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

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

Reflections pre-Conference: a student volunteer’s view.

When I first heard of the opportunity to volunteer for the British Conference of Undergraduate Research I was immediately intrigued. I had not heard of the event before, but felt that it would be a brilliant platform from which I can develop my confidence and leadership qualities. The conference seems to be a brilliant opportunity for undergraduates to share their learning with peers and I would actively encourage others to take part.
There are several qualities that I already own and practice regularly that I believe would complement the requirements for volunteers. The first of which would be my experience as a Student Ambassador for the university. The roles are very similar; requiring excellent communication with young peers, adapting speech where necessary and maintaining a friendly and approachable attitude at all times. I expect that this skill will be in constant demand throughout the conference, as delegates will perhaps be uncertain in what to do and where to go, and it’s imperative that they feel able and comfortable to ask the volunteers for help. Furthermore, good leadership qualities are needed in both roles. After representing my School and the university on several occasions now, I feel confident in speaking to large audiences about a known subject. At the conference it will be important that volunteers can do exactly this, effectively chairing each session and being able to control timings of each speaker.
We discussed the importance of timing in the training session this week, and several volunteers spoke of their concern of how to close a speech in the best manner. This is an issue I also wanted clarification on, and the subsequent advice and tips on this topic has now made me feel far more comfortable. When chairing sessions I will endeavour to make the delegates feel comfortable and confident when giving their presentations, whilst keeping time using the ‘traffic light’ system of cards that shall be given to us. I think this is a great idea as it gives the students ample opportunity to end the presentations themselves, without us having to jump in.
As I have touched on briefly before, effective communication is a further skill that is fundamental to the efficient running of such a large-scale event. I believe I have a great practice of this skill, utilising it not only as a student ambassador but also as a student trainer with the Students’ Union. Such a role improved my confidence in public speaking and giving presentations, and I think this experience will help me empathise with the delegates. I am aware of the potential nerves one can feel before speaking to a large audience, so I believe I will be able to offer friendly advice whenever necessary.
I envisage that teamwork will also be a crucial skill throughout the whole conference event. In training sessions over the past two weeks we have been encouraged to make friends and share ideas, particularly with regards to the social media build-up. Although I am confident in working independently, I see teamwork as a great opportunity to work with people with differing strengths, and maximising the potential of each team member. I am looking at Human Resources as a possible career path, and talent-management is a big part of this sector. Pursuing this career has equipped me with knowledge that can be transferred to the conference; to have an awareness of volunteers’ ambitions and motivations for volunteering, and positioning them in a task that satisfies both their goals, but also that of the conference as a whole. Although tasks will be delegated by the conference organisers, I believe having this knowledge reinforces the skill-development opportunities for volunteers like me.
Skills were a primary focus of our third training session, when we were able to talk with a member of the careers advice team about our CVs. As a third year student my CV was very up-to-date compared to my younger peers. However I had attended several skill workshops and one-on-one sessions with the career service, and was therefore able to pass on my knowledge about how to format CVs, how to tailor content to specific employers and other general information. The feedback I received on my CV was very positive, so it was great to hear that it was to a good standard to send to employers.
The final session involved distributing tasks and going over the logistics of the conference. It was at this session where we got our first real insight into the ‘nitty-gritty’ aspects of organisation, something that will be crucial to the smooth-running of each set of talks.
I expect that although the days will be long and challenging, but it will be very rewarding seeing the conference come together and the delegates enjoying themselves. Although we have only been assigned a few jobs each, I envisage that using initiative and keeping an eye out for opportunities to help well be a key part of our day. Social media has played a key role in the run-up to the conference, building excitement and informing the delegates of the latest developments, and I am sure that the young demographic of those attending will appreciate this additional source of information.
I’m really excited about meeting such a diverse range of students at the conference, and I think that it’s brilliant that all the paper topics are mixed between sessions so that everyone can gain an insight into other areas of academia. I hope that the event encourages other undergraduates to present papers in future conferences, as I think events like these are a fundamental part of professional and personal development.
My final hope is for the weather, it would be brilliant for the delegates to see how beautiful our campus is in the sun!

Rebecca Dowler