Draw your PhD

PhD student Adam Crymble has won a unique competition to have his research appear as part of an animated cartoon.

The competition, which was run by the internationally renowned animator and creator of the PhD Comics website, Jorge Cham, asked students ‘can you describe your thesis in two minutes?’ Cham then chose the best entries and turned them into animated cartoons. Adam Crymble who is studying for his PhD in the Departments of History and Digital Humanities took up the challenge and was one of a dozen winners (and the only British winner) from amongst the hundreds of submissions. 

Adam Crymble’s research looks at the history of migration and takes a distinctly digital approach, looking at trends in big data that aren’t always obvious using traditional historical techniques.

PhD Comics is a long-running comic by Jorge Cham about higher education and the life of postgraduate students. This unique competition and take on disseminating research follows in the wake of initiatives such as Dance Your Ph.D, a competition in which PhD students are invited to bring their work to life through dance and Bright Club, where researchers become comedians for the night.