A PhD student from the University of Worcester has been given an award by an international organisation for the quality of her research pitch.
Andrea Tapia Arenas entered the Research Pitches Contest from the Compostela Group of Universities, which helps students with the dissemination of their research. She was awarded third place.
Andrea’s research looks at how to better monitor habitats for bumblebees using remote sensing data, and she had to create a video to pitch her research as part of the contest.
She said: “I hoped I would do well in the competition, because the video pitch you make for it is out there so other researchers that are doing similar work, or who are interested in that area of study can see what you’re doing and contact you, it’s like networking.”
Reacting to the win, which comes with a €300 award, Andrea said: “When I received the email I turned to my friend at the Doctoral School and I said ‘Wow! Look at this!”.
Andrea is in the final stages of her PhD and hopes her study will go on to impact the way the environments bumblebees live in are assessed.
She said: “I think it will be very helpful for decision makers, because being able to access data remotely gives them the information they need.”
She continued: “People who work in this area of research only have so much money and so many resources. The work they do in the field is time consuming as it has to be done regularly to make sure that bumblebees have the resources they need.”
The University of Worcester is the only UK member of the Compostela Group of Universities, which has members across South and Central America, Asia and Europe.
The group facilitates the sharing of ideas around the world, and the Research Pitches Contest allows participants to share their research with other universities around the world, seek funding opportunities and meet other people and groups doing similar research.
For information on courses at University of Worcester visit www.worcester.ac.uk or for application enquiries telephone 01905 855111 or email admissions@worc.ac.uk