Announcing IGPRC 2022 Winner
It gives us immense pleasure to have successfully concluded the first-ever InSPiR2eS Global Pitching Research Competition (IGPRC) with the grand final held on Friday, the 10th of June 2022. To advance the mission of InSPiR2eS, this was a fantastic showcasing event of the innovative research ideas from six emerging and novice researchers from six different countries – Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam. These grand finalists were shortlisted by the expert reviewers in multiple stages from the total of 303 participants across the globe. A big thank you to the VP (Competitions), country coordinators, sponsors, expert reviewers…
In case if you missed the live action, watch the 2-hour video of the grand final here:
It is now time to announce the overall Winner and Runner up of IGPRC. The wait is over…please join us in congratulating:
- Competition Winner: Vu Nguyen Manh Hoai (Vietnam)
- Runner Up: Yvonne Ang (Malaysia) for being the Runner up.
We would also like to warmly congratulate the other participants (Dilshad Saeed, Pakistan; Mr. Riyad Ismail, Sri Lanka; Jamie Ferrill, Australia; Melinda Malau, Malaysia) for reaching the grand finale. Well done everyone! This is a great achievement which reflects the global acceptance of their proposed research as well as their expertise on the pitching research framework (PRF). We very much hope that they are inspired to inspire others about PRF and will all be enthusiastic ambassadors of InSPiR2eS in times to come.
Grand Final Pitches & Reflections
A summary of the grand finalists has been prepared below, with accompanying pitch presentations and inspiring reflections around the competition…
Vu Nguyen Manh Hoai, Vietnam (Overall Winner)
Pitch Title: Constructing a Configuration Framework of Blockchain Adoption into Various Financial Ecosystems
Affiliation: Van Lang University, Vietnam
“Ever since being properly taught how to do research, I have definitely fallen in love with it. Since then, I have been able to come up with many interesting research ideas to share with my colleagues, research mentors, and researchers in related fields.
… And most times, sadly my ideas were not even read.
Being devastated, I was wondering if my ideas were just not interesting enough, or if I can never become a researcher. Asking my most trusted mentors, I finally found out the main reason: I am really bad at making a concise summary of my research ideas. Although I believe that some of my ideas can significantly contribute to the existing literature review, I now understand that almost everyone is not willing to read a twenty-plus-page research proposal as it is a big waste of their time. It was then that Dr Duc Phan from RMIT Melbourne, my closest mentor, introduced Professor Robert Faff’s Research Pitching Framework to me. After reading Professor Robert Faff’s publication, I could fully understand the core values of each publication, including the research motivation, theory, tools, data, novelty, and theoretical contributions, which are the key sessions in the template developed by Faff (2015). Although in his paper Professor Faff gave a full explanation of how the research ideas should be presented, I have to admit the fact that I was still struggling to make my proposal short but succinct.
Honestly, it was a big challenge for me to compress my twenty-plus-page long research proposal into 1,000 words. Dr Duc encouraged me to bring my most treasured idea to join the Pitching Research Competition to receive valuable feedback from experienced mentors. Having a strong desire for learning new knowledge and skills, I did not hesitate to give myself a chance to improve and to do research properly. After attending the informative seminars organized by the Knowledge Bridge Network, I was truly impressed by the presentations given by Dr Binh Bui from Macquarie University, Dr Vu Bach from the University of Hawaiʻi and Dr Tuyen Duong from Taipei Medical University. In their seminars, they provided me and many other Vietnamese audiences with their research experience, inspirational stories, and useful lessons for “newbies”. Being exposed to Professor Faff’s Research Pitching Framework, I started to get more acquainted with it. The Framework actually forced me to ensure each and every word I presented had its significant value, thus I was able to use less elaborated words to clearly express my ideas. In the end, I could fit my twenty-plus-page long proposal into a 1,000-word template. I am deeply thankful for receiving the advice from Knowledge Bridge Network’s most experienced mentors on how to polish my two template submissions to the IGPRC competition, and I finally won the biggest prize!”
Yvonne Ang, Malaysia (Runner Up)
Pitch Title: Moving Towards Sustainability: The Influence of Consumer-Initiated Movements in Reducing Resistance
Affiliation: Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia
“Thank you Professor Faff, the organising team, the InSPiR2es team and judges for giving me the opportunity to be in the Grand Final and for graciously accommodating our different time zones. Congratulations to the Overall Winner and to all the finalists for putting on a good show at the finale. I genuinely value this learning experience and count myself fortunate to have been involved in the global and national chapter of the competition. I would also like to record my gratitude to my superiors and colleagues from Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia for their overwhelming support. This experience has been deeply memorable.
As researchers, formulating research ideas is integral to our work. However, without the foresight of experience, it is easy to waver on research ideas, be distracted by the literature maze or lose one’s way in the details. The pitching research framework allows researchers to efficiently identify the main components of a research and its impact. The framework also ‘forces’ the researcher to envision the big picture while barrelling through the details. I personally value the framework for its ability to help me visualize the research in entirety and communicate it succinctly. I wish I had known about it earlier! Truly, the pitching research framework is a gift of clarity. Without the right scaffolding, it is easy for research ideas to be muddled. The effort required to clarify muddled ideas is paid with time, and while much focus is still needed in any research project, with the pitching research framework, the scaffolding is already in place.
Thus, I would like to thank Professor Faff for the pitching research framework, for his outreach work throughout the world and for generously sharing the resources from the InSPiR2es Network so freely. Thank you Professor Faff for your wisdom and your dedication to nurture science.”
Dilshad Saeed, Pakistan (Grand Finalist)
Pitch Title: Evaluation of Skin AGEs (Advanced Glycation End-Products) as Diabetic Nephropathy Biosignature
Affiliation: University of Karachi, Pakistan
“I truly appreciate the work of Professor Robert Faff in developing an effective pitching research framework (PRF). This is really a brainstorming exercise for the researchers. PRF helped me with my thought process and drafting of my research plan for my research. I recommend that researchers do PRF before presenting their research to a supervisor it saves a great deal of time.
Galvanized by my new goal, I submitted my application and was pleasantly surprised when I was selected among six grand finalists to pitch my research. During the grand finale event, I presented my pitch and watched the presentation of my peers, their work is commendable. I learned a lot from different genius brains presenting their pitches at an event. Even though I was not the winner, the competition itself forced me to move from the stage of research planning to the real world, and in this process, I learned what makes for a convincing pitch.”
Mr Riyad Ismail, Sri Lanka (Grand Finalist)
Pitch Title: Investigating Final Year Undergraduates’ Career Self-Management Process During Education-to-Work Transition
Affiliation: University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka
“Being a grand finalist at the IGPRC2022 is a great milestone in my life as competing and winning in a global competition has given great confidence to pursue and complete my research. I now use the pitching research template in my work to present various investment opportunities in a summarized format to prospective investors. Presenting work in such a structured and summarized format has helped investors clearly understand and compare between various projects to make better investment decisions faster.
I would like to thank Professor Faff for his personal guidance and the opportunity to present our research work on a global stage and take this opportunity to thank the judges for selecting me as a grand finalist. I would also like to thank my supervisors Dr. Nilakshi Galahitiyawa and Dr. Ajantha Dharmasiri of the Post Graduate Institute of Management, University of Sri Jayewardenepura for their support and guidance.”
Jamie Ferrill, Australia (Grand Finalist)
Pitch Title: The Role of Fraud in Trade Based Money Laundering (TBML)
Affiliation: Charles Sturt University, Australia
“Taking the first step into a new research project is usually the most difficult step in the research process for me. When I was made aware of the InSPiR2eS Network Pitching Research competition, I thought it would be a great opportunity to get some of the (many) ideas that had been floating around in my head on paper. The template created by Professor Robert Faff allowed me to break my big ideas down into manageable pieces and really consider a research project from start to finish. It took away the ‘overwhelming’ element that I find often accompanies research projects and made it seem doable.
Indeed, from the time I started working on the template through to the grand finale event, I made significant headway on the project I was pitching. The competition certainly lived up to its namesake and inspired me to work on something that had previously been a mere thought. I am grateful for the methodical approach the template enabled and not sure I would have ever actually started the (very meaningful) project without it.
I was further inspired by the quality of the research pitches I was lucky enough to witness at the grand finale. Huge congratulations to all the pitchers in the grand finale, and especially the winner.”
Melinda Malau, Indonesia (Grand Finalist)
Pitch Title: Does Information Asymmetry Influence Cost of Capital in the Pandemic Situation?
Affiliation: Christian University of Indonesia, Indonesia
“I am grateful as one of the grand finalists in the InSPiR2es Global Pitching Research Competition (IGPRC) through which I could gain more insight into my research. I also found the pitching research framework (PRF) helpful to define my research clearly and straight to the point. Through IGPRC, I gained progress and maturity in the research arena. The IGPRC was not just a research competition, but a research collaboration, as many of the insights from the reviewers improved my research. By following the PRF, I gained new insights and understood how to make my research simple, clear, and structured. What’s more, I could gain valuable feedback from Indonesian and international expert reviewers which I could not get elsewhere.”
Outreach In Africa
We would like say a BIG thank you to David Mathuva, VP – Africa, who has always been a HUGE supporter of the PRF initiative for professionally producing several Pitching Research videos to benefit the members of InSPiR2eS. Thank you David for building this meaningful collaboration and partnership with InSPiR2eS and advancing the reach of PRF across Africa and beyond. The inspirational Pitching Research videos of David are listed below. Please feel free to share them among your network.
Click below to open the videos in a new tab
If you are BIG supporter of PRF supporter and would like to “emulate” David’s efforts in a broad sense, please contact Professor Robert Faff.
MicroCredential (MC) Initiative
We are extremely “pumped” to announce that a new microcredential (MC) course Pitching Research Matters (PRM) is now live on the Bond University Learner Portal. This course is ideal for you if you are currently a research-enabled student of “research process” or if you are a novice researcher frustrated, lost or even over-whelmed at the beginning of your research journey. More generally, if you are looking for a robust strategy to kick-start your research planning, then this course is definitely for you!
- Price: Free
- Estimated learning time: 10 hours
- Maximum course duration: 90 days from the date of registration
- You will receive an Official Bond University Certificate (upon successful completion)
Learn more about the PRF MC from:
Click here to go directly to the PRM MC … follow the simple instructions to sign up and enrol today! It will be the best $0 you have never spent. So, get it started!