News

PGR Emma Louca wins Early Careers Enterprise Fellowship presentation competition at the Festival of Enterprise

Emma Louca's Accessible Letterpress Project recognised at Festival of Enterprise

From blood clots to butterflies: Reflections on the 3MT Final by Kerstin Nothnagel

Messy Journeys: Rethinking Success in Academia. Speakers announced!

Academic careers often look polished and orderly on paper, but every "successful" trajectory is full of rejections, wrong turns, and unexpected detours. Join our speakers as they share the parts of their journeys you won't find on their CVs: the grants that didn't land, the projects that stalled, and the moments that reshaped what success meant to them. We are delighted to announce that our three speakers to join this panel event are: 

University of Bristol PhD Researcher secures prestigious UK Government placement

Ishani Abeywardena, a fourth‑year PhD student from the Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, has been selected for the UK Government’s highly competitive PhD placement scheme with the Open Innovation Team (OIT) at the Department for Education.

Welcome to 5 Weeks of Wellbeing

This March, we're inviting PGR students to slow down, breathe out, and make space for the parts of life that don't revolve around research. Over five themed weeks, the Bristol Doctoral College will be sharing activities designed to boost your wellbeing, spark joy, help you connect with the PGR community, and reconnect with yourself.

Determined student completes PhD after severe brain injury set back

A PhD student who sustained a traumatic brain injury following a motorbike accident has graduated from the University of Bristol last week.

Bristol PGR turning research into support for female tech founders across Africa

A PhD student whose research developed into an initiative empowering female tech founders across Africa has graduated from the University of Bristol.

Bristol Alum Recognised in Bangladesh StudyUK Alumni Awards

Dr Syed Farrid Uddin Farhad, who earned his PhD in 2016 through a collaborative programme between the University of Bristol’s School of Physics and School of Chemistry, has been named a finalist in the Science and Sustainability category of the 2026 Bangladesh StudyUK Alumni Awards.

Bristol PhD student, Jessica Woodgate, awarded 2025 Google PhD Fellowship

Jessica Woodgate, a PhD student in the School of Computer Science at the University of Bristol, has been awarded a Google PhD Fellowship to support her exciting research to advance ethical decision-making in multi-agent systems.

Bristol PhD researcher on personal mission to help detect breast cancer early invents temperature-sensing patch

A PhD student at the University of Bristol has developed a convenient and cost-effective wearable patch to measure subtle temperature changes across the breast, which could in future be used to detect potential abnormalities and cancerous tumours.

Be More Empowered for Success PGR: Recent event successes

The Be More Empowered for Success PGR programme has wrapped up for 2024/25, finishing on a high with the hugely successful and inspiring Be Empowered: Transforming Academic Expertise into Career Success event, and the fun badminton social: Shuttlecocks and Sandwiches.

Scholarships event celebrates the amazing diversity and calibre of postgraduate research at Bristol

Congratulations to the Bristol Doctoral College for delivering an engaging multi-faceted event in celebration of our community of around 200 PGR scholars last week.

Compelling research on women and media in Northern India bags first prize in Three Minute Thesis competition

University of Bristol PhD student, Oroosa Anwar, took first place in a closely fought competition that sees researchers present their work in just three minutes.

Three minutes. One big idea

What can you do with just three minutes? Boil an egg, make the perfect cuppa, or... explain a PhD?

Speakers announced for Be Empowered event

Be Empowered: Transforming Academic Expertise into Career Success, an event to celebrate diversity, welcomes three speakers from industry and academia. Read on for more information.

Building cross-CDT relationships at World Cafe Knowledge Exchange event

Over 30 PhD and EngD students gathered at We the Curious on Wednesday, 29 January 2025, for an engaging World Café Knowledge Exchange event.

Applications are now open for this year’s University of Bristol Three Minute Thesis Competition! 

An 80,000 word PhD thesis would take 9 hours to present? Your time limit? 3 minutes. 

New blog post - Ten Tips for the Mental Gymnastics of Writing your Dissertation into a Book by Kate Holmes

For me, it wasn’t the proposal stage of turning my dissertation into a book that was tricky, but the rewriting. My book is very similar to my dissertation, particularly when it comes to the broad structure. I thought this meant it would be a relatively quick and easy exercise. But, it was harder than I anticipated because the writing was good enough for examination, but not for wider publication. It wasn’t a total rewrite but a shift in emphasis and expression. What follows are my tips based on my experience from an arts and humanities perspective…

Meet the 2024/25 Be More Empowered for Success PGR Advocates

The Be More Empowered for Success PGR Programme, established in 2022, has developed a programme of activities and events aimed at supporting an increased sense of belonging and connection among home Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic postgraduate researchers in the University. We had a chat with the group's Advocates to learn more about their experiences running the group.

Two new video series shine a light on the postgraduate researcher experience

The Bristol Doctoral College, with support from the Careers Service and the Global Engagement Division, has developed two video series focused on the postgraduate research (PGR) student journey.

EPSRC Doctoral Prize 2024 – Autumn Call – Applications now open

Applications are now open for the prestigious EPSRC Doctoral Prize Fellowship awards. The EPSRC Doctoral Prize Fellowship scheme is a unique opportunity for recent EPSRC-funded PhD students to launch their research careers in a supportive environment at the University of Bristol. The deadline for applications is Friday 1 November 2024.

EPSRC Doctoral Prize 2024 – Applications now open

Applications are now open for the prestigious EPSRC Doctoral Prize Fellowship awards. The EPSRC Doctoral Prize Fellowship scheme is a unique opportunity for recent EPSRC-funded PhD students to launch their research careers in a supportive environment at the University of Bristol. The deadline for applications is 2 May 2024.

Would you like to contribute to raising the profile of PGR in your research community?

The ‘People, Culture and Environment’ element of the Research Excellence Framework is currently out for consultation. This presents an opportunity to better represent PGR contributions to Research. The deadline for contributions is the 1st of December.

EPSRC Doctoral Prize winter call 2023 – Applications now open

Applications are now open for the prestigious EPSRC Doctoral Prize Fellowship awards. The EPSRC Doctoral Prize Fellowship scheme is a unique opportunity for recent EPSRC-funded PhD students to launch their research careers in a supportive environment at the University of Bristol. The deadline for applications is 5 November 2023.

Successful dual (Cotutelle) doctorates scheme is renewed

Bristol renews partnership with leading Australian university to offer dual doctoral award for further five years.

EPSRC Doctoral Prize 2023 – Applications now open

Applications are now open for the prestigious EPSRC Doctoral Prize Fellowship awards. The EPSRC Doctoral Prize Fellowship scheme is a unique opportunity for recent EPSRC-funded PhD students to launch their research careers in a supportive environment at the University of Bristol. The deadline for applications is 2 May 2023.

Apply now for work experience as an Associate Research Consultant.

Full Switch is a 6 month, 7 hour per week, Research Consultancy placement for researchers from Code Switch Consultants.