BU hosts international research conference for hundreds of undergraduate students

Last week saw Bournemouth University welcoming hundreds of undergraduate students from over 60 universities to its campus for the annual British Conference of Undergraduate Research (BCUR). The conference is an opportunity to celebrate the work of undergraduate students, while also giving them an insight into an academic career path.

Opening the conference, Vice Chancellor Professor John Vinney commented, “For me, research is a core part of any university and here at BU, we believe that our integration of research, education and professional practice is a powerful combination that generates impact in everything we do.”

“BCUR will be a brilliant two days and it’s wonderful that you’ll have the chance to hear all of these fantastic stories and journeys from your fellow students.  The fact that this conference promotes all disciplines and allows all undergraduate students to engage in it, is so important and I think makes this conference unique across the world – I’ve not come across anything else that does what this conference achieves.”

“At Bournemouth we really value the role that our undergraduates play in research, so it’s very exciting to be hosting BCUR and supporting so many of our students to take part.”

The conference saw students from the UK, Germany, America, Canada and the UAE – to name just a few – presenting their research across a wide range of disciplines.  As well as sharing their own research, students had the opportunity to listen to other presentations and debate some of the issues raised.

Professor Alison McConnell from BU’s Faculty of Health & Social Sciences, gave the opening keynote speech taking the audience on a journey through science and explaining why systematic enquiry will always ‘Trump’ opinion and ‘alternative facts’.  The second day was opened by guest keynote speaker, Dr Elizabeth Pollitzer, who gave an eye-opening talk exploring gender bias in science and the barriers that need to be overcome in order to pursue excellence in science.

The conference closed with a handover to the University of Sheffield, who will be hosting BCUR in 2018.

Check out some of the highlights from the conference on Storify for both day one and day two of the conference and review the case studies of the BU students who presented their research at the conference.