In September 2025, Dr Kieran Sweeney and Jenn Yoo received an InFrame grant through the Culture Catalyst Fund to host a series of workshops bringing together students across two PhD programmes: the ACRC Academy and the Wellcome Multimorbidity PhD Programme for Health Professionals. The idea behind this workshop series was to build interdisciplinary connections between the two programmes, and create an opportunity for peer-to-peer support and learning tailored to students’ priorities. March saw the third and final ACRC x Wellcome InFrame event take place at the Edinburgh Futures Institute. Planning was led by a committee consisting of PhD students Rose Penfold, Kieran Sweeney and Emilie McSwiggan, and themed around Addressing Inequalities In and Through Research.The morning opened with a panel of three invited experts in the field of health inequalities research: David Blane (University of Glasgow), Megan Armstrong (UCL), and Rebecca Hawkins (University of Leeds). The session was chaired by Helen Eborall (University of Edinburgh) and touched on the importance (and challenges) of inclusive research participation, drew on concrete examples of work addressing inequalities, and reflected on the growing focus on intersectionality in the field. A lively discussion gave students plenty to carry into the lunch break. The afternoon built on these conversations while creating space for cross-programme networking. Emilie McSwiggan led a ‘World Café’ session, featuring a series of roundtable conversations among rotating groups of ACRC and Wellcome students, covering how their respective projects aimed to address inequalities in health and social care, where their data or methods might be vulnerable to inequalities, and how to foster more equitable research culture.After a short break, students reconvened for a writing blitz – a well-established tradition for ACRC students though new to many in the Wellcome cohort. Each participant briefly outlined a piece of writing they were hoping to work on, before a collective hush settled over the room for 45 minutes of focused, independent writing. Wrapping up, many remarked on how much they had accomplished within the simple structure of shared writing session.To mark the end of the third and final ACRC x Wellcome event, the workshop was followed by an evening social – including, for some, an award-winning Scottish theatre performance exploring themes of social justice. And with that, the curtain fell on a series of popular student-led workshops that had fostered new connections across two doctoral programmes, while providing a space for peer-to-peer support and shared learning. 'A Giant on the Bridge' - from KT Producing. Copyright Tommy Ga-Ken Wan. The cast of A Giant on the Bridge onstage. Copyright Tommy Ga-Ken Wan. Publication date 04 May, 2026
