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Interdisciplinary activities

As a postgraduate research student, you will connect with other students and research staff in your cohort, discipline, school and college. You will build even wider connections across disciplines and with other student communities.

I have made friendships with people I cherish that I would have never encountered had it not been for the common ground of hands-on workshops, inspiring seminars and interdisciplinary conferences.

Adelle, School of History, Archaeology and Religion

Our key events

Over the academic year, we offer a range of online activities, both structured and less formal, that you can participate in to further expand your network within a vibrant research culture.

Starting Out: Induction

This is an enjoyable opportunity to meet other postgraduate research students and to begin to develop important personal and professional networks. It introduces the wider research environment at Cardiff University and the services available to help you through your PhD. You will also learn about the training and learning opportunities at the Doctoral Academy and across Cardiff university, to help you start planning your skills and personal development. Starting Out will complement the more tailored induction provided by your school.

Re-orientation events are also open to students entering the second or final year of their doctoral studies, to help reflect on development needs and find out about the opportunities, services and support most appropriate at each stage.

Student-led conferences

Our student-led conferences provide opportunities for postgraduate research students in different disciplines to present their work to each other, to share and develop their research interests and to establish mutually beneficial interdisciplinary links. Each of the events is organised by a committee of students from a number of schools and the conferences provide an excellent opportunity to develop transferable skills to add to your CV.

Conferences held in 2022-23:

Student showcases

We also run research showcases which include:

Three Minute Thesis (3MT®)

Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) is a research communication competition developed by the University of Queensland.

We encourage all of our postgraduate research students to challenge themselves and take part. By participating in the event, you will develop your academic, presentation and research communication skills in a supportive environment, including the ability to effectively explain your research in language appropriate to a non-specialist audience.

Watch videos of previous Three Minute Thesis entrants on our YouTube channel.

Images of Research

This competition offers our students a chance to share their amazing work. Each year, postgraduate research students from across the university are invited to submit an image and a short description which encapsulates their research. Cash prizes are awarded for the best images, including a 'People’s Choice' award.

Funding schemes

If you are interested in hosting a formal academic event, our Interdisciplinary Funding Scheme is available to support student-led training initiatives that bring together the postgraduate research community. Current postgraduate research students can apply for access to the Communities Fund to support you in connecting with other students through shared informal interests.