Recordings and Resources

View recordings and resources (where available) from DocFest22.

Keynotes

Dr Michelle Jamieson
Falling apart and together again: A fresh look at wellbeing in the light of the pandemic

Over the past two years, the novel conditions of the COVID19 pandemic have highlighted increasing challenges to maintaining wellbeing in the workplace. The need to continuously adapt to changing and uncertain circumstances, and to live with the discomfort these produce, have led to widespread experiences of stress, anxiety, fatigue and burnout. But how well were we before COVID? How comfortably did we balance our personal and professional commitments? And how much did we enjoy, and thrive in, our jobs?

This presentation takes a fresh look at wellbeing in the light of the pandemic. Drawing on the lessons of recent years, it explores what a mindfulness-based perspective has to offer how we think about and practice wellbeing in an academic context. Specifically, it examines the relationship between health and work, and the role that self-awareness plays in keeping these elements in balance. Importantly, it emphasises the centrality of the physical body – of the embodied, sensate and felt – to these discussions, especially given the uniquely cerebral nature of academic work. Broadly, the paper advocates for a view of wellbeing as a lifelong practice that is foundational to a healthy career, and offers suggestions for ways to begin engaging consciously with this process.

Prof Nick Hopwood
How research can, and must, change the world

Research should contribute to positive change in the world. This seems uncontroversial, but the implications of this can be quite radical! I will argue that we need to debunk disguised ideology of neutrality to avoid upholding a status quo that is far from okay. I suggest we can – and need to be – committed in our research, and overt in those commitments. This does not negate empirical and conceptual rigour, but may lead us to think differently about objectivity, what makes good research, and how we make a difference. I will build a case that rather than describing or explaining reality, research should be trying to undo the boundary between the real and the (im)possible: not accepting what seems beyond reach, but striving to make viable what is currently unthinkable, unachievable, and unheard of. By doing this, research can truly claim to play a role in making the world worth living in.

Dr Susie Miles and Dr Nicholas Merton
Accessing Leadership: Creating a future that wasn’t going to happen anyway

The transformational leadership course, “Being a Leader: An Ontological/Phenomenological Model” has been offered in universities as diverse as Canada, Kenya and Vietnam over the last decade or so. It has a revolutionary approach which leaves participants actually being effective leaders, rather than merely knowing more about leadership. This keynote will answer the following question: “How is it possible to teach leadership in a way that not only informs students about leadership but also transforms them into actually being effective leaders?" Slides

Susie Miles and Nicholas Merton will share their experience and demonstrate the methodology used in the ‘Being a Leader’ course, which defines leadership as “making a future happen that wasn’t going to happen anyway”. The course is being delivered primarily to doctoral and early career researchers as part of a wider commitment to promote inclusive leadership at the University of Manchester, UK.

Prof Cecile Badenhorst
Where the writing begins: Conceptualizing research

Research conceptualization is often not viewed as a central part of the writing process and yet, without a coherent picture of a research project, countless students find themselves stuck in their writing. Many students and supervisors still hold a product-oriented view of writing where writing is the final stage of a research process. In this presentation, I advocate for research conceptualization as part of the writing process and discuss practical techniques to navigate the complex task of research problem formulation.

Ken Mahon
Engaging Industry and Defining the Value you Bring

Increasingly the focus for research and researchers is on engagement and impact which requires much greater collaboration with external partners in Industry and Government. But often that engagement is much shorter in duration and seeking outcomes sooner than the time frame for a PhD or broader research strategies. We will discuss the how researchers can identify the value they bring to external partners, some simple approaches to creating effective commercial relationships that deliver value and support research programs, professional development and a career in academia and/or Industry. Slides

Dr Miri (Margaret) Raven
Indigenous Protocols: understanding what can and can’t be done

There are unspoken and unwritten rules for working with Indigenous peoples and our knowledge. International law, through the Nagoya Protocol to the Convention on Biodiversity, calls on Parties to ‘take into consideration indigenous and local communities’ customary laws, community protocols and procedures, as applicable, with respect to traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources’ and to support the development of these protocols. This keynote will present ideas on what exactly are protocols, how can we understand them, how are they enacted by various players, and how can they support biodiversity conservation.

Three Minute Thesis Heats

The 3MT competition showcases students’ academic, presentation, and research communication skills and their capacity to effectively explain your research in a language appropriate to a non-specialist audience. The Asia-Pacific 3MT Competition is hosted annually by UQ and is held in over 900 universities across more than 85 countries worldwide.

Heat 1. Judges -  Andrew Hall, David Cameron, and Martin Pal. 
Heat 2. Judges -  Sam Bowker, Jennifer Munday, and David Cameron.

Plenary Sessions-Discussion Panels

Interdisciplinary Research
This plenary session our panellists will explore the pros and cons of interdisciplinary research and how to make it work.
Panellists:  Jennifer Bond - Moderator, Ben Stodart, Holly Randell-Moon, and Anthony Saliba.

You can’t ask that!
In this plenary session our panellists will answer questions about research and the HDR program that students have submitted anonymously.
Panellists:  Emmaline Lear- Research Development Officer (Moderator), Melanie Massaro, Judith Anderson, Paul Humphries, and Paul Shaw- Graduate Research Manager

Publishing: is there more to it than ‘publish or perish’?
In this plenary session panellists will share their knowledge and experiences of all things to do with publishing: including tips for finding the right publications, common writing mistakes to avoid, co-authoring, and citations.
Panellists:  Belinda Cash (Moderator), Dominic O’Sullivan, Ian Skinner, Mark Filmer (Research Editor), Leigh Schmidtke, and Tabitha Merrell (Senior Client Services Librarian)

Seminars with Sub Deans

Insights for HDR Students
Sub Deans (Graduate Studies) - Aspro Sandra Savocchia, Aspro Ramudu Bhanugopan and Aspro Sam Bowker

In this seminar session, the Sub Deans will discuss their own perspectives on navigating the PhD process. Each faculty will be represented by a 15-minute presentation, addressing students with insights from across all schools and their diverse research. They will discuss behind-the-scenes insights into PhD planning, success stories, overcoming obstacles, and other challenges facing HDR in Australia.

Insights for Supervisors
A round table for Supervisors with Sub Deans (Graduate Studies) - Aspro Sandra Savocchia, Aspro Ramudu Bhanugopan and Aspro Sam Bowker

In this roundtable discussion, the Sub Deans will review current issues facing postgraduate research across the Australian tertiary sector. They will discuss how new and experienced research supervisors are navigating the best outcomes for their HDR students, reflecting on examples from Charles Sturt University and beyond.

Strategies for Sustainable Success
School Research Seminar, Moderated by Sam Bowker (SDGS, FOAE)

In this workshop, Sam Bowker (SDGS FOAE) will demonstrate effective solutions to scheduling, marketing, recording and amplifying the diverse and innovative research-in-progress within our schools. Based on his coordination of weekly school research seminars in 2019 through 2021 for the former SCCI and FOAE, this workshop will showcase inclusive ideas that have been successful for all involved.

Publication Workshop - Getting published in peer-reviewed journals
Presented by Sam Bowker (SDGS, FOAE)

Increasingly, Higher Degree by Research students are expected to publish peer-reviewed journal articles arising from their masters or doctoral research. Publishing in peer-reviewed journals is important because evaluation by professionals verifies that the article meets high scholarly standards and enables you to be part of a scholarly community. It’s the means for establishing and maintaining an academic reputation—and winning promotion and grants. This 3-hour workshop will cover how the peer-review process works and introduce you to strategies for:  using an abstract as a planning tool for writing the article; targeting the journal and persuading the editor;  getting the writing done; reviewing and revising your text.

Themed Sessions

Open themed research papers
Moderator: Anna Du Chesne

First Nations Research
Moderator:  Dr Holly Randell-Moon

e-Poster presentations
See the e-posters submitted for DocFest22 and hear each of the presenters as they present their work and respond to audience questions.
Judges: Jason White (Dean of Graduate Studies) and  Simon Wakeling

Themed breakout session presentations

Various presentation slides (no recordings) from DocFest22.

Nicholas Steepe
LGBTIQA+ Inclusion @ Charles Sturt
Learn about LGBTIQA+ inclusion at Charles Sturt. You’ll learn about our Ally Network and training, inclusion initiatives and projects we’re working on, and find out how you can get involved!

Elizabeth Harangozo, Research Ethics and Integrity Officer
Research Integrity and Authorship
Many of you will not need to complete an ethics application for you research but ethics and integrity should be at the centre of all research

Hedy Bryant and Jill Fenton Taylor
Re-storying collective memoryThis reflexive writing tool invites us to consider how tentative and incomplete
stories and memories can be.

Hedy Bryant
From change to learning facilitator

Jill Fenton Taylor
Performing organisational meaning: reflections of a doctoral student