⌗bcur14 does storify- Day 1

https://storify.com/JennyMurray/busy-1st-day-of-bcur?utm_campaign=website&utm_source=email&utm_medium=email

⌗BCUR14 Opening address and plenary: Stephen Mumford on ‘Knowledge is Power’

 

Monday 14 April 2014, 10:30 am, University of  Nottingham, and Professor Alan Ford, Pro-Vice Chancellor for Teaching and Learning at the University of Nottingham is opening the 4th Annual Meeting of the British Conference for Undergraduate Research. Having opened proceedings, one illustrious speaker hands the baton to the next one, and Professor Stephen Mumford, Philosopher and Dean of the Faculty of Arts at Nottingham, takes the floor to address the 300+ audience on ‘Knowledge is Power’.

Mumford opened his talk by looking at what is the role of knowledge and does knowledge empower us and empower humanity,and if so, how is this knowledge generated? The speaker here clearly acknowledged his multi-disciplinary audience and spoke of the many ways in which different disciplines treat and classify knowledge, be it  empirical, experimental, theoretical, abstract, or even intuitive.
Recognizing knowledge leads to thinking about knowledge as a means of empowerment and Mumford here asked the audience to reflect on whether we do, in fact know, what knowledge is? After all, he suggested, the  key point for ⌗BCUR14 is to establish what we need to do with knowledge that we have acquired, and at a conference, knowledge is disseminated, and furher knowledge is in turn generated.

In a moment of autobiographical reflection, the speaker talked of growing up in a house devoid of books; Mumford classified  this context as a disempowered context. In order to break free from this environment, power came from knowledge, and the way to knowledge was through education. While his examples may be drawn from his background as philosopher, with an emphasis on philosophy as a repository and generator for theoretical knowledge, a distinction has nevertheless to be made between knowing the  what and the knowing of how. Knowing how is what is empowering, as this allows you to do things. Philosophy trains a student to know what, and this is the first step towards identifying the need for knowledge. Knowledge generation has different stages, and this is where Mumford returned to the context of the plenary as opening
a conference as a convention that brings together people, all ready to discuss new knowledge, new research, and to focus on new questions.

Mumford here offered the audience a list of top tips for being- and becoming-  a successful researcher:
first and foremost, he spoke emphatically of the need toto be passionate about your subject;
but while passion is what drives you, you also need to be lucky. Many people work in your field, so be able to find your topic, explore it, but expect to be flexible and diversify.
Mumford then turned to the theme of collaboration, which is in many ways a different process of generating knowledge, because collaboration as a model arguably generates better knowledge by working differently. Collaboration does not save time with research; its time consuming but rewarding because the knowledge that is generated is based on sharing, on arguing, on debating, and ultimately, collaboration leads to interdisciplinary and this process will inexorable lead you to ask different questions. Here, the talk was drawing on examples based on  Mumford’s own research, both as a sole author but also his more recent work co-authoring a number of projects with Dr Rani Lil Anjum. By bringing knowledge back to his philosophical roots, Mumford neatly grounded his talk in his own discipline and found a neat way of emphasising both the significance of disciplinary roots but also the way in which knowledge transcends the traditional departmental structures of higher education.

Summing up, Mumford spoke of the process of a conference: sharing knowledge is an enabling process, when the process of becoming a researcher turns you from somebody acquiring knowledge to somebody empowering others by sharing knowledge. Here, he directly addressed the young reseachers attending ⌗BCUR14 and spoke of the delegates as embarking on their journey of knowledge, perfecting research skills,learning techniques and skills. BCUR offers them   an opportunity to present research at an early stage. And then he advised delegates to  never be discouraged that each new discovery shows more clearly how much more there is to be discovered. Learning is often about discovering new areas of ignorance- there will always be more things to be discovered- and surely, this is not a reason to be disheartened but an incentive to strive for more knowledge if ever there was one. Mumford urged delegates to love their subject and the watch benefits of research unfold as their knowledge helps to inspire a new generation of researchers. fFor Mumford, few things are more important than the production of knowledge; knowledge is power; research empowers humanity, research and knowledge are about dreams and opportunities- go out, learn, smash some old paradigms, and then disseminate and share what you have found. The plenary certainly hit the right notes in putting a bounce into delegates’ steps as they dispersed to take to the floor themselves….

Gabriele Neher (gabrieleneher)

Emma Russell is ready to go: #bcur14

 

Emma Russell

When signing up to be a student volunteer for the British Conference of Undergraduate Research at the University of Nottingham one of the things I was most excited about was being involved in the organisation of such a prestigious event. Though I knew it would be hard work and I would gain a valuable insight of how an academic conference works, I didn’t realise that I would have such a broad range of responsibilities, from running for Sellotape and paperclips, to being a human signpost, to chairing a conference. This quickly became clear to me once training began and the range of things the team were to learn became evident.

On the first day of the training we went through the importance of social media for a conference. Though there is obviously a huge administrative side to organising events, keeping in touch and available through social media has become more and more important. As well as this, creating a lasting impression after the event is over would help to creating a lasting footprint of the conference at the university of Nottingham. It was in this session that I realised the extent of how many different social media outlets there are and how easy they are to make. Having already used WordPress for various blogs over the years, I was interested more in learning about Twitter and Instagram, which have now become more prevalent in the time I invest to researching art events and galleries.

That is something else that I have enjoyed about the training I have relieved for the conference, it hasn’t just been about getting each member of the team ready to take part as a helper for the conference by helping us to incorporate the experience more widely into our working lives, such as improving our career prospects. For one of the training sessions we were told to bring a CV with us so that we could receive advice from a lecturer individually about how to improve it and throughout the training we have also been told about how to incorporate working at the conference into a CV. Whilst doing this session, we also looked at each other’s CV’s, which helped me, personally, because, as a student, I never get to see those of other students. I know what other students do on my course because we talk about it as friends but seeing a CV is different as it is the application of the things we get involved with that can make either a good CV or a bad one. It also made me realise their range of other opportunities that the University of Nottingham offers, such as entrepreneurial Advantage Award modules that have wider implications in that they lead to more opportunities for that student. It made me realise that getting involved leads to more opportunities to do so.

Having had training to be a student helper at the British Conference of Undergraduate Research I would feel much more confident in taking part in one myself with my own research. I was encouraged by a friend who is taking part in the conference to also put in an application but I didn’t feel like anything I could do would be good enough, thinking that it was for older undergraduates. Having taken part in the training I wouldn’t hesitate to put in a proposal for the next conference as I now know more about the procedure and what is expected of the speakers. This, in turn, would improve my cv, my confidence and would lead onto other opportunities in the future.

One thing I was worried about, however, was the technical support side of the role. I realised that this would be a part of it but I didn’t realise that we would be expected to be on hand to organise those speaking in the conference. This fear was alleviated, however, as the team were all taught in small groups about how to use the recording systems in operation at the university and how to set up the computers. This may seem like no small thing to a generation that has been brought up in schools where part of the curriculum involves compulsory studies in ICT, but this was the university system that would be entirely foreign, which the team were then expected to be able to use where time is limited. This was taught step-by-step whilst each of us got up in front of the rest of the team to deliver a two minute speech about a research topic of our choice.

It was this point that made me realise that the research that I am doing for my dissertation is actually worth speaking about to other people who may not come from the department of art history as it became clear that other people were interested and that the research I do is worthwhile for not just getting my degree. I think it was this that also made me more passionate about my degree, in that, I realised that I can articulate my thoughts and ideas in a two minute practice speech in front of a room of strangers and make them interested in what I am saying.

This brings me to the last, and most important, reason that I wanted to be involved in the conference and that is that I would get to hear a wide range of research that students are getting involved with, bringing in their own ideas into a field of knowledge and pushing the boundaries. This is a thought that excites me and makes me want to push further and get more involved with my subject, researching new ideas and sharing these with others.

Emma Russell

Sunday before #bcur14- as told by Jenny Murray and Storify

Our second Storify captures the final few hours before the conference REALLY Kicks off:

https://storify.com/JennyMurray/bcur-begins?utm_campaign=website&utm_source=email&utm_medium=email

Gabriele Neher (@gabrieleneher)

From delegate to conference volunteer for ⌗BCUR14: Grace Lowe has seen it all…

I first heard about the British Conference of Undergraduate Research when I was in the second year of my degree through a web advertisement on our University Portal. I had just finished a summer research project working on solar cells and had loved every minute of it. The BCUR looked like an incredible opportunity to share what I had learnt, so I applied and I was over the moon when my abstract was accepted. So a little over two years ago, I was on my way to the BCUR in Warwick to give my first every public presentation about research just like many of you are today. I completely empathise with the mixture of nerves and excitement you are probably feeling now. Concentrate on the excitement because you have a wonderful few days ahead!
My experiences at the BCUR in Warwick inspired me in a number of ways and one of them was to get involved with BCUR 2014 here at Nottingham. Having the opportunity to present the research I had done and listening to the inspirational talks that other undergraduates gave has made me realise how important and wonderful sharing research and ideas can be. It is your opportunity to change someone else’s perception of the world and their opportunity to expand yours. The beauty of this conference is the breadth of topics covered and variety of backgrounds of the delegates. You are presented with a unique challenge to communicate your passion about your subject and your findings to an audience who are completely outside of your field of research. This can generate fantastic questions and conversations, as people with very different viewpoints look at something new to them. The audience was always fantastic and supportive so just enjoy sharing your hard work.
Navigating the BCUR conference can be tricky as there are such a variety of talks. The key is planning. I have downloaded the guidebook app on my phone and typed in the BCUR2014 code to access the schedule. It was immediately apparent that there are a lot more talks this year than there were previously. That means that there are more of you getting involved and getting this incredible opportunity! I would definitely plan in advance which talks you want to see, but be flexible. You don’t know who you are going to meet and you may well decide that you want to attend the presentations of people who have caught your imagination in conversation. Outside the talks there are lots opportunities to meet people, tonight there is a quiz and tomorrow there is more entertainment planned. My advice would be to pick at least one session that is as unrelated to your field as possible. I still remember the presentation I saw in Warwick about the end of life care for patients given by student nurse Lucy Ryan. It was a heart-felt piece about a sensitive subject and some incredibly important research.
The poster sessions are an excellent opportunity to go and have some really interesting conversations and top up on much needed caffeine. We are going to keep you busy so take any opportunities of food and tea breaks while you can. The sessions have been designed so that people have to be next their posters during a specific session but also get the opportunity to explore everyone else’s as well.
Over the next few days you are going to make a lot of friends. A year later I ended up going to another undergraduate conference with James Adams, another chemist I met through the BCUR conference at Warwick. You are also going to learn a lot and have fun doing it. I got involved with BCUR 2014 because my previous experience inspired me not only in my research, future career decisions and how I communicate about chemistry, but also because it broadened my perspective of research. I believe that it is paramount that we share what we research, and that we start doing it as undergraduates. I also think that opportunities like the BCUR are one of the best ways to go about this. I am thrilled this year that the conference is getting bigger, because that means more delegates are getting the opportunity to be here. I am over-joyed to be working with a dedicated, energetic and creative group of staff and students who are making this possible. One of the things we are really excited about is to see your BCUR experiences through social media. We want to you to make a noise about this through twitter and facebook and Instagram, because we want more people to know about BCUR, the research that undergraduates like you do and the discussions events like this can catalyse.
So please tweet using the hashtag #bcur14 and I look forwards to meeting you all and hearing all about your research!
All the best
Grace (a fourth year University of Nottingham chemistry undergraduate @glo_we)

Megan Shore is ready for ⌗BCUR14: Sunday 13 April 2014, and less than 24 hours to go

Pre-conference musings

It’s Sunday afternoon [Sunday 13 April, 2014] and I’ve just come onto campus and I’ve already seen a few people wandering about – possibly conference delegates, definitely admiring the grounds on such a beautiful day!
BBC weather tells me that the sun’s going to shine for the conference so hopefully everyone will get a chance to enjoy it between presentations and poster sessions. It’s certainly good news for me – I won’t have to wear layers and layers under my bright blue conference t-shirt!

Conference Goody bags

This afternoon us members of the conference support team are going to start the first of our many tasks – preparing the delegates’  conference bags, badges and other general final touches. There is so much work that goes on behind the scenes in these events, I’d never really realised it. From putting together the programme to timetabling our individual schedules and even more menial tasks such as putting up poster boards and rearranging rooms, there’s a lot of organising to do!
All the work Martin, Gaby and Lucie (among others) have put in is very impressive and everything seems to be going according to plan so far. On Wednesday we went through the programme and all, to everyone’s joy, the timetabling worked out perfectly!

We’ve been prepared about what our roles are (being human signposts, being in charge of the videoing of presentations, chairing sessions, moving poster-boards and, most importantly, putting together those all-important conference bags) and the training sessions have been very useful.
I’ve been in many lecture theatres and seminar rooms but I’ve never known how the technology in them works but, thanks to the training, I do now and hopefully I’ll be able to find my way around the different buttons! We also had to do mini-presentations so we could get a sense of timing as well as how it feels to talk in front of so many people. Although my presentation wasn’t particularly powerful or well-rehearsed (I had a lot of deadlines that week!), it did help me recognise that 15 minutes is quite a long time to speak for and that visual aids are definitely a good idea! I’m looking forward to seeing how much better the delegates’ presentations are!

When I was in sixth form, I helped organise a Model United Nations conference for about 100 year 12 students, which involved preparing committee topics and resolutions, organising chairs and even taking on the role of the Secretary General of the General Assembly. So while I like to think that I’m not a complete novice, I know that the BCUR conference is much larger, much more prestigious and that I’ll be learning lots more about public speaking, organising and directing people.

I’m not sure what I want to do after university yet and, as a French and History student doing a year abroad next year, I still have 2 more years to properly decide. Still, I think it’s very useful to be doing things in addition to my work and the University of Nottingham offers so many opportunities. From sport (this year I’ve been playing in the History society netball team), to volunteering (I’ve been part of a group teaching two year 3 classes about the History of Nottingham), the university offers it all. With such a range of extracurricular activities, the university thinks that it’s only right that these be recognised and that’s what the Nottingham Advantage Award is all about. Students can do different modules (including peer mentoring, volunteering in the community, career skills sessions, internships and study abroad placements to name a few), and when you’ve completed three, you receive the Nottingham Advantage Award which goes on the bottom of your university transcript and is widely recognised by employers.
It just so happens that taking part in the BCUR at Nottingham counts as one of these modules! So all the skills that we’ve learnt so far and will continue to gain throughout the conference will be credited by the university. I think it’s a great way to encourage students to get involved in activities and events which will give them not only skills to take on for future career opportunities but also fun, eye-opening experiences.

So that’s one of the reasons why I’ll be here this week, but that’s not the only reason BCUR stood apart from other modules. It’s great that the conference is made up entirely of undergraduates and I know it’s going to be really inspiring hearing from people who are so enthusiastic about their degrees. Sometimes it’s difficult to get excited about some of the work we do as undergraduates (my French grammar classes come to mind) but this conference reminds us that there’s plenty to get excited about. Also, it’s incredible how far BCUR has come since its first conference in 2011. There will be over 300 delegates this year and many of them will be from international universities – two delegates will even be answering questions through a Skype connection from India! There conference is a real opportunity for students to meet like-minded people as well as encouraging them to engage with students from a broad range of disciplines and countries. Personally, I’m excited about listening to a delegate talk about philosophy only to be followed by another talking about chemistry; it’s great to be able to step outside of our comfort zones and be surprised by what might spark our imaginations!

For now I ought to leave the library and play my part in the last-minute preparation before I go home and get some rest before it all kicks off tomorrow for us at 8.30am! I’ll be wearing my bright blue t-shirt so look out for us if you get lost, or need to ask a question. And if you get a chance, remember to wander round the campus (the lake is particularly beautiful in springtime with all the blossom) and enjoy yourselves!

Megan Shore

Esen Esengul is ready for the conference. And wearing blue …⌗BCUR14

Initially I had very little knowledge on what a conference entailed and this made the process of training to be a member of the BCUR Nottingham support team even more exciting as it was a completely new experience to me.
I applied after researching about the British Conference of Undergraduate Research and I immediately became interested due to the vast amount of Universities that participate in the conference. I thought it would be a great opportunity to gain experience on what to expect in a conference and to have the opportunity to decide whether I would be interested in participating as a delegate in the future.
I am particularly excited to represent the University of Nottingham (even if it is in the background!) and make this year’s conference run as smoothly as possible.
Secretly, at this stage, I’m also extremely excited about the customised support team polo shirts, which I plan to wear to the gym post conference (Don’t judge me…).
The training sessions have been very informative so far as they have not only allowed us to prepare for the conference but they have also focused on our own employability skills. This is the case particularly in the third training session which focused on improving our CV’s. It was great to listen to feedback from both the staff on the support team and also my fellow team members. Before the session even started I realised that my CV looked very dull and boring in comparison to the layout of the others, so even before anyone gave me feedback I’d already had amendments to make. I guess the biggest thing I learnt from that session was my preconception of my CV and the fact that it wasn’t as amazing as I had believed, which usually occurs with most of the work I write (potentially including this blog entry). This session helped me learn to be less defensive with my own work and to analyse it in an unbiased perspective, which I think is important for the conference if I am given the task to chair.
The second training session was heavily focused on the equipment we will be using on the day of the conference, which included the control panel in the lecture rooms and recording facilities. In order to learn how to use the equipment we were asked to prepare a small speech on work we are currently doing on our course and to present it, whilst being recorded. Prior to the session I was extremely nervous to present as I didn’t know what to say and I’m prone to embarrassing myself on a regular basis. I realised that if I was feeling nervous in that 2 minute practice speech in front of around 20 people, the delegates must be feeling exactly the same, if not worse, having to speak for 15 minutes in front of strangers. At that moment I realised that the biggest support I could offer is my help and assistance in order to act as a calming presence giving the delegates nothing else to worry about apart from their own presentations.
This leads on to my main concern at this stage, which is the possibility of any technical faults as they cannot be anticipated before the conference and I think if any technical faults did occur it would make the delegates even more nervous than they may already be. However in the final training session it was reassuring to receive emergency numbers in case of any faults that we were unable to deal with which may occur.
During this training session we also received a personalised rota with general tasks of the support team along with a list of our personal tasks. I was extremely excited to be appointed the task of chair and deputy chair for two sessions within the conference as I believe it is an invaluable experience that I doubt id be subject to again. It will also help strengthen many vital skills needed after University, such as analytical skill and organisational skill. This is particularly important as one of our duties is to evaluate the presentations of the speakers we are subject to in the sessions, despite potentially not having an academic understanding on the topics presented. Thus it is important to be able to evaluate a speaker on their ability to present rather than solely on the content of their presentation.
During the final training session we were given a list of the delegates in our sittings and the topics they will be presenting. Before this, I expected there to be quite a few different topics, however after reading some of the titles I am quite shocked at the vast variety of genres and topics people have chosen for their presentation. I am now a lot more interested and excited to listen to the topics in depth from the delegates in my sessions.
Finally we were also informed of all the last minute details to the conference and given a basic overview of the itineraries on both the 14th and 15th of April. I find it especially strange to see how much work and effort goes into things that I would have usually never have thought about, such as name badges and goody bags.
I look forward to welcoming the delegates from other universities at the quiz night on the Sunday before the conference along with welcoming lots of different delegates and visitors on both days of the conference (Monday 14th & Tuesday 15th). I am expecting it to be a busy couple of days and an experience I’m sure I will thoroughly enjoy and remember. Good luck to all participating and you can find me and other members of the support team in our eye-catchingly blue polo shirts.

Esen Esengul

⌗BCUR14 Programme at a glance

BCUR 2014 University of Nottingham

Programme at a glance

Sunday, 13th April, 2014

From 15.00 Accommodation keys available, Lenton & Wortley Hall

19.30-21.00 Quiz (for delegates in conference accommodation), Lenton & Wortley Hall dining hall

Monday, 14th April, 2014

9.00-11.00 Conference Registration desk Trent Building Council Dining Room
10.30-11.30 PlenaryWelcome: Professor Alan Ford, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Teaching & Learning, University of NottinghamKeynote talk: Professor Stephen Mumford (Nottingham) “Knowledge is power” Law & Social Sciences B63
11.30-12.00 Tea & CoffeePosters X pin up Trent Building Great Hall andSenate Chamber
12.00-13.00 Parallel sessions, S1 Trent BuildingL&SS LG11, LG18A1, A2, A4
13.00-14.00 LunchPosters X, even numbers Trent Building Great Hall andSenate Chamber
14.00-14.45 Network eventProfessor Mike Neary (Lincoln): People bingo Trent Building Senate Chamber
14.45-15.45 Parallel sessions, S2 Trent BuildingL&SS LG11, LG18A1, A2, A3, A4
15.45-16.45 Tea & CoffeePosters X, odd numbers Trent Building Great Hall andSenate Chamber
16.45-17.45 Parallel sessions, S3 Trent BuildingL&SS LG11, LG18A1, A2, A3, A4
17.45-18.30 Posters X take downPosters Y pin up Trent Building Great Hall andSenate Chamber
[17.45-18.30] [BCUR Steering Group meeting] [L&SS] [B62]
19.30 – late Conference Dinner Lenton & Wortley Hall Dining Hall
19.30 – late Conference Buffet Lincoln Hall Dining Hall
Tuesday, 15th April, 2015

9.00-11.00 Conference Registration desk Trent Building Council Dining Room
9.00-10.00 PlenaryKeynote talk: Professor Philip Moriarty (Nottingham) “Guilty Confessions of a YouTube Physicist” Keighton Lecture Hall
10.00-11.00 Parallel sessions, S4 Trent BuildingL&SS LG11, LG18A1, A2, A4
11.00-12.00 Tea & CoffeePosters Y, even numbers Trent Building Great Hall andSenate Chamber
12.00-13.00 Parallel sessions, S5 Trent BuildingL&SS LG11, LG18A1, A2, A4
13.00-14.00 LunchPosters Y, odd numbers Trent Building Great Hall andSenate Chamber
14.00-15.00 Parallel sessions, S6 Trent BuildingL&SS LG11, LG18A1, A2, A3, A4
15.00-16.00 PlenaryKeynote: Dr Helen Walkington (Oxford Brookes) “Get published!”PrizesReflections: Professor Stuart Hampton-Reeves (BCUR and Central Lancashire) Keighton Lecture Hall

For more information, refer to the main BCUR webpage

A list of the abstracts can be found here 

 

#bcur2014: no pressure for the student volunteers…. Charlotte Lawson explains all!

From humble beginnings at the University of Central Lancashire in 2011, the British Conference of Undergraduate Research (BCUR) has come back to the midlands at the University of Nottingham and is the biggest ever this year. With more than 350 delegates from 30 countries presenting 300 presentations over the 2 days, it is back with a bang and we volunteers have one heck of a duty to fulfil!

Day 1 of training started with 29 slightly nervous volunteers from every possible faculty the university has to offer, sitting in Trent building having no idea what to expect! After being bombarded with information, copious numbers of email addresses and more names than one person could ever possibly hope to remember, we were basically told that the success of the conference rests entirely on our shoulders. No pressure or anything! As a delegate from a previous conference started to tell us how wonderful the volunteers at the University of Plymouth’s BCUR 2012 had been, how much they’d shaped her experience and made it so special, the tension in the room was tangible! Getting down to the nitty gritty, we were given our assignments; should we chose to accept them, they ranged from being human signposts from accommodation to conference rooms to being in charge of ALL technology (what could possibly go wrong!), from handing out potentially slightly dishevelled sandwiches to chairing conference sessions. So really, we could be doing anything under the sun! However, the role of the volunteers shouldn’t be underplayed; we will be there from the very beginning to welcome and show the delegates to the halls, their accommodation for the duration of the conference and will probably bring back memories of fresher’s week, undoubtedly not helping pre conference nerves. We will be up horribly early – at least what students believe to be early – to show delegates the way around the maze that is the Trent building, a challenge for even 3rd years! And we will do the bit of events that no one likes doing, though one that is crucial – the cleaning up afterward.
As the conference rapidly approaches, we have had to get serious. We’ve had to learn that there is loads of new software sneakily sitting on the uni computers and most importantly how to use it, that the university doesn’t endorse some software systems which could lead to some very panicked delegates minutes before presentations and quick thinking on our part, how to write a good CV and how to chair sessions. This is one of the most important jobs at the conference and one that I am most excited about! We have to open and close the sessions, make sure presenters keep to time – could be easier said than done as we’re told a story of someone who had to be wrestled from a podium after running so over time and refusing to stop! – and be in charge of questions from the floor. A scene from The Big Bang Theory when Sheldon hopelessly loses control of his panel and the floor springs to mind as we feel the pressure mounting!
While I was doing some research behind what #bcur14 was about I stumbled across something that made my mind up instantly that I knew I had to be part of the support team; all the delegates are my age. These people have gone above and beyond what is required of a student, doing extra research projects over the holidays and even getting employers involved. The interest they have in their subjects and the amount of hard work that they have put in is incredible and that even at our (relatively) young age they have taken an active part in their education and gone off and done enough independent research to be able to give a 15 minutes presentation or stand by a poster for an hour or so and talk fluently about their topic. The media often aren’t kind to students whereas this conference, all the work that they have put in and even our motivation as a support team, in my opinion, just goes so against the norm and shows that we do care about our education and the wider community.
Having been given a list of the presentations and posters that will be at the conference the thing that strikes me is the diversity of the delegates’ interests. We were told from the first day of training that the sessions had been randomised and that there would be presentations from every walk of academia, but I never expected to be chairing a session where contributions are moving from modelling a roman community to treatments of anorexia nervosa. This conference gives people the platform to share their passion, get crucial employability skills, fabulous experiences talking in front of academics and great networking opportunities. This year, there are delegates from 5 different continents which just makes the networking all the more exciting and important – who knows, there may even be some trips abroad off the back of this!
My favourite thing about the conference is that there is such a big student input. Don’t get me wrong, there are countless professors whose hours of work are coming to a climax as we get closer to the conference, but once it’s started it’s basically down to us as the support team. We have been equipped with the tools to solve technical problems, be pastoral care and to be signposts, which is by far the most important job, as the locations of conference rooms and accommodation are spread over this deceptively large campus!
So, I’m writing this 3 days before the conference starts; Sunday is going to consist of lots of fiddly but important jobs like sticking stickers on name badges and we will be rewarded by meeting the fabulous delegates and having a pub quiz which I’m possibly more excited about than I should be! Then Monday morning, 8.30 sharp the real hard work begins; the opening of #bcur14!

Charlotte Lawson

The Trent Building – the main hub of #bcur14, containing the Senate Chamber, the Great Hall and the Great Maze that has been confusing students for years! See if you can find the secret tunnel!

Spotlight on the opening plenary for ⌗BCUR14: Professor Stephen Mumford, University of Nottingham

Every good conference starts with a plenary that brings together all the speakers, delegates and conference helpers. Its with the opening plenary that a conference’s scene is set, and that aspirations and hopes for the conference are set out. So, while this is the most coveted spot of any conference, this also means that the plenary speaker finds him/herself subject to rather intense scrutiny and the focus of the undivided attention of a full lecture theatre.

No pressure there then for Professor Stephen Mumford, who steps up on Monday 14th April, 10:30 am, to deliver his plenary on ‘Knowledge is Power’, to the fourth- and largest ever- British Conference of Undergraduate Research. At the latest count, Professor Mumford will address approximately 300 Undergraduate speakers and delegates, as well as a 40+ team of student and staff from the University of Nottingham supporting and running the convention.

So, who is Professor Stephen Mumford and what can delegates expect? If in doubt, I always say, lets look at what we can learn about our plenary speaker from his online presence. A basic search  brings up his University of Nottingham home page, and this quickly leads to another web page with details about biography, publications and details about his research. The following quote is taken from Stephen Mumford’s online biography:

I was born in Wakefield, West Yorkshire on July 31st 1965 and attended Outwood Grange School. After working as a low-grade civil servant for three years, I read Philosophy and History of Ideas with Politics at Huddersfield Polytechnic (now University). After that I entered the Philosophy Department at the University of Leeds to take an MA in Philosophy of Mind. There I met Robin LePoidevin who became my PhD supervisor. I was awarded a PhD in 1994 for ‘Dispositions and Reductionism’ and was offered a two-year lectureship at Leeds. I left to join the Philosophy department at Nottingham in 1995, where I have been ever since. I was for three years the Head of Department and then for two years Head of the School of Humanities (the School of which Philosophy is a part). I am currently Dean of the Arts Faculty: a four-year appointment. While at Nottingham, I wrote my books Dispositions, Laws in Nature, David Armstrong, Watching Sport: Aesthetics, Ethics and Emotions and co-wrote Getting Causes from Powers.

 

Professor Mumford also blogs on Arts Matters and is an avid tweeter (as @sdmumford). Who better to open a conference that seeks to inspire and professionalise a new generation of researchers!

 

Gabriele Neher (@gabrieleneher)