18:00
Challenge-led Research Showcase
Coventry University prides itself on a highly applied approach to research and close links with industry. Through various initiatives such as Knowledge Transfer Partnerships, Industry Funded Studentships and strategic partnership development Coventry seeks to generate innovation for change, for societal and economic impact. Through research activities, the University develops novel ideas, prototypes and skills to be transferred to business and the wider community to enable the implementation and the development of new products, services and processes.
This Challenge-led research showcase highlights how our research teams, PhD students and industry partners are working together on some key societal challenges.The session is open to internal colleagues seeking information on how CU supports industry engagement and external partners and prospective partners who would like to find out more about working with Coventry University through PhD research
Learn more about our Sponsored Research Studentships:
Wednesday 20 January
AM Parallel Sessions
10.00 – 11.00
What is Impact?
This interactive workshop will explore what is meant by research impact and why it is now so high on the research agenda. It will examine different types of impact and give insights as to where we have already achieved those impacts at Coventry University. The session will also focus on the importance of collecting evidence of impact and include the first-hand experiences of PIs here at Coventry University.
10.00 – 11.30
Getting Your Hands on Wikipedia
Presenter: Andy Mabbett, Coventry University Wikimedian in Residence
In this 90 minute practical session, Coventry University’s Wikimedian in Residence, Wikimedia, will explain the basics of Wikipedia editing and adding citations. By the end of the session, you should know how to add a short statement to Wikipedia, with a citation.
PM Sessions
13.00 – 14.00
Dr Who? Let’s talk about…Imposter Syndrome
Facilitator: Dr Heather Sears, ReCap
‘Imposter syndrome’, is something that many research degree candidates face – the feeling that you simply don’t deserve to be doing a research degree, and that at any moment your deception will be discovered. We can’t promise that you will emerge from this ‘Dr Who’ discussion session free from Imposter Syndrome but you will have had had the opportunity to talk to colleagues who feel the same and explored some of the ways others have found to deal with it.
Doing a research degree is hard work. You need to stay motivated and are often working in isolation. Dr Who? discussion meetings offer you the opportunity to meet with others in a similar situation to help, support, understand and encourage each other.
14.00 – 15.00
Public Engagement: Getting your research out there
Impact and public engagement go hand-in-hand. This workshop will explore what is meant by public engagement and how we can work together to become an engaged university. The session will give practical advice as to how you may begin to plan a public engagement strategy. It will focus on the first-hand experiences of two researchers at Coventry University and their own individual approaches to and experiences of developing their own public engagement strategies, in their different fields of research.
Thursday 21 January
10.30 – 13.00
PGR of the Year Presentations
The annual PGR of the year competition will take place on Thursday 21st January 2021 as a part of the Cov Uni Research Hootenanny. One nominee has been put forward by each of the Faculties and University Research Centres and each will make a 10-minute presentation summarising their research. You are invited to be part of the audience during the PGR’s presentations.
17.00 – 18.30
Hootenanny Celebration Event
Celebration event announcing the 3MT and PGR of the Year Winners
Including the Three Minute Thesis (3MT) Grand Finale & announcement of PGR of the Year winner
Friday 22 January
AM Parallel Sessions
10:00 – 11:30
The Open Access Mystery Role Playing Game
All academic research has been locked up, but who is the culprit?
In this new role playing game participants will play in one of 8 roles with the mission of finding out who is responsible. Participants will be assigned their role in advance of the session and character descriptions will be provided. As well as providing a fun, interactive session the course of the game will also introduce participants to some of the topical issues and controversies within scholarly publishing and the academic reward system.
Due acknowledgment is given to Katrine Sundsbo from the University of Essex who has developed the original concept and resources for the Open Access Mystery which we gratefully will be incorporating within this session.
10.00 – 12.00
Doing Research during a Pandemic: Data, Policy and Practices
Presenter: Dr Paul Sissons, Centre for Business in Society (CBiS)
In this presentation Paul Sissons will discuss his experiences of having to revise research project focus and approaches to data collection as a result of the pandemic. Paul will reflect on what he has learned and discuss challenges and opportunities going forward.
PM Sessions
12.00 – 13.30
Reimagining Research – Café Culture Discussion
Facilitator: Dr Luca Morini, Centre for Global Learning, Education and Attainment (GLEA)
Inspired by the recent Wellcome Trust Report on researchers’ experiences, and by the Reimagine Research Culture initiative, this 90-minute facilitated conversation session is aimed at opening a space to discuss topics such as competition and inclusivity in research environments, challenges for researcher development, and ideas for how we might change things. While the conversation will be conducted playfully and imaginatively, the session’s outcome will be a serious set of recommendations and possible steps towards changing research culture within the CU Group.
14.00 – 15.00
Doing Research during a Pandemic: Organic Plus
Presenters: Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience (CAWR) Organic Plus Research Team
Colleagues from the Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience (CAWR) leading the EU funded H2020 project, Organic-PLUS have had to make some big changes to their ways of working in 2020. The project comprises both physical research trials with Five Acre Community Farm at the Ryton Campus and social science work around consumer perceptions. The Organic-PLUS team will share their experiences including COVID-secure field trials, online conferences and the tools and techniques they developed to move a programme of ‘citizen jury’ sessions online.
15.00 – 16.00
Doing Research during a Pandemic: Uncontrollable Behaviour – Examining Perceptions of Neurodiversity in State Provision
Presenter: Sam Grant, Centre for Global Learning, Education and Attainment (GLEA).
Questioning Perceptions of Neurodiversity in State Provision is an artistic and intellectual investigation which seeks to examine how neurodiversity is managed by the state from the point of view of those who must make do with government provisions which do not secure their safety, happiness, and wellbeing.
The project breaks methodological ground by combining traditional academic enquiry with the artistic discipline of experimental filmmaking. Unique amongst PhDs the traditional thesis has been circumvented in favour of a blog which is updated periodically over the course of three years, an approach which has been highly beneficial since the outbreak of Covid-19. By combining these approaches, I explore the personal and political dimensions of the neurodiverse experience.
End of Sessions