Postgraduate Research Festival 2021
23-24 June 2021
Details of the 2021 PGR Festival can be found below. Panels and speakers at the 2021 event had a particular focus on post-PhD/doctorate life and career-readiness.
Faq Items
Competition winners
Three Minute Thesis Competition
Winner: Valeria Carini, PBS, 'When 2+2=5: the potential of lipid-polymer hybrid nanoparticles as efficacy-enhancing, anti-infective delivery systems' View video at
Runner-up: Katie Taylor, HSS, '"I am an American citizen": how the Brownies' Book created African American children's literature in the 1920s'
People's Choice: Vera D'Aloisio, PBS, 'Innovative peptidic treatments to tackle migraine'
Poster Competition Group 1 (early-stage researchers)
Runner-up: Molly McCarthy, PSY, 'Configuration and utilisation of the clinical pathways by patients attending A&E in suicidal crisis'
People's Choice: Daniel Bannell, 'Motivate Rheumatoid Arthritis - a remotely delivered multi-component physical activity intervention'
Poster Competition Group 2 (mid and late-stage researchers)
Runner-up: Richie Kirwan, BES, 'Protein interventions augment the effect of resistance exercise on lean mass and strength in older adults
People's Choice: Valeria Carini, PBS, 'When 2+2=5: the breakthrough of using lipid-polymer hybrid nanoparticles as anti-infective delivery systems'
Posters Group 1: Early-stage PGRs
All PGRs are in the first year (or part-time equivalent) of their doctorates.
View all the group 1 posters as a slideshow.
1. Amy Hardwick (Sport and Exercise Sciences (SPS) - Exploring coach learning, development and practice in the context of special Olympic sport
2. Daniel Bannell (SPS) - Motivate rheumatoid arthritis - a remotely delivered multi-component physical activity intervention
3. Molly McCarthy (Psychology) - Configuration and utilisation of the clinical pathways by patients attending A&E in suicidal crisis
4. Rebecca Walker (SPS) - Environmental contributors to increased fall risk in children with cerebral palsy
5.Emily Wharton (SPS) The role of socio-economic status on stair fall risk in older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic
6. Andrew Munro (Law) - Liberal Democracy and Socioeconomic rights – an incompatible relationship?
7. Richard Eves (Screen School) - The UK's responses (2010-present) to the rise of China
8. Jade Thomson (Screen School) - Rape in contemporary theatre
9. Mark Ashmore (Computer Science and Maths) - How has the emergence of XR technology in the music industry affected how a Generation Z audience consumes a musical artists work?
10. Andrew Burgess (Engineering) - Computational & Physical Modelling of the Physics of Powder Flow in Additive Manufacturing
11. Michael Hitchcock (Biological and Environmental Sciences) - Use wear and residue analyses of Middle Palaeolithic stone tools
12. Stefanos Charkoutsis (Engineering) - Optimization of nonlinear PID controller for nonlinear robotic systems
13. Binod Acharya (Public Health) - Cigarette smoking and edentulism - a study in a Nepalese population
14. Joe Ford (Engineering) Sustainability in the decommissioning process of UK offshore installations and the management of hazardous waste
15. Mollie Bryde (Business) - 'Build Back Better' and sustainability: a tale of two concepts
16. Julie Boyd (Law) - 'But what about the bees?' Early warning systems in ecological destruction and why 'wilder' laws are needed!
17. Alexandra Thomas (Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences) - Wildlife Forensics: Moving on from what is it to who did it?
Posters Group 2: Mid- and later-stage PGRs
All PGRs have passed their Confirmation of Registration (PhD researchers) or are in the Research phase of their programme (Prof Doc researchers)
View all the Group 2 posters as a slideshow.
1. Cristina Silvestri (Justice Studies) - G.A.I.N. supporting the police with their enquires
2. Jennifer Graham (Law) - Regulating artificial intelligence
3. Wayne Turnbull (Humanities and Social Science) - 'Education beyond the norm': Investigating the origins, establishment and legacy of the Liverpool Nautical College
4. Tim Whitehill (Business) - Operationalising organisational resilience
5. Lucy Dowdall (Biological and Environmental Sciences) - How much is nature worth?
6. Valeria Carini (Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences) - When 2+2=5: The breakthrough of using lipid-polymer hybrid nanoparticles as anti-infective delivery systems
7. Philippa McCabe (Computer Science and Mathematics) - Diagnostic and predictive models for knee osteoarthritis
8. Anna Powell (Psychology) - Developing cognitive and neurocognitive biomarkers for recovery from alcohol dependence
9. Karyono Karyono (Civil Engineering and Built Environment (CBE)) - How to model indoor thermal conditions to support your weight loss program
10. Richard Kirwan (Biological and Environmental Sciences (BES)) - Protein interventions augment the effect of resistance exercise on lean mass and strength in older adults
11. Amélie Polrot (BES) - Cultivate the “uncultivable”: Using the iChip for the isolation of TBT-degrading bacteria
12. Nusrat Jannat (CBE) - Development of bio-based unfired earthen material to improve indoor thermal comfort in tropics
13. Emma Phillips (BES) - The fall of Meroe: Invasion or decline? The dental evidence
14. Mo Hosein Abbasi (CBE) - Heat decarbonisation pathways in the UK domestic sector: ready to serve a just and sustainable transition?
15. Laura Sheehy (BES) - Investigating the mitochondrial of the biocontrol agent Phasmarhabditis hermaphrodita
16. Lena Pauli (Business) - Utilising the principles of blockchain technology for managing road infrastructure projects
17. Neil Pickavance (CBE) - Judgement under uncertainty: heuristics and biases in construction programme management
Three Minute Thesis
The 3MT is an academic competition for doctoral researchers established by the University of Queensland, Australia, and now takes place all over the world. The overall winner of the LJMU final will goes on to take part in the UK 2021 competition organised by Vitae.
1. Madeleine France (Sport and Exercise Sciences) - Physical activity during pregnancy: a modifiable determinant of health
2. Shawn Toh (Engineering) - Moving towards life lasting total hip prostheses
3. Loredana Frau (Psychology) - Does cognitive reserve protect against age-related changes?
4. Cristina Silvestri (Justice Studies) - Government Agency Intelligence Network supporting the police with their enquiries
5. Martin Hudson (Business) - Day trippers? We can work it out
6. Chris Brodie (Biological and Environmental Sciences) - The hunt for Atlantic bluefin tuna
7. Evangelia Georgantzia (Civ Engineering Built Env (CBE)) - Structural response and design recommendations for aluminium alloy structural elements
8. Vera D'Aloisio (Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences (PBS)) - Innovative peptidic treatments to tackle migraine
9. Katie Taylor (Humanities and Social Sciences) - "I am an American Citizen": how The Brownies' Book created African American children's literature in the 1920s
10. Kieran Latham (CBE) - Development of a tactile controller for arterial threading Simulation
11. Ashleigh Bellard (Psychology) - An impaired affective touch system in Anorexia Nervosa: A novel non-invasive brain stimulation intervention
12. Valeria Carini (PBS) - When 2+2=5: the potential of lipid-polymer hybrid nanoparticles as efficacy-enhancing, anti-infective delivery systems
13. Hannah Tang (Engineering) - Virtual reality for the treatment of musculoskeletal injury
14. >Maryam Kawsar (Business) - Performance Management: Improving the education system in Pakistan?