Representing 代表
Speaking for other PhD students, and for the university: two years as Engineering Mathematics PGR rep, a scholarship reading panel, open days, a science festival — and seven minutes of stand-up about doing a maths PhD.
Fig. 6 — A student's point, travelling upward until something absorbs it into action.
- 01PhD students
- 02Feedback form · lunch-and-learns
- 03School forum
- 04Faculty forum
- 05Action
Absorbed, for real
Raise a point and follow it upward until something absorbs it.
The record
Some roles are about carrying other people's voices. A month into the PhD, the job of PGR representative for Engineering Mathematics; a year later, a second term. Around it: open days, a science festival, a scholarship panel — and a stand-up set.
Representation here is practical: an anonymous feedback form that reached every PhD student in the school, points carried up through school and faculty forums, a careers Q&A added to a lunch-and-learn, a writing-retreat survey that became eighty seats, a bowling night that put academics and PhD students on the same lanes.
And the other side of the table: reading applications for the Spärck AI Scholarships, answering families' questions at open days, running a double pendulum for children at a science festival — and, on 3 June 2026, seven minutes on stage explaining what a maths PhD is actually like.
Standing for Student Trustee
Stood for Student Trustee in the Bristol Students' Union elections in March 2025 as a self-nominated MSc candidate, and campaigned through voting week — announcing the run publicly on LinkedIn. More than 7,700 students voted in that term's elections. It was the first time standing for anything at Bristol, nine months before becoming a PhD representative.
PGR representative, Engineering Mathematics
A month into the PhD, on 1 December 2025, stepped forward as a postgraduate research representative for the School of Engineering Mathematics and Technology. After the Students' Union's rep and communication training, the role was confirmed in January 2026. Through the year's school and faculty rep forums, PhD students' points were carried upward — in person, through the co-rep or online — and the careers service agreed to add a general careers Q&A to a PhD lunch-and-learn. Bristol SU issued an Academic Representative certificate on 15 July 2026 for completing the year.
Completed
How to say my name
The first post as rep in the SEMT PhD community, on 5 January 2026, opened with a pronunciation guide — Xiaoxiao is ‘SHYOW-shyow’, /ʃjaʊ ʃjaʊ/ — then a line about the research (random walks on lattices, first-passage problems) and an invitation to send feedback to the School. Later posts passed along opportunities: a translational funding call, a study group with industry, and volunteers for the faculty's PhD induction panel.
Ongoing
‘Make your PhD better.’ — a feedback form and posters
Built a standing anonymous feedback form for SEMT PhD students with the fellow rep; the School circulated it to every Engineering Mathematics PhD student on 19 January 2026. Then typeset matching posters in TikZ and LaTeX in a teal house style: a QR poster headed ‘Make your PhD better.’ and a notice about evening building works in the PhD rooms. The same visual language later carried over to the ambassador posters.
Completed
Seven minutes of stand-up about a maths PhD
‘The Lighter Side of Research’, run by the doctoral colleges of Bath, Bristol and Bath Spa, trains PhD researchers to turn their research into stand-up. After three workshops in Bath and Bristol through the spring, the programme's first public show took place on 3 June 2026 at The Mount Without in Bristol, and the set — about seven minutes on doing a maths PhD — ran in the first half. The billing read: Engineering Mathematics, Bristol. Random walks, networks, and the strange peaks and valleys hidden in motion.
Helping organise SEMT Ideas Exchange Week
As one of the two SEMT PGR reps, joined the organising group for SEMT Ideas Exchange Week from March 2026, alongside the PhD programme leads and postdoc and staff representatives. The week settled into two showcase days — PhD research on 15 April and postdoctoral research on 17 April — and the Hidden Routes talk was scheduled for the same week.
Completed
‘Strike Up New Connections’: a faculty bowling social
Proposed and organised a Research Culture Week session for the Faculty of Science and Engineering: ‘Strike Up New Connections’, a bowling social on 25 June 2026, open to PhD students, academic staff and professional-services colleagues. The work was the unglamorous kind — promotion and sign-ups (more than twenty within days), the venue booking, reconfirming attendance, a volunteer team for check-in — and an outcome report to the Research Culture team afterwards.
Completed
Student Ambassador at the open days
Signed on as a University of Bristol Student Ambassador in April 2026 and worked the undergraduate open days on 12–13 June, which welcomed about 28,000 visitors across the two days — wearing a home-designed ‘Ask me about…’ poster for Engineering Maths and AI. Signed up again for the 31 October 2026 open day.
Ongoing
Somerscience: chaos you can touch
Helped run the University of Bristol Engineering Mathematics stand at the Somerscience family science festival at the Bath & West Showground on 4 May 2026, with hands-on exhibits for children and families — a double pendulum, a swarm-robot jigsaw and interactive pieces from Bristol's science centre — and drove fellow volunteers to the site.
Completed
Reading panel, Spärck AI Scholarships
Served on a twelve-member Faculty of Science and Engineering panel reviewing applications for the Spärck AI Scholarships at Bristol in May and June 2026: after a training session, each application was scored against a shared marking scheme, and results went to applicants on 10 June before interviews. It was a view of AI talent from the selection side.
Completed
From a seven-response survey to eighty seats
At the School PhD director's request, drafted and circulated a short interest check on structured writing retreats for SEMT PhD students. Every one of the seven respondents said yes; the director confirmed two faculty retreat sessions of forty places each, and they were advertised to PhD students for July 2026. A tiny data story with a tangible result.
Completed
‘Ask me about…’ posters
For open-day duty, designed an ‘Ask me about…’ Engineering Maths and AI ambassador poster in A4 and A3, an information-point poster for Royal Fort Garden, and square social posters in English and Chinese. They were built vector-first and audited like code: embedded fonts checked, page size verified, zero text overflow, and both QR codes re-verified module by module to point at the same handle on LinkedIn and Instagram.
Completed
A returning rep for 2026–27
Bristol SU confirmed a second year as the Engineering Mathematics PGR Academic Rep on 18 August 2026. The new year began with helping bring new PhD reps into the team and keeping the School's PhD community space open to newcomers; the faculty rep forums resume in November.
Ongoing
Evidence ledger
| Date | Item | Status | Links |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standing for Student Trustee | Stood | ||
| PGR representative, Engineering Mathematics | Completed | no public link | |
| How to say my name | Ongoing | no public link | |
| ‘Make your PhD better.’ — a feedback form and posters | Completed | no public link | |
| Seven minutes of stand-up about a maths PhD | Performed | ||
| Helping organise SEMT Ideas Exchange Week | Completed | no public link | |
| ‘Strike Up New Connections’: a faculty bowling social | Completed | no public link | |
| Student Ambassador at the open days | Ongoing | no public link | |
| Somerscience: chaos you can touch | Completed | ||
| Reading panel, Spärck AI Scholarships | Completed | no public link | |
| From a seven-response survey to eighty seats | Completed | no public link | |
| ‘Ask me about…’ posters | Completed | no public link | |
| A returning rep for 2026–27 | Ongoing | no public link |