Debating global issues in 8 minutes - Welcome to Research Ricochet
Researchers at Oxford Brookes are actively addressing the major global challenges facing society today. We believe in connecting curious minds through a range of added value activities.
On Friday 15 March, over 80 bright and inquisitive minds came together for the annual Research Ricochet event at Oxford Brookes Business School.
The speed dating style event, organised by Dr. Doaa Althalathini, Dr. Omar Abou Hamdan, and Dr. Hanlin Wang, aimed to foster lively discussions across a wide array of topics, featuring ten presenters to ensure stimulating and robust conversations. Each presenter shared a question stemming from their research/work. These questions were printed and displayed on poster boards with presenters positioned alongside their respective questions. Students rotated among these stations every 8 minutes, initiating conversations with the presenters using the printed questions as a conversation starter about the research area.
Guests were able to hear from ten fascinating speakers, including entrepreneurs in residence and visiting industrial fellows, covering a range of trending topics and challenges facing businesses in the modern world.
Dr Jano Jimenez-Barreto - ‘Is the consumer-centric approach still relevant in understanding how consumers interact with technology?’
Dr Beldina Owalla - ‘What are the barriers and challenges to female and ethnic minority founders' participation in entrepreneurship and innovation?’
Junior Oliveira de Almeida - ‘How does media affect the different generations' process of socialisation?’
Dr Xu Huang - ‘What challenges businesses are facing and what are the possible solutions for them to attract, retain and serve the unique needs of AI-powered customers?’
Dr Audrey Harroche - ‘How does the concentration of funding in science impact the production of knowledge?’
Dr Francisco Trincado-Munoz - ‘"In AI we trust" - how trust can help/harm tech adoption?’
Mr. Oli Coles (Entrepreneur in Residence) - ‘What should you look for when researching a potential employer in order to feel confident they’re the right employer for you?’
Mr. Jon Arthurs (Visiting Industrial Fellow) - ‘How can marketing insight be used to develop marketing strategies and sustainability led strategies?’
Elizabeth Okoro (Doctoral Researcher) - ‘How does the digital entrepreneurship ecosystem support or challenge older individuals’ perceived desires and capacities to engage in digital entrepreneurship?’
Larissa Thurlow (Doctoral Researcher) - ‘How do you effectively research an elusive phenomenon?’
Students who attended the event were overwhelmingly positive, particularly praising the networking opportunities.
“Just wanted to say a huge well done from me. Having been at the very first Research Ricochet and every one since. it is an event I really like - but this year was truly excellent. The venue was better, the organisation was fantastic and the voting idea really encouraged participation (and I do love a certificate ;), it lifted the tone and made it fun. Felt more like a celebration of the breadth of research we have and certainly felt like a real community with the students. I had some fantastic conversations - and some great ideas - in the discussion on youth volunteering that I had with the students. They properly thought about the question and I could see they felt they had a chance to contribute, which is great.” Staff attendee
"Lovely Research Ricochet today. I know it took some doing picking this up relatively late in the year but it was a super professional and super enjoyable occasion. The turnout of some 70 students who engaged marvellously was a testament and just reward. Thank you to all those colleagues who gave generously of their time whether as host to a debate topic or as part of the speed dating crowd! The award of prizes at the end was a lovely end.” Staff attendee
“I like the fact that I could network with several researchers and somehow contribute to their work. It was nice debating about interesting topics. It was also nice that we could recognise their contribution at the end.” Student attendee
“Getting to know the topics different researchers were working on, I realised that their research topics were very relevant to issues happening in our world today.” Student attendee
Each student was also asked to vote for their favourite presentation across three categories and recognised the outstanding contributions of Dr. Francisco Trincado Munoz (Most provoking question), Mr. Oli Coles (Most interesting research date), and Dr. Xu Huang (Nobel prize research). Congratulations for their well-deserved awards.
Research at Oxford Brookes University enjoys an international reputation, attracting high quality staff and students as well as major funded projects. As a research student at Oxford Brookes, you will join a vibrant and supportive environment, and benefit from expert supervision and a strong programme of research training.
The latest Research Excellence Framework (REF 2021) found that 97% of research at Oxford Brookes was internationally recognised or higher. It also found that 70% was judged to be of ‘world leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’ quality. Our research networks provide opportunities to develop collaboration that strengthens multi-disciplinary research undertaken by Oxford Brookes academic staff and research students.
Learn more about research at Oxford Brookes Business School