2013 Participant Comments
“I found the opportunity to build links with other collaborators very useful, as well as the chance to broaden my perspective of the particular routes to impact that I might investigate…The interactive structure of the crucible made it fun and, at the early stages of my academic career, helped to inspire me as to what sorts of path I could aspire to in my research.”
“As a direct result of taking part in the programme I have developed new ideas for my research and looked at new avenues to expand my skills and career.”
“Overall, the Southwest Crucible was enjoyable and enriching. It was certainly time well-spent.
Meeting the other participants was probably the most rewarding aspect of the Crucible, because it provided an opportunity to share professional and personal histories with peers and to learn about very diverse research in science, engineering and the humanities.
[The Research Creativity session was]… one of the most useful training sessions I have ever attended. I was left with a ‘toolkit’ of ideas and resources that could be taken away and immediately put into practice to drive creativity in my research group, and that will be useful for the rest of my career.”
“It has encouraged me to look for and actively pursue interdisciplinary collaborations.”
“The South West Crucible has been a very positive and productive experience for me and I whole-heartedly recommend it… I have particularly benefited from the sessions on engaging research – with policy, with the media and with the public. I have already begun to profit from these skills, building new policy links since the Crucible and putting the media training into practice in a series of recent radio interviews.
There was a strong focus on the benefits of inter-disciplinarity and it has opened my eyes to the possibilities there are for productive collaborations and the funding opportunities that there are for such work….Along with the work on innovation and creativity, this informal learning has helped to develop my thinking and planning for my future research agenda.”
“The main benefit of the crucible was it got me out of my usual environment and talking to other researchers from a broad range of disciplines. A really great group of people and enjoyed talking to them and hearing about their research etc.”