Postgraduate students present their research over a pint!

Postgraduate students from De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) have been presenting their thesis topics to fellow students in an unusual venue – the pub.



Three DMU students took part in PubhD, a monthly event held in Duffy’s Bar on Pocklington’s Walk, Leicester, to showcase local research to the public and researchers. The Leicester meetings are run by two University of Leicester postgraduate students, Katie Dexter and Irene Nigi, and feature guest speakers from both city universities.

The idea behind PubhD is for students to explain their subject at “pub level” without academic jargon or complex terms – and PowerPoint is banned!  

Katie said: “We love the relaxed atmosphere of the pub and the lack of a PowerPoint makes the evening more informal and allows for discussions to take place more easily. Explaining your work jargon free is a very useful tool in research and there aren't many venues where one can practice!”



Annabell Gast (Strategic Management and Marketing), a second year PhD student at DMU, is looking into German immigrant entrepreneurs and the networks they use to access contacts and funding for their businesses.

Post-Brexit, however, her studies have shifted and she is now exploring how the outcome of the UK Referendum affects their business decisions and the way in which they run their companies.

Krishna Nama Manjunatha is a final year PhD student at DMU’s Emerging Technologies Research Centre. His research focuses on nanoparticles and nanowires to enhance solar cell performance and make solar panels more efficiently and cheaply.

Music Technology student Mungo Zhangruibo is working to translate terms common in music tech studies into Chinese, where there are currently no comparable phrases.

Each was given just 10 minutes to explain the idea behind their work – as simply as possible – with questions from the audience afterwards. The packed crowd last night included research fellows, interested members of the public, early career researchers and postdocs.    

PubhD Leicester has had talks from areas as diverse as biology, astrophysics, literature, physics, psychology, art and design, geoscience and archaeology. PubhD was started in Nottingham in 2014 and now has spread to cities across the UK, Ireland and Europe. A full list of locations can be found here.

The next meeting takes place on 13 September and they would love to hear from any DMU postgraduates interested in talking about their work.

To find out more, or to talk about being a speaker at PubhD, contact Katie or Irene by emailing them here. You can also follow the group on Twitter @PubhDLeicester or Facebook by searching PubhDLeicester and their website.