Research Fest 2024

We are thrilled to invite you to Research Fest 2024, ANU's annual celebration of postgraduate research - three engaging, informative, and fun-filled days from December 3 to 5 at the Copland Theatre and other venues.

With informative sessions surrounded by a program of fun, celebratory activities, this is the perfect way to round out your research year! 

Full program:

Tuesday, December 3

12 noon to 12.30pm registration

12.30pm to 1.30pm official welcome and networking lunch – your chance to meet your colleagues, make new connections and swap research stories

1.30pm to 6pm (with a break for afternoon tea) develop your research impact with the Canberra Innovation Network as they take you through:

Pitching

Being able to talk succinctly about what you do and why it’s important is a key skill in academia, and can lead to finding more opportunities, resources and support for your work & career. In this short workshop, the Canberra Innovation Network will introduce you to their PitchPlanner tool, discuss some key aspects of what makes a good pitch and get you to develop and iterate your own pitch.

Research to Impact

Research to Impact introduces a practical tool that help you take your research out of academia, engage with industry and find new opportunities.

As a researcher, you may be frustrated by the difficulty of finding ways to apply your research or ideas into meaningful results in the real world. The changing landscape has also led to career challenges for early-stage researchers and lower funding for research team leaders.

This practical session will stimulate your thinking in how you can advance your projects, ideas and research by finding answers about industry needs, adapting to make you more prevalent in your field and even attract resources you need to take your projects forward.

Please note: there will be an afternoon tea break from 3.30pm to 4pm when you’ll get to hear about Craft My PhD, Research to Poetry: PhD as Haiku, May Contain Traces of Nuts – Your PhD as an Ingredients Label and Tattoo Your PhD (all happening on Wednesday and Thursday).

These sessions will be run by scientist-turned-entrepreneur and leader of the Growth Team at the Canberra Innovation Network, Dr Craig Davis, and innovation program expert (including CSIRO ON Prime program) Irene Zhen.

7pm National Film and Sound Archive Research to Film: The Dish – come along and watch The Dish, the top-grossing Australian film of 2000, which tells the story of the Parkes Observatory's role in relaying live television of humanity's first steps on the Moon during the Apollo 11 mission in 1969. Then meet one of the scientists who was actually in the room on that momentous occasion, as well as representatives of NASA. Candy and popcorn provided!

Wednesday, December 4

10am to 10.30am Check-in and registration

G030 and G031 (adjacent to the Copland Theatre): 10.30am to 12.30pm Meet My Methods

Hear more about the amazing methods behind some of the PhD research happening at ANU at the moment. Fast, furious and fun, Meet My Methods promises to be an eye-opening research experience.

Today’s Meet My Methods presenters: Pratima Sharma, Mamta Sachan Kumar, Elizabeth Waldron, Rachel Flottman, Iko-Ojo Simon, Farnas Yeasmin Nizom, Jay Caldwell and Anna Naupa.

At the same time explore creative ways to communicate your research with Craft My PhD, Research to Poetry: PhD as Haiku, May Contain Traces of Nuts – Your PhD as an Ingredients Label and, for the more adventurous, Tattoo Your PhD.

12.30pm to 1.30pm Lunch is served and the creative ways to communicate your research continue.

Copland Theatre: 1:30 pm Read and Publish Agreements
Presented by Rebecca Barber, Senior Manager, Collection Access and Discovery & Bee Shumway, Access and Authentication Coordinator, ANU Library
Unlock the potential of Read and Publish agreements! Learn how these innovative publishing models can help you make your research more discoverable, and how you can avoid paying Article Processing Charges. Discover the benefits for authors and institutions alike, with insights from ANU Library staff.

Copland Theatre: 2:00 pm How to choose a journal to publish in
Presented by Cathy Burton, Information Access and Collection Management Coordinator, ANU Library                                                                                                              Navigating academic journals can be challenging—let ANU Library show you some tips for choosing the best place to publish your research. Join them for a practical guide on effectively using bibliometric tools to locate the best journals for publishing your work.

Copland Theatre: 2:45pm Getting Published
With: Professor Sue Stocklmayer, Dr Stewart Firth, Professor Ginny Barbour
Join ANU Library experts for a dynamic discussion. Gain valuable perspectives on the latest trends, challenges, and strategies in academic publishing.

3.30pm to 5.30pm Dance Your PhD

Join the winner of the 2024 international Dance Your PhD competition and creator of the world-famous Kangaroo Time video, ANU Visitor Scientist Dr Weliton Menario Costa, in a look at presenting your research in less traditional ways. You might not need your dancing shoes, but you definitely won’t be sitting down taking notes for this session!

5.30pm to 7.30pm Pizza Solves Everything!

Bring along your research problems and let the ANU Research Hive Mind come up with creative solutions to help you fuelled by that universal problem solver, a slice of pizza.

Thursday, December 5

9.30am – 10am check-in and registration

Copland Theatre: 10am to 11.15am To boldly go …

Head for the stars with our expert panel on space research who will be offering rare insight into the ANU Quantum Ground Station and looking at such questions as “Why does space matter? and “Should we go to Mars?” Featuring Dr Cassandra Steer, Dr Michael Copeland and Dr Ben Bramble.

G030 and G031 (adjacent to the Copland Theatre): 11.15am to 12.30pm Meet My Methods

Hear more about the amazing methods behind some of the PhD research happening at ANU at the moment. Fast, furious and fun, Meet My Methods promises to be an eye-opening research experience.

Today’s Meet My Methods presenters: Lisa Fontana, Shefali Dorepalli, Gidey Assefa, Yiqing Chen, Fazeleh Kazemian, Zijian Wang and Abyaya Neopane.

At the same time explore creative ways to communicate your research with Research to Poetry: PhD as Haiku, May Contain Traces of Nuts – Your PhD as an Ingredients Label and, for the more adventurous, Tattoo Your PhD.

12.30pm Lunch and Prize Giving

Share a networking lunch with your friends and colleagues and find out who won the awards for best presenter, people’s choice presenter, best craft, best haiku, best ingredients label and best tattoo at this year’s Research Fest.

Research Fest 2024 will conclude at 1.30pm.

Please note: this event is free, but places are limited, so early bookings are advised.