Room for failure: Failure in science — Fostering safe, open and inclusive communication practices in academic research relations

Documentation of "Faal Festival" (Room for Failure in Science), an interactive festival held 30 November 2023 at the University of Twente, organized under the UT Incentive Fund 2022 award "Am I 'Failing'? A conversational approach to promoting academic well-being through providing 'room for failure' in inclusive academic practices for diverse PhD students." The festival featured an open talk on PhD experience and supervision (with P-NUT), a keynote lecture by Prof. dr. Ellen Giebels on psychological safety and conflict in research relationships, and a master class and theatre workshop by Remko van der Drift (Institute for Failure Studies) exploring perfectionism and communication dynamics between PhD students and supervisors through collaborative theatre. The initiative also included a multiple role-play social simulation ("Research Relations: Safe and Social Conversations with Students and Supervisors") using scenario-based evaluation cards to explore communication dynamics, power distance, trust-building, and cultural sensitivity in supervisory relationships in the Infrastructuring Urban Futures (IUF) chaired by Prof.dr. Karin Pfeffer. The project was organized in collaboration with the University of Twente's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) team, Instituut voor Faalkunde, pITCom (PhD Community-ITC), and P-NUT (PhD Network University of Twente).