Doctoral Celebration Evening

On Wednesday 11 June 2025, the Doctoral College welcomed over 180 guests to Komedia for the Doctoral Celebration Evening. This special event brought together students, staff and guests including The Right Worshipful the Mayor of Bath, Councillor Professor Bharat Pankhania to celebrate the achievements of our vibrant doctoral community.

The evening featured the final of our annual Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) Competition along with the presentation of the Doctoral Recognition Awards, the Excellence in Doctoral Supervision Prizes, and the Godfrey and Sue Hall Doctoral Researcher Prize.

We would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to everyone who was able to join us at the event. Here are some of the photos from the evening.

Doctoral Discoveries Videos

During the evening, we premiered our brand-new Doctoral Discoveries videos – a series of short videos allowing PhD students to showcase the real-world impact of their research.

You can watch all Doctoral Discoveries videos here.

3MT Competition

3MT® celebrates the exciting research conducted by PhD students around the world. Developed by The University of Queensland, the competition cultivates academic, presentation, and research communication skills by challenging students to present their entire thesis - usually around 80,000 words - in just three minutes. Students are allowed to use one PowerPoint slide and no other resources.

Congratulations to Lucy Wilkinson, Department of Chemical Engineering who was the winner of our Judges' Choice at the 3MT Final. Lucy's topic was ‘Can we eat meat and save the planet’ and will go on to compete in the UK National Final hosted by Vitae. You can watch Lucy’s 3MT pitch here.

Congratulations also to Joni Wildman, Department for Architecture and Civil Engineering who was the winner of our Peoples' Choice award.

We would also like to recognise the other 3MT finalists who competed on the evening and delivered some fantastic presentations:

  • Eleanor Roake, Department of Mechanical Engineering – ‘Energy Harvesting: Waste heat to clean water?’
  • Chloe Hampshire, Department of Psychology – ‘Paranoia, phones and process: Rethinking mental health research’
  • Paloma Rodriguez Santana, Department of Mechanical Engineering - ‘What Do Broomsticks and Batteries Have in Common?’

Awards

During the evening, we presented a number of awards including the Doctoral Recognition Awards, the Excellence in Doctoral Supervision Prizes and Godfrey and Sue Hall Doctoral Researcher Prize.

You can browse all the winners of these awards here.

Doctoral Festival of Ideas

Held on Tuesday 17 June and Wednesday 18 June 2025, the Doctoral Festival of Ideas featured an inspiring programme of keynote talks, interactive workshops, networking sessions and special events designed to celebrate and enhance our research culture.

Have a look at photos from the Doctoral Festival of Ideas 2025.

Keynote Speaker - Professor Jason Arday, University of Cambridge

We were honoured to welcome Professor Jason Arday as our keynote speaker for this year’s Festival of Ideas. In his compelling talk, “The Name of the Game: Navigating Academia”, Jason discussed how postgraduate students need to navigate academia considering the intersectional challenges currently faced. Jason explored the importance of humility, kindness, and integrity within academic and research cultures along with challenging attendees to consider how these values can shape more inclusive and ethical scholarly environments. The talk sparked thoughtful discussion and set a powerful, reflective tone for the festival.

Workshops

On the Tuesday afternoon, we ran three simultaneous workshops on Public Engagement, Entrepreneurship and Research Impact, offering participants practical, hands-on experiences to explore each area.

  • The Public Engagement workshop introduced creative approaches to public speaking and helped attendees strengthen their communications skills to better convey their research and personal narratives.
  • For budding entrepreneurs, the Entrepreneurship workshop helped attendees understand how their research can become a viable business idea and explained the process from initial idea to start-up. The session concluded with a pitching competition with winner Joshua Mills, Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering being awarded £100 towards their Research Training Support Fund.
  • Finally, the Impact workshop was an interactive way to inspire attendees and help them make real-world impact through their research.

The Lighter Side of Research: PhD research through humour

A brand-new addition this year, ‘The Lighter Side of Research: PhD research through humour’ was a comedy showcase hosted at Burdall’s Yard to a sold-out audience.

10 doctoral students, 7 from the University of Bath and 3 from the University of Bristol, performed original 7-minute comedy sketches inspired by their research. Under the guidance of comedy writer Chris Head who also compèred the show, participants took part in a series of workshops helping them craft and perform their sketches. It was a fantastic event and a big well done to our Bath participants: Caitlin Naylor, Pieter Keenan, Luca Hargitai, Jack McKinlay, Wesam Wekhyan, Hannah Pickard and Joshua Tenn!

Have a look at our highlights reel from the event.

‘Life After Doctorate’ Alumni Panel sessions

To support attendees in exploring potential career paths beyond their doctorate, we hosted ‘Life After Doctorate’ alumni panel sessions featuring a diverse range of speakers from industry, research, and academia. These interactive sessions provided valuable insights into both traditional and alternative career routes, helping doctoral students consider how they might achieve their professional goals. We extend our sincere thanks to all the alumni who generously contributed their time and expertise across the parallel sessions.

Bake Your Doctorate

To conclude the festival on our high, we hosted our Bake Your Doctorate competition where doctoral students created mouth-watering bakes based on their research. Two awards were presented: the Judges’ Award, based on taste, visual appeal, and effectiveness in communicating research, and the People’s Choice Award, voted for by attendees.

  • Judge’s Award – Maria Petrou with ‘Life’s Batter with a Working Bladder: A Cake for Bladder Control’
  • People’s Choice Award – Zifi Tyng with ‘Teenager’s playful experiences in break times’ muffins

A big well done to the winners and the participants – you all did an amazing job.