The Barcelona Campus hosted a new edition of PhDay, the annual event organised by the Doctoral School, which aims to encourage interaction between doctoral students, make their research work visible and promote wellbeing during the doctoral process. In collaboration with the Vice-Rectorate for Research, Innovation and Knowledge Transfer (VRIT), the School gathered the doctoral community for a day focused on scientific dissemination and mental health.

Over the course of Thursday 15 May, PhDay attendees were able to take part in different activities specially designed to boost the doctoral experience in a dynamic and close environment, from talks to competitions and participatory workshops.

The event was officially opened by Dr Núria Casals, director of the Doctoral School, who reminded participants that, “Scientific communication plays a key role in this event, as it is not only important to carry out quality research, but also to be able to explain it to society. We will also be addressing topics of particular interest to you, such as the importance of mental health at every stage of your research careers.” Dr Casals also highlighted the strong participation in this year’s “Present your thesis in 4 minutes” competition, which received twice as many applications as the previous year – a total of thirteen candidates.

In addition to the competition, the event featured a scientific poster exhibition along Passeig de la Fontana, where doctoral students from the School’s four academic areas presented their work:  Health Sciences; Architecture; Economics and Law; and  Communication, Education and Humanities. This exhibition served as a prelude to the poster competition, aimed at increasing the visibility and value of the research carried out at the University.

One of the highlights of the day was the workshop  on “Mental Health and the PhD”, led by the researcher and teacher in the department of Medicine, Pere Castellví. The session provided a space for reflection on the emotional challenges of the doctoral process and the importance of taking care of psychological wellbeing along the research path. As Castellví explained, “anxiety and depression are highly prevalent among PhD students. This is why it is important to know and apply the tools we have at our disposal to manage stress and maintain a healthy relationship with our thesis, balancing time spent on research with our personal lives.

In the afternoon, sessions with the academic committees of the doctoral programmes provided an opportunity to address questions and encourage dialogue between students and academic staff. These sessions culminated in the highly anticipated “Present your thesis in 4 minutes” competition.

Out of the thirteen participants, David Sánchez, a PhD student from the Health Sciences programme, won the panel’s first prize for his presentation of his thesis titled “Hungry brain: Who controls your desire to eat?”. Sánchez will go on to represent UIC Barcelona in the final of the competition organised by the Catalan Foundation for Research and Innovation, to be held in Girona on 3 July.

The event concluded with the awards ceremony for the best scientific posters, presented by Román Pérez, vice-rector for Research, Innovation and Knowledge Transfer, who emphasised “the vital role of doctoral students in research projects.”
 

PhDay 2025 once again established itself as a key event for the personal and professional development of predoctoral researchers, as well as a strategic platform to raise the profile of the science being developed at UIC Barcelona.