What is Bake Your PhD?
Bake Your PhD is a creative research communication initiative that encourages PhD Researchers to represent their complex research topics through baking - typically cakes, buns, or other edible art. The idea is to "translate" academic research into an accessible and fun format that can be enjoyed and understood by a wide audience.
Why do Bake Your PhD?
- Promotes engagement with research ideas across disciplines
- Makes abstract or technical research tangible and enjoyable
- Fosters multidisciplinary creativity and storytelling
- Builds community and sparks conversations around research
- Another accessible and fun way of taking part in our Festival of PhD Research
A sweet mix of art, science, and storytelling!
The Judging Process
During the Judging Process, we will ask you to tell us the title of your Bake Your PhD entry and you will have up to two minutes to tell the judges – and the audience - how the cake represents your research. The judges will taste your creation too!
The judges will assess your entry according to the following criteria:
- How well does the cake depict the research?
- How creative is the cake/and or cake presentation?
- How well was the topic communicated?
- Does the cake creation taste good?
2026 Entries
(Winner) Baking Meaning: A Demonstration of Relational Frame Theory - Breanna Lee, Faculty of Life and Health Sciences
(First Runner Up) From Hydropnics to Strawberry Buttercream: A Slice of the Future - Michelle Farmer, Faculty of Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment
(Second Runner Up) From Biosolvents to Buttercream: Extracting Maximum Flavour - Rebecca Russell, Faculty of Life and Health Sciences
Sustainable Nutrition: Challenges, Opportunities and Food Solution - Clement Momoh, Faculty of Life and Health Sciences
Healthy and Sweet Household - Emily Krueger, Faculty of Life and Health Sciences
The Art of Haemostasis - Phoebe King, Faculty of Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment
Sensory Overload - Alice Tennant, Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
The Wagon Wheel - Emily Dunham, Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Flourishing Among Death - Kasia Patynowska, Faculty of Life and Health Sciences
Rate Your Pain - Emily Brownhill, Faculty of Life and Health Sciences
Bug Exterminator 5000 - Evangelos Theofanous, Faculty of Life and Health Sciences
Early Detection Saves Lives - Rosalina Intan Saputri, Faculty of Life and Health Sciences
