Conclusion
“The UCC Postgrad Showcase Challenge was once again a delightful and insightful day that provided the opportunity for postgrad students from different scientific backgrounds to come together and creatively develop solutions for relevant university-wide problems. It was a stimulating day that hopefully will repeat for many more editions to come.”
-Joana Pereira
“My first interaction with the Postgrad Showcase Challenge was when I was a participant pri-or to COVID-19. I was indeed excited and thankful when I was asked to be one of the co-chairs for the 2022’s Showcase Challenge. Watching each group interact with each other but also with the speakers and mentors was energising, especially when this was probably the first time some participants had done an activity on campus with others since COVID-19. Seeing the growth of each teams Challenge idea and how they interacted with each other was inspiring to see. Even though it was a long day I would strongly suggest other participate in the next challenge.”
– Marnina Winkler
“Excellent event to encourage participants to think critically about social problems, and how to come up with solutions to make a tangible difference for societal impact. It was great to see interdisciplinary and international teams, because it is through diversity of ideas and different approaches that we can design the best solutions.”
-Sally Cudmore, Judge
Reflections of Overall Experience from Participants
Martha Shaka
- A good platform for likeminded people from different disciplines to brainstorm on problems and solutions
- Good value of teamwork
- A good place to practice presentation pitch skills
Bharathesh Budadamath
- Amazing!
- I really learned a lot of things like; collaboration, communication between teammates, solving problems in detail and presentation skills
- It was great interaction with mentors and really got some good insights
- Great management from organizers
- I appreciate judges for so meaningful chats with us.
Haseeb Younis
- Throughout the whole day, it was an amazing experience to learn things with interdisciplinary people.
- Everyone was nice and came with good ideas. We have explored the different ideas of different domains.
- Support team was very good, cooperative, and energetic.
- Thank you to my team, support team, mentors, and judges. We learned a lot. Thanks!
Anonymous
- This is a great opportunity for post-graduate students to work with interdisciplinary people and work together
- Learning how to refine ideas
Anonymous
- It was so nice to have an event back in-person!
- Although the groups were smaller then expected, it still allowed me to meet people I not have otherwise met.
Anonymous
- This was a fantastic opportunity to meet with very talented people in different areas and come together to learn about each other as well as solve problems/combine our knowledge
- It was a privilege to work in groups with enthusiastic people from different backgrounds (although more in common with others than you would think) and also to watch every-one present at the end of the day was very nice -> amazing to see how others interpreted the challenges and delivered unique solutions.
- The workshops/presentations given throughout the day were very helpful and gave me the skills and confidence to present at the end of the day.
- It was also very useful to meet with experienced mentors who gave fresh perspectives and wisdom
Anonymous
- Learning experiences was interesting
- Appreciated the beauty of interdisciplinary research
- Good day meeting new friends