Postgraduate Researchers' Summer Conference 2025

The Postgraduate Researchers' Summer Conference (PRSC) is an annual event for research students.

The 2025 edition took place on 17th and 18th June, showcasing research across all MDX Faculties, our Collaborative Partner Institutions, and overseas campuses. The theme of the conference was "Sustainability in Action: From Vision to Implementation."

Day One was held in person at the Hendon campus, while Day Two featured online paper presentations and Zoom access to keynote addresses to ensure broader participation.

Marking the 15th year of the conference, PRSC 2025 featured presentations from research students and early career researchers across our London and international campuses and partner institutions. Over 70 attendees and presenters participated.

Our Chancellor, Dame Janet Ritterman, delivered an address on 18th June, highlighting MDX's research ambitions as outlined in the University Strategy to 2031 and the central role of sustainability in postgraduate research.

The opening keynote was delivered by Dave Philp, Chief Value Officer at Bentley Systems on 17th June, reflecting on this year’s theme. Day two included a keynote by Dr Olwenn Martin, Associate Professor in Health and Environment at UCL, emphasising the responsibility of emerging researchers to ensure their work drives real world impact.

The conference was chaired by Dr Noha Saleeb, Dr Vesna Lukic and Tricia McQuarrie, bringing together postgraduate researchers from diverse disciplines to explore how sustainability informs critical enquiry. PRSC 2025 celebrated research across faculties and partner institutions, promoted collaboration and strengthened the research community.

The event featured keynote addresses, performances, discussions, and creative exchanges designed to inform, challenge, and inspire attendees.

Approximately 52 oral presentations and 16 poster presentations were delivered across three parallel session slots, showcasing the breadth of MDX research, including sports science, psychology, psychotherapy, English, performing arts, childhood studies, natural sciences, computer science, business, law, criminology, COVID-19 studies, theology, design, engineering, mathematics, and more, as documented in the Book of Abstracts. Prizes were not awarded this year to encourage collaboration and community rather than competition.

Drawing on the words of bell hooks:

"The challenge these days, is to be somewhere, to belong to some particular place, invest oneself in it, draw strength and courage from it, to dwell in a community."

Presenters addressed the theme ‘Knowledge into Action’, reflecting our shared purpose: “to educate and to create and share knowledge for a fairer, more sustainable, productive and prosperous society.” The conference provided a platform for research to be bold, creative, and impactful.

The schedule was uploaded to the MDX Research Area on MyLearning.

We look forward to next year’s conference as another exciting opportunity to showcase the work of the postgraduate research community and continue building connections across faculties, campuses and partner institutions.

Keynote speakers

Dame Janet Ritterman
Chancellor – Middlesex University

Welcome address, Wednesday 18th June, 9:10am-9:20am

Dame Janet, our Chancellor, is a prominent academic and musician with a global reputation as a champion of the arts. She acts as a ceremonial figure-head of the University. Dame Janet has an important ambassadorial role in representing the University to external audiences to help build support for our mission.

Dave Philp
Chief Value Officer – Bentley Systems

Opening keynote address, Tuesday 17 June, 11:30am

“Architects of Reality: Your Research as the Blueprint for a Sustainable World”

Dave is a figurehead in digital engineering with over 30 years of global experience creating value for governments and infrastructure clients. His career, spanning major contractors and consultancies like Balfour Beatty, Mace and AECOM, has focused on mapping digital developments to critical business objectives across all sectors.

As CVO at Bentley Systems he is responsible for driving customer-centricity and creating sustainable value for clients across their asset lifecycle and portfolios.

Dave has been involved in delivering innovative projects, digital change strategies and digital asset management strategies across the globe from UK, Hong-Kong, Singapore, Australia and the Baltics.

He was seconded in the UK Cabinet Office in 2011 as Head of BIM Implementation and has been a key contributor to the UK public sector BIM mandate (GCS 2011-2016) he was also Chair of the Scottish BIM Delivery Group through the Scottish Futures Trust delivering the BIM requirements of the Scottish Government.

Out with the day job he continues to shape the industry as a Professor at Heriot-Watt University and Chair of the Chartered Institute of Building's (CIOB) Digital and Innovation Advisory Panel. He’s also author of the Dummies Guide to BIM and various other publication.

Dr Olwenn Martin
Associate Professor in Arts and Sciences

Arts and Sciences (BASc) Keynote address, Wednesday 18 June, 13:15pm

“From molecules to the planet - personal reflections on an interdisciplinary journey”

From her first degree in chemistry to her current academic practice within the wider planetary health movement, Olwenn’s career outside and within academia took a few unexpected turns. Weaving personal experiences with developments in emerging interdisciplinary fields, Olwenn will reflect on a few lessons learnt along the way.

Olwenn is interested in the connections between environmental change and well-being. Her research has focused on chemical pollution from the technosphere (processes, materials, and products) to the biosphere (our living planet). Within the wider planetary health movement, she has specialist expertise in endocrine disruption, plastic chemicals and mixture effects.

Keynote Performance

by Sangdi Zhou – Resonant Spaces, Grove Theatre

Wednesday 18 June, 18:00-18:30 

A unique performance exploring the intersection of art, research and sustainability, offering a creative conclusion to the conference experience.