Guidelines
The Union of Students in Ireland is delighted to run the Why Research Matters competition 2023 in cooperation with the Irish Research Council. This competition aims to showcase the varied and high-quality work being undertaken by postgraduate researchers across the island. We ask the creative minds of the island’s postgraduate research community to tell us about their research, and why it matters.
Submissions are open from October 23rd – November 24th, with winners to be announced by December 10th. The submitted videos will be assessed and shortlisted by the IRC and USI, with the winner being chosen from the shortlist by an external judging panel.
Eligibility
The call is open to all postgraduates registered to a higher education institution on the island of Ireland, regardless of funding or area of research.
How to Apply
To participate in the competition, we have two different categories,
- Poster Category
- Video Category
You need to tell us about the research that you are doing, discussing
- Why you are doing this research?
- What you have learned or hope to learn?
- Why you think this research matters?
Upon the Completion of Poster upload the file via the form at https://www.researchmatters.usi.ie/enter-the-poster-competition/
Upon completion of your video, upload it to your preferred hosting service (e.g., YouTube) and then fill out the form at https://www.researchmatters.usi.ie/enter-the-video-competition/. Do not forget to include the link to your video in the appropriate section.
Note: You can apply for both categories
Poster Should be standard A0 format.
Videos should aim to be 3 minutes in length and no more than 5 minutes. The only requirements are that you state your name, institution, and funding source (if any) to video before you start your presentation and that you explain, by whatever means you chose, why your research matters.
You may be as creative as you wish, using slides, graphics, presentations, props, performance, or any other relevant means to convey your research and area of interest. The winners of the USI-IRC Why Research Matters 2022 and 2021 video competitions can be found here.