Picture courtesy of @UoM_MRC_DTP

Last Tuesday we found ourselves winning the “Best Contribution to PGR Environment” award at the Doctoral Academy Graduate Society (DAGS) conference. It is humbling to receive such an award from the doctoral academy and to be nominated by the amazing student community. Writing about science is our way of engaging across the university, and hopefully the Hive gives those not already involved in science outreach a simple way to do so. We just feel lucky to have such amazing writers and to work with new and seasoned sci-comm enthusiasts. This award belongs as much to them as it does to me and Laura.

The DAGS conference saw some great examples of science outreach and we were far from the only group to be recognised for work here in Manchester and beyond. There are truly some inspirational students working as part of the doctoral academy who have helped champion the cause of other students, led engaging outreach projects in schools, excelled in teaching, or had their influence felt internationally.

Importantly, we can’t forget the wonderful human who has helped make the Research Hive a success. Abi Roberts, who has consistently supported us with plenty of patience and a smile, rightfully deserved the recognition for her hard work with a reward from the doctoral academy too.

The conference also saw some fantastic talks and posters that covered the full breadth of the amazing research championed in Manchester. The day was rounded off with a talk by Prof. Sheena Cruickshank. For anyone who has seen Sheena talk beforehand you will be aware of the top quality storytelling and science we were treated to before the awards ceremony. It felt like a fitting way to end a day full of disseminating science outside our lab groups and rightly celebrating the hard work of students.

The Research Hive has been going for just over a year now and we intend to keep producing content from postgraduates keen to communicate jargon-free science. On that note, we are accepting pitches for new articles and are particularly keen to hear from those with little science communication experience. Please contact either me or Laura for more details – we don’t bite.

Jack