Alchemy is normally associated with the transmutation of matter. However, it also resonates closely with the many transformations that take place in research – from the ordinary to extraordinary, worthless to invaluable, abstract to tangible, tacit to explicit, accidental to creative. Moments of multiplicity and coincidence often mean different elements converge and diverge in an almost magical process, leading to the unknown and infinite possibilities.

Alchemies of Research is a one-day conference that invites you to consider your research as a site of transformation(s) and to bring to the fore the various alchemies at play. It seeks to facilitate an interdisciplinary, supportive and innovative space of exchange leading to unexpected alchemical outcomes themselves.

What has shaped your research into something unique and precious? Do single elements combine and merge together to create something new? Are there moments of failure or serendipity that have transformed your research? Are there alchemies in your research that are deliberate or have they emerged more unpredictably and performatively? How can you unveil and expose the transformations and alchemies of your research? What possibilities might these provocations create in Arts, Design & Media research?

Lunch and drinks reception will be provided by your PGR Studio!