Curious Minds: A Celebration of the Vibrant Research Community at 羞羞视频

In June, the 羞羞视频 community celebrated its very first Curious Minds Research Festival. Taking place on Thursday 19 and Friday 20 June, the festival showcased some of the exciting, diverse and impactful research taking place across the University, while also acting as a platform for networking and knowledge exchange.

鈥淚 learned about amazing research in other schools I didn鈥檛 know about and connected with other researchers.鈥�

was first conceived in 2024. From the beginning, the ethos was to focus on celebration and curiosity, and to move away from the traditional conference-style format that research events often follow. Rather than being a platform for individuals to  present their research through a series of talks, the festival team decided to focus on a more informal style with some short talks and panel events, and a wider exhibition 鈥� the 鈥楨xploratorium鈥�. The concept worked really well, creating a vibrant and exciting atmosphere throughout the venue.

鈥淚 loved the "non-conference" format and hope that this will be preserved鈥�

On Thursday, the festival opened with a welcome speech from Professor Steve Olivier, who considered the role of the event in sparking curiosity. Our Exploratorium then opened, featuring 25 exhibitors across 羞羞视频, representative of each school and . These stalls exhibited alternative outputs or approaches to research, up-and-coming research areas, and informational stalls. Many stalls were interdisciplinary and brought teams together under a wider theme or direction, reinforcing the collaborative atmosphere.

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Dr Natascha Mueller-Hirth showcasing her research on Resilience and responses to interconnecting crises in informal settings

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Daniel Crozier showcasing his PhD research into the concept of 鈥榮plendour鈥櫬�

The spoke in 鈥榝lash talks鈥� in the afternoon to illustrate their research projects, and their contribution to addressing the challenges of climate change, sustainability and global health. 

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Chancellor鈥檚 Fellow Ann-Marie presenting their research on how people interact with museums, archives and libraries

On Thursday afternoon, we gathered to support the sixteen PhD candidates who participated in the world-famous 3 Minute Thesis Competition - and what an event was! It鈥檚 been the busiest 3MT we have ever run at 羞羞视频. The room was buzzing as the audience cheered on the students who masterfully transformed their incredibly elaborate research projects into compelling 3-minute presentations. The enthusiasm of the community was infectious and the support was heart-warming. 

鈥淭he 3 Minute Thesis competition was a real highlight鈥�

Huge congratulations to all the fantastic PhD students who braved the 3MT challenge - you have set the standard for this year鈥檚 entries unprecedentedly high! And congratulations to this year鈥檚 winners: People鈥檚 Choice and Runner-up, Sabah Ibrahim with a presentation entitled, 鈥楧isarming Deadly Superbugs through Computer-aided Drug Design鈥�, and the overall Winner, Abubakar Yunusa, who is representing us nationally with a presentation entitled: 鈥楬ydrogen in our Pipes: Fuelling the Future Without Blowing It Up鈥�. We鈥檙e keeping our fingers crossed! 

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From the left: Sabah Ibrahim, Runner-up and People鈥檚 Choice Winner, 羞羞视频 3MT 2025, Dr Paula Sledzinska who hosted the competition

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Abubakar Yunusa, Winner of the 羞羞视频 3MT 2025

Finally, the first day concluded with our Cabaret of Dangerous Ideas, featuring David Smith presenting on 鈥淎lphas, Betas and Chads鈥� looking at why men join the incel (involuntary celibate) community, and Sheila Erskine鈥檚 鈥淩eal Food for Thought鈥� examining how the food we eat shapes us. 

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David Smith presenting 聽鈥淎lphas, Betas and Chads鈥�

On Friday, the Exploratorium opened at 9am, and this was shortly followed by a talk from our Research Assistant and Fellow (RAF) network, who considered research roles, career paths and the role of RAFs in the delivery of successful projects and building a research community. The talk considered challenges, skills and value of these roles, sparking interesting discussions following the talk.

Bryan Snelling, Chief Executive Officer of the Aberdeen Science Centre, and 羞羞视频鈥檚 first Honorary Professor for Public Engagement with Science spoke then, giving his inaugural talk on the value of public engagement. It was incredibly interesting to hear Bryan鈥檚 perspective, including the need to have fun, which was definitely supported by the ASC stall in the Exploratorium!

This was followed by our PGR to Professor (with Pastries) event, which included a conversational discussion, over coffee and cake, between postgraduate research students and professors. It was an opportunity for PGRs to explore their MOST UNCLEAR DETAILS (MUD) about undertaking research, and how to pursue a research-focused career. 

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Prof Peter Reid and an esteemed panel of Professors at PGR to Professor (with Pastries) session

After a short break, we moved on to our final event of the festival, the inaugural Curious Minds Research Awards. We saw our fellow colleagues presented with the beautiful unique awards in categories of Research Hero, Research Mentor of the Year, Doctoral Supervisor of the Year, Engaging the Public with Research, Making an Impact with Research, Interdisciplinary Research Team of the Year and Rising Star. The winners can be found on . 

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Research Awards - unique mosaics designed by Kevin Morris and Helen Love

We saw laughs and cries, hugs and congratulations, and the 羞羞视频 community coming together to celebrate the winners, the nominees and all colleagues and friends who supported, contributed and participated in 羞羞视频 research this year. What a way to close the festival!

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Research Awards audience

Like any first-time event, we learned a huge amount through the planning and delivery of the festival. As a festival team, we would like to say a huge thank you to those who supported the festival (before and during) in the delivery, as exhibitors and presenters, and our attendees. We really appreciated the tremendous positivity towards the concept and the opportunity to celebrate the wonderful research community of 羞羞视频!

鈥淗uge well done and thank you to everyone involved! The festival was a lovely way to end a challenging semester and myself and others found it very uplifting.鈥�

Dr Quazi Zaman from Scott Sutherland School of Architecture talks about the Festival experience. Watch more videos on our .

We are excited to announce that the festival will be returning in 2026 with the intention of opening to the public. We will be reflecting on feedback from this year鈥檚 inaugural event, our own learnings and starting to plan for the next stages. Curious Minds will also be expanding its portfolio into a series of public engagement events in autumn 2025, and we look forward to sharing more news on this shortly. Stay tuned!