Last week was Summer Sessions 2014 – a four-day long festival of all the fantastic work being done by UWE PGRs, their supervisors and all the other folks who support them in various ways.

Monday saw the UWE round of the national 3 minute thesis competition, and we wish Davina the very best of luck as she represents us at the semi final in York on the 14th.

The next day we reprised three of our most popular skills development workshops: Progression Exam, Perfect Posters and Writing up. We had a good crowd for all the workshops, and I was inspired all over again by our postgrad researchers who are all, in their different ways, out there pushing the boundaries of human knowledge.

Then, on Wednesday, we were delighted to host mathematician-turned-viva-survivor Dr Nathan Ryder, for a thoughtful and positive set of workshops on preparing for and surviving your final viva. Nathan gave us lots of helpful hints and tips from his own personal experience, as well as his ongoing research on “how to survive your viva”.

Our final day saw contributions from current students, showcasing some of the amazing research which is going on within the UWE faculties. We also welcomed several of our recent alumni back to share their “best three things about doing a PhD”, aided and abetted by our very own Dr Paul Spencer, whose witty, yet profound reflections on “the secret diary of a postgraduate researcher” provided a fitting end to a successful Summer Sessions 2014.