Rebecca Williams - A Whimsical Research Culture

Rebecca Williams, narrates her blog written for the Dementia Researcher website. Rebecca shares her experience of positively influencing research culture by integrating fun and personality into the academic environment. By initiating a board game night and other social activities, she encourages colleagues to embrace their quirks, from sharing pun-filled emails to displaying personal trinkets like a tiny rubber duck on their desks. Her actions have shown that by simply being oneself, a PhD student can significantly impact the research culture, challenging the conventional stoicism of academia and promoting a more genuine and wholehearted approach to work and social interactions within her unit​.  Small things can make a big difference! Find the original text, and narration here on our website. https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/blog-a-whimsical-research-culture/ -- Rebecca Williams is PhD student at the University of Cambridge. Though originally from ‘up North’ in a small town called Leigh, she did her undergraduate and masters at the University of Oxford before defecting to Cambridge for her doctorate researching Frontotemporal dementia and Apathy. She now spends her days collecting data from wonderful volunteers, and coding. Outside work, she plays board games, and is very crafty. @beccasue99 -- Enjoy listening? We're always looking for new bloggers, drop us a line. http://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk This podcast is brought to you in association with Alzheimer's Association, Alzheimer's Research UK, Alzheimer's Society and Race Against Dementia, who we thank for their ongoing support. -- Follow us on Social Media: https://www.instagram.com/dementia_researcher/ https://www.facebook.com/Dementia.Researcher/ https://twitter.com/demrescommunity https://bsky.app/profile/dementiaresearcher.bsky.social https://www.linkedin.com/company/dementia-researcher