Swansea University’s 2026 PGR Festival
PGR winners from left to right: Mamta Behera (Public Engagement Award), Dr Luis Maia De Freitas (PGR Enterprise Award), Dr Gwennan Higham (PGR Supervision Award), Prof Amira Guirguis (PGR Supervision Award), Prof Leighton Evans (PGR Supervision Award), Mohsin Ali (3MT runner up), Joseph Udeh (PGR Culture and Community Award), Sabriya Hussain (3MT winner), Dr Callum Lock (James Callaghan Doctoral Thesis Prize), Emily Adams (Public Engagement Award)
Over May and June, Swansea University celebrated its postgraduate research (PGR) community through the annual PGR Festival. The festival provides opportunities for PGRs to showcase their research, develop essential communication and engagement skills, and connect with peers and staff across the university.
Events included faculty PGR conferences, workshops, and interactive sessions, culminating in the PGR Showcase on 10 June. Here, researchers from all three faculties presented posters demonstrating the breadth and impact of their work—from engineering solutions for the climate crisis and biomedical advances, to research shaping policy and practice in education, care, and business. This year’s poster prizes were awarded to Kathryn Knight (winner) and Caitlin Maggs (runner-up), both from FMHLS.
The showcase also featured the Swansea University Three-Minute Thesis (3MT) final, where participants present their research in just three minutes using a single slide. 3MT is an international competition, taking place in hundreds of universities worldwide, that challenges researchers to communicate complex ideas clearly in a way that engages a non-specialist audience. 14 finalists presented, with the winner being Sabriya Hussain (Electrical and Electronic Engineering), who presented her work on developing wireless power transfer systems for pacemakers and other implanted medical devices, aiming to reduce surgeries, improve patient experience, and save NHS resources. She will now represent Swansea at the UK 3MT quarter final. The runner-up was Mohsin Ali (Civil Engineering), whose research focuses on digital twinning in concrete construction.
Sabriya reflected on the experience: “3MT pushed me well outside of my comfort zone… Public speaking is something I’ve been actively working on… [and] being able to communicate my research to a wider audience has been really empowering. The competition was tough because the standard was so high, but it was also inspiring to hear about the amazing research being carried out by other postgraduate researchers.”
Dr Teresa Phipps, PGR Researcher Development Manager, said: “It is a real privilege to support our PGR students in developing the skills to communicate their research with impact. These skills are essential to allow university research to make a difference to our society, industry and economy, and we hope that events like the PGR Showcase provide a valuable chance for our PGRs to practice communicating the importance of their work, across such a fascinating range of topics.”
The showcase concluded with the announcement of the PGR Awards, recognising excellence in research, supervision, public engagement, and contributions to research culture and community.
The winners were:
James Callaghan Research Awards (for current students)
- Winner: Aisha Almuhailan (FHSS, Management)
James Callaghan Thesis Prizes (for recently completed theses)
- Winner: Callum Lock (FSE, Computer Science)
- Runner-up: Lowri Wilkie (FMHLS, Psychology)
PGR Supervision Award
- Overall Winner: Dr Leighton Evans, (FHSS, Media)
- Faculty winners:
- Dr Paul Albert (FSE, Geography)
- Dr Gwennan Higham (FHSS, Cymraeg)
- Professor Amira Guirguis (FMHLS, Pharmacy)
PGR Public Engagement Award
- Joint winners: Mamta Behera (FMHLS, Psychology) and Emily Adams (FHSS, History, Heritage and Classics)
PGR Culture and Community Awards
- Professional Services: FHSS Facilities Team (Eleanor Parker, Caroline Summers, Jimmy Ward)
- PGR Student: Joseph Udeh (FHSS, Management)
PGR Enterprise Award
- Winner: Luis Maia de Freitas (FHSS, History, Heritage and Classics)
The PGR Festival remains a key highlight of the academic calendar, demonstrating the diversity, quality, and real-world impact of postgraduate research at Swansea University.