Bayes academics bring research discoveries to the pub for scientific festival

Bayes Business School academics took part in this year’s Pint of Science event to discuss the future of organisations, the labour market, and consumer behaviour at the pub.

Pint of Science is a worldwide festival which encourages researchers to take their work outside universities and into pubs and cafes to present their findings.

This year, researchers at Bayes spoke over three nights at the Artillery Arms, on Bunhill Row, discussing research papers on subjects including financial innovations, consumer behaviour at a time of crisis and the value of efficiency.

The first night saw Daniel Fisher, Research Fellow in Management, explore our use of the term efficiency, and how it is measured, as well as the need to re-think it for our own and our organisations sake for the future.

Matteo Devigili, Doctoral Researcher in Management, followed this up with a session on the problem of control in open-source software. The talk focused on potential consequences for the community and software evolution.

The second evening delved into the world of finance, in particular innovations and the impact of change on workers.

Dr Anastasia Richmond, Lecturer in Finance, looked at how the evolving nature of the finance market affected regular people, and how financial innovations affect our lives and well-being, not just big corporations’.

The impact of lower consumer prices on workers’ welfare or shareholder value was discussed by Dr Giacinta Cestone, Reader in Finance. Dr Cestone explained how firms manage their workers amid antitrust investigations and how labour forces restructure as a result.

The final evening of the festival explored consumer behaviour with Dr Thomas Robinson and Elena Bocchi.

Dr Robinson, Lecturer in Marketing, described how seismic events – such as the pandemic, the war in Ukraine and Brexit – impact our understanding of the past, present and future. The talk explained the role of consumption in mourning a future that never happened, managing new opportunities, and rediscovering ourselves in a new reality.

Ms Bocchi, a PhD student in Marketing, outlined what motivates people to collect and engage in activities that often need a great deal of time, energy and money.

The event was hosted by Dr Sabrina Gottschalk, Lecturer in Marketing, and PhD student Chiara de Amicis, with both agreeing the event was valuable in understanding how research is applicable to our lives.

Dr Gottschalk said: “Pint of Science offers a fantastic opportunity to bring academics and the wider community closer together. The informal and relaxed environment helps break down walls and makes everyone feel comfortable to join the discussion and share their thoughts.”

Ms de Amicis added: “Recent circumstances, such as the climate crisis or the pandemic, are showing how important it is to bring scientists closer to non-academic people. Our society needs to know what scientific research is and what its limitations are. We need more events like Pint of Science to make the scientific process more accessible to the society at large.”

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