The ECR Symposium on 6 July included several opportunities for early career researchers (ECRs) and research staff to demonstrate the exciting work they’re doing at Sussex.

Recipients of this year’s Research Culture Seed Fund (RCSF) held a showcase of their projects over a networking lunch. The RCSF is part of a range of initiatives that the University has launched to foster a more creative, inclusive and collaborative research culture.

This year’s projects included a writing retreat, a journal reading group, training in interdisciplinary techniques, lived-experience participatory research, and artwork for an exciting ethno-graphic novel.

For more details of the scheme see the Seed Fund webpage. The next round of RCSF funding will launch in Spring 2024.

The Symposium Image Competition highlighted the variety and global reach of our research, and saw entries from ECRs across the disciplines at Sussex.

This year’s shortlist was judged by Maggie Symes (Research and Open Scholarship Librarian), Aline Amorim Graf (Research Staff Rep for Engineering and Informatics) and Susanna Broom (Head of the Doctoral School). You can view all the entries, and the captions that tell the story behind them, on our ECR Research Image webpage.

Our 2023 winner is Simon Williams from Media, Arts and Humanities. His image 'Intergenerational Storytelling Game in Action' (above), photographed by UG2 Media and Film student Adri Whittingham, depicts participants taking part in a storytelling game developed as part of Simon's research project Storytelling Connects.

Funded by a Zinc/UKRI Healthy Ageing Catalyst Award, led by Simon with collaborators Dr Alison Ward from the University of Northampton and Dr Kate Howland from Engineering and Informatics, Storytelling Connects is an initiative designed for people who want to stay mentally flexible and helps socially isolated people experience structured relationships with others through the joint creation of stories from images. 

The storytelling game is a fun way to help friends, family, and communities to stay mentally and socially active by inspiring their imagination and creativity. 

Congratulations also go to Henry Dore (Engineering and Informatics), who took second place, and Ulla McKnight (Law, Politics and Sociology), who won the hotly contested People's Choice vote.

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