Open to all PhD Researchers Festival of PhD Research
4-5 June 2025,
Derry~Londonderry campus

In this section
Festival Overview
The Festival of PhD Research 2025 took place on Wednesday 4 and Thursday 5 June 2025 in our Derry-Londonderry campus. We welcomed our PhD Researchers from across all the campuses to this celebration and showcase of research excellence from our PhD community.
The Festival was opened with a keynote followed by a programme of presentations, posters and practice based exhibitions. Also included in the programme was the Bake Your PhD competition and a photography competition. Prizes were awarded later in the month at a PhD Awards Presentation & 3MT® Final on the Belfast campus on 19 June 2025.
What the PhD Researchers say about the Festival...
Very well organized, with excellent food and a fantastic chance to network with staff and students from other Faculties.
Very well organised, constructive and positive atmosphere. Food was great, things moved along at a really pleasant pace with great consideration for breaks in between sessions.
The atmosphere was great for first time presenting, very welcoming and friendly. Wonderful to meet people from so many different disciplines and to gain insight into how PhD research progresses / evolves. The food and refreshments were top notch and helped make it feel like a celebration. The guest speaker was great fun too.
Well organised, provided great opportunities for PhD Researchers at UU to not only present their own research but also to engage with the research of their peers.
I liked that I could present some of my findings and answer people's questions. As well as meeting people and networking with people.
I really enjoyed that we were able to get together as PhD researchers and celebrate each other's achievements. The bake your PhD was especially fun!
Good opportunity to get all researchers on campus and present in an informal and friendly atmosphere as a practice for other conferences. The addition of the 3 minutes was great as it allowed researchers to deliver their project in a short period of time which allowed them to reach new audiences/make new connections without the need to present for a long period of time to audiences who aren't always engaged or interested in the topic.
Very friendly and supportive environment for researchers to network, present and gain feedback.
Programme
The annual Festival of PhD Research is open to ALL PhD Researchers, from any campus and at any stage of their PhD.
The programme included:
Keynote speech with Dr Adrian Johnston MBE - Innovation City Belfast (ICB) Innovation Commissioner; PhD Presentations; Posters; Posters by practice-based PhD Researchers; 'Bake Your PhD' competition; Photography competition; Exhibitors; and social events.

Bake Your PhD
2025 was another huge success for the increasingly popular Bake Your PhD competition that is now in its fifth year! PhD Researchers from across a range of disciplines – psychology, medicine, biomedical sciences and art and design – impressed the Festival audience and judges with their unique baked creations! Competitors are invited to bake anything that visually depicts any aspect of their PhD – such as physical samples, findings, methods used or the research topic, concepts or ideas. The entries are expertly judged by a panel of judges with a Winner and Runner-up receiving a trophy.
Photo Competition
Capture ‘The Beauty of Discovery’ in your PhD journey in this year’s photography competition.

Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) Competition 2025
We were delighted to host Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) competition at Ulster for the eighth year running.
The live 3MT® Final took place on Thursday 19 June at the Belfast campus.

Prizes and Awards
The Doctoral College hosted the PhD Awards Presentation, featuring the Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) Final on 19 June on the Belfast campus.
The awards and prizes included:
- Outstanding PhD Thesis Award - by Faculty
- 3MT® Winner, Runner Up and People's Choice Award
- Best Poster - one prize per research theme
- Bake Your PhD Winner & Runner Up
- Best Practice Based Poster
- Photo Competition Winner & People's Choice Award
