Festival of Early Stage Researchers (FESR)

Explore, network and celebrate with your community.

The annual Festival of Early Stage Researchers (FESR) celebrates the invaluable contribution UCL’s early stage researcher community makes towards research and innovation.

Co-designed by doctoral and early career researchers, FESR focuses on the theme of community. The exciting festival programme includes interactive workshops, expert panels, networking opportunities and community celebrations.

Researchers join the festivities to enhance their professional and personal skill sets, prepare for the next steps in their career, share experiences and build their cross-disciplinary connections.

To get involved with our annual festival, explore our Festival of Early Stage Researchers Hub for further information on programme details, resources and updates from the festival. Coming soon!

“Now in its fifth year, the festival is a really valuable opportunity to celebrate and support early career researchers, who bring such innovation, creativity and energy to our research ecosystem. The 2024 festival theme is ‘community’, the fostering of which is fundamental to research. This is a wonderful opportunity to make connections, share experiences and develop new ideas and approaches with your peers." – Dr Michael Spence AC, President and Provost, UCL

"The Festival of Early Stage Researchers has been a highpoint in my annual calendar to connect with, and learn from, other ECR’s outside of my lab and discipline. UCL’s Collaborative Social Science Early Career Network had the amazing opportunity to contribute to FESR 2023. Preparations were collegiate and the stage was perfect for sharing our Collaborative Research Manifesto! Presenting our future research provocations to a diverse body of early career colleagues across UCL led to many insightful and memorable exchanges." – Dr Ned Barker, Leverhulme Early Career Fellow

Digital Accessibility in Action

Discover how we put the Digital Accessibility policy into practice when planning and delivering the 2023 Festival of Early Stage Researchers (FESR): Digital Accessibility in Action: Festival of Early Stage Researchers