The Showcase will bring together postdocs at Queen’s with a range of external stakeholders from public, private and voluntary sectors to develop shared understanding of the research taking place at Queen’s and how postdocs can help address the needs of wider society. The programme will involve quick pitches from postdocs at Queen’s, a poster exhibition to enable postdocs to discuss their research with external stakeholders, keynote talks by experts in research communication and a range of networking opportunities.

Abstracts' submission to present a talk or poster is now closed, but registration to attend is still open (see link below)!

Programme:

• Keynote talks

The showcase will host 2 keynote speakers, both involved with the communication of research in Northern Ireland. They will use their own experience to highlight ways to showcase your research to the general public and tips to do so effectively.

Emer Maguire is a musician, radio presenter and award winning science communicator. She hosts "Science stuff with Emer Maguire" on BBC Radio Ulster and is famous for making science fun and accessible, notably in the form of quirky songs! She received several IMRO Irish Radio Awards, the General Arts Award, the International Science Stars award, or the FameLab UK award, among others.

Chris McCreery is the Director of the Northern Ireland Science Festival and Chair of the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival. As such, he has a broad understanding of the landscape of public engagement in Northern Ireland, including the main events and organisations you could interact with to inform the public about your work. Based on his experience working in Stormont, Chris will also be able to share tips on how to work with policy makers to formalise the impact of your research.

• Postdoc pitches

12 postdocs from all 3 Faculties have been selected to present their research in 5 minutes maximum, making it accessible to a non-specialist audience. This is a great exercise for the speakers and much enjoyable to the audience to learn about a lot of different topics! See list of presenters here. These talks will be actual Public Engagement activities as they will be attended by selected Queen's students from the Widening participation programme.

• Interactive poster sessions

Postdocs will present posters, alone or as a group. The posters will follow a template designed to convey a simple message to non-experts and trigger discussions. This session is all about meeting other researchers and attending stakeholders, leaning about research topics in the 3 Faculties, find potential partners etc.

• Fun!

In addition to the multiple opportunities to interact with others and network, notably during the wine reception served after the event, the Showcase will be attended by a live illustrator! The illustrator will be sketching the content of the day, creating a frieze of the event. Some of the postdocs giving a talk or presenting a poster will see their research topic or conclusion sketched on it!!

• Prizes

Presentation prizes will be awarded to the best postdoc pitches and the Postdoc prizes offered by each Faculty will also be awarded at the event (see here for information on nominations for those prizes).

Registration deadline: 2 September 2019

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