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Doctoral College

Poster Competition

As part of the month long Festival of PGR Research we held a Poster Competition. Thank you to everyone who submitted a poster for our Festival of PGR Research Poster Competition. All the entries have been fantastic to see and we appreciate that a lot of time and effort goes into putting these together.

We are delighted to announce the winners for 2026, which are listed below:

STEMM

  • 1st Place: Christine Laessing "Unblocking Opportunities for a Sustainable Future"
  • 2nd Place: Veronica White "Exploring visions for the future of farming in England"
  • 3rd Place: Chloe Hutton "AI-enhanced dementia prevention using large language models"

HASS

  • 1st Place: Vic Kendall Weiss "Re/Role the Past: Tabletop Storytelling as Queer, Radical Pedagogy in Heritage Spaces"
  • 2nd Place: Emma Weaver "Investigating factors affecting student feedback engagement: A Design Based Intervention"
  • 3rd Place: Sophie Stenson "Learning From Best Practice in Sustainable Governance Performance"


Most Innovative Poster:

  • Vic Kendall Weiss "Re/Role the Past: Tabletop Storytelling as Queer, Radical Pedagogy in Heritage Spaces"

The judges also wanted to give a special mention to the following posters:
• Adler Santana De Medeiros "From top to roots: arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal propagules inhabit leaf litter and can colonise new plants"
• Sofia Cano Toyos "Stepping into Prevention: Mixed Reality for Diabetic Foot Care"
• Emma Squire "Motivating the Masses: Behavioural Content in Biodiversity Recording Apps"

Our Poster Competition is one of the highlights of the University calendar, showcasing the leading postgraduate research from across the institution. One of the key aims of the poster competition is to challenge PGRs to communicate and disseminate their research to a lay audience. This is a fantastic opportunity for PGRs to practice various skills such as communication, written, presentation and creativity skills. This can be a chance to practice showcasing your research in preparation for conference attendance and participation. 

If you have any questions, please email:?PGRfestival@exeter.ac.uk 

Would you like to meet the PGRs who created the research posters on display? In two special 'Meet the Researcher' sessions (one at Streatham, one at Penryn), you can meet the poster creators and chat with them about their research. This is a great opportunity to support the research community; sessions are open to staff and students.

Sessions will be held on the following dates. Please click on the links below to register your interest via EventBrite:

Applications are now closed.

Complete the entry form and attach a digital copy of your poster to the form. All forms must be received no later than 5pm on Tuesday 28 April 2026. 

You must also submit a printed copy of your poster. All posters must be either portrait size A0 or A1 or Landscape size A1. All posters must be submitted in a poster tube, which clearly has your name and university email address on. 

Please drop off your poster by Wednesday 13 May at the latest to one of the following locations:

Streatham: Please drop your poster off at Doctoral College Hub during their opening hours (Monday-Friday, 10am-3pm). There is a box for posters received at the Old Library outside 10-3.  

Penryn: Please drop your poster to Monique in The Cornwall PGR Support Team Office (in the DDM Master's Suite) during their opening hours (Monday-Friday, 10am-2pm). 

St Lukes: Please drop your poster into the St Luke's Hub (Ground floor, South Cloisters) during their opening hours (Monday – Friday 9am-1pm and 2pm-5pm)  

Please contact?PGRfestival@exeter.ac.uk?prior to the application deadline if you have any queries. 

There are two poster categories- Best STEM and Best HASS. In each category there will be a first, second and third prize.  

The prizes for this year's competition were as follows: 

  • 1st prize £100 voucher 
  • 2nd prize £75 voucher 
  • 3rd prize £50 voucher 

There was also a prize for Most Innovative Poster (£100 voucher).  

The judges for the 2026 Poster Competition were: 

  • Mr Dan Isaac, Data, Literacy and Training Lead 
  • Dr Jo Esra, Senior Lecturer in Early Modern Literature 
  • Mr Simon Strange, Research Dissemination Librarian 

Applications are now closed.

Please ensure you have read the information in the How to Enter tab on this webpage to ensure your entry is eligible.

The Poster Competition were judged on two key areas: Research Content and?Poster Design & Visual Impact. Within each of these categories, the judges assessed four areas, as detailed below:?? ? 

Research Content: Judges look for the clarity and impact of the research itself.?? 

  • Accessibility:?Would a?non-subject specialist understand the research?? 
  • Significance:?How far does?the poster clearly?state?the research problem, aim, and its relevance/impact?? 
  • Structure:?Is the research presented logically, with clear conclusions?? 
  • Quality:?How far does the content?demonstrate?academic rigor, originality, and deep understanding?? ? 

Poster Design & Visual Impact: This measures how effectively the visual, layout, and textual elements tell the story.?? 

  • Visual Appeal:?How engaging is?the layout, colour scheme, and graphic quality?? 
  • Readability:?How clear is the?text, font size, and?balance of?text-to-image ratio?? 
  • Layout/Flow:?How?easy?is it?to follow the narrative of the poster?? 
  • Visual Communication:?How well do images, graphs, and figures enhance the message rather than just decorate?it??? ? 

Judges utilised a five-point Likert scale for each question and the total marks were out of?80.?? 

All posters were displayed at Streatham Campus between Monday 18 -Wednesday 20 May in the Forum Street and at Penryn Campus on Thursday 28 and Friday 29 May in the Upper Stannary. Winning entries were revealed during these exhibitions. 

Entrants are not expected to stand by their poster for the duration of the exhibition; the posters will be on display for those around campus to visit and enjoy.  

We held a number of sessions during the poster exhibitions days, where senior academic staff and supervisors will be invited to view the display. Entrants are encouraged to attend in-person for these sessions. This is a great opportunity to discuss your research with a non-specialist audience and practice for up-coming conferences. 

Sessions will be held on the following dates. Please click on the links below to book onto these sessions via EventBrite: