All undergraduate students in all higher education institutions should experience learning through, and about, research and inquiry
Healey and Jenkins, 2009
The British Conference of Undergraduate Research promotes undergraduate research in all disciplines. The Conference meets annually every Spring in a different British university. Undergraduates of all levels are invited to submit papers, posters, workshops and performances to the Conference. Abstracts are peer-reviewed and those accepted will be invited to attend the conference. Conference fees are usually paid by the student’s own university. BCUR also accepts submissions from students outside of the UK. The call for papers is usually published in the autumn.
BCUR was founded in 2010 and held its first conference in 2011 at the University of Central Lancashire. The conference doubled in size for the second conference, held in 2012 at the University of Warwick. The 2013 Plymouth conference was bigger still!
What is an undergraduate research conference?
An undergraduate research conference is just like any other academic conference. There will be spoken papers, lectures, poster presentations and workshops — but each one will be delivered by undergraduate students presenting work they have done either as part of their course or as part of an internship. For two days, you will be able to talk to undergraduate researchers from your own disciplines, and you will also learn a lot about how other disciplines approach research problems.
If you are an undergraduate student, this is a great opportunity to meet students from other universities and share your work. Many courses include opportunities to develop independent research. You might be working on a dissertation, or you may have devised your own topic for an assessment. You might have worked with an external company, or worked with a researcher over the summer to help them with their research project. All research is welcome at this conference, in any discipline taught in Higher Education. If you are unsure whether your work fits, get in touch, or talk to your tutor to find out how to get involved.
BCUR 2014 will be held at the University of Nottingham.
The University of Nottingham shares many of the characteristics of the world’s great universities. However, we are distinct not only in our key strengths but in how our many strengths combine: we are financially secure, campus based and comprehensive; we are research-led and recruit top students and staff from around the world; we are committed to internationalising all our core activities so our students can have a valuable and enjoyable experience that prepares them well for the rest of their intellectual, professional and personal lives.
Professor David Greenaway, Vice-Chancellor
Key Facts
Conference dates: Mon 14 and Tue 15th April; (arrival Sun 13th)
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