Festival of Research

Festival of Research brings together staff and students to showcase impact of work and share expertise through online series of events.

Kingston University's rescheduled Festival of Research took place online over two weeks, from 29 June until 10 July, and offered a series of 25 webinar events to support, develop and showcase research activity across the University.

The Festival was a reduced version of what had been originally planned for March 2020, and a second event is currently being planned for an earlier date in 2020-21 to cover sessions that could not be included this time.

The sessions were internal events, pitched primarily towards research-active staff and postgraduate research students. Follow-up resources are being made available internally on StaffSpace and My Kingston. Attendees came together for session including ‘REF, KEF and TEF, what's in it for you?' by Professor Anne Boddington, ‘Understanding the research domain' by Professor Jane Pavitt, and the workshop ‘Mobilising research in response to Covid-19', organised by the Research & Innovation Directorate.

Several other sessions attracted more than 40 delegates, such as ‘How journals review and publish' by Professor Phillip Terry, and ‘What makes a really strong bid' by the Research Development Managers from the Research and Innovation team. The University also hosted a session called ‘Navigating the world of research when no-one looks like you... BAME lecturers' stories', which highlighted the need for a much wider conversation about BAME lecturers' experiences as researchers and academics across the sector.

Three sessions, organised jointly with external organisations, focussed on how researchers can ensure their work makes a real difference beyond academia. The series, entitled 'Having an impact on public policy' covered working with the voluntary sector, working with health and social care, and working with Westminster.

The University is planning another festival for Spring 2021, with online events expected to be open to the public as well as the University's internal audience.