Bake your Thesis invites doctoral students to represent their research in cake (or other baked goods) form! The aim is to distill and communicate the essence of your research via the medium of culinary creativity, be that with fondant icing, flapjack formations or scones in STEM. Think of it as research poster meets the Great British Bake Off.

The sweet (or savoury) submissions will be on display during the afternoon of the Festival of Postgraduate Research and will be judged by Research Student Administrators at the Doctoral College. We won’t be sampling your creations so don’t fret about soggy bottoms or setting our tastebuds tingling. We’re interested in how your creation captures your thesis. The lucky winner will take home a fantastic goody bag and our, ahem, prestigious trophy.

To participate, please complete the online application form by 31 May and then bring your cake along on the day (7 June). You can enter as an individual or a team. Our online form asks for the title of your submission and a brief abstract. But just in case you do a King Alfred or your research fails to rise and you need a last-minute rethink, we will allow participants to make minor amendments to their title or abstract on the day. After all, cakes, like research, can go off in unexpected directions.

If you’re looking for inspiration, check out the hashtags #bakeyourthesis and #bakeyourPhD on Twitter.

Good luck! We cannot wait to see what you come up with.