Applications for the International Conference of Undergraduate Research (ICUR) 2020 are now open!

ICUR is a great opportunity for you to present your research to a global audience. Sponsored by the Monash-Warwick Alliance, the video-linked conference will take place from 29-30 September 2020, connecting students at the University of Warwick, Monash University, as well as other institutions around the world.

The deadline for abstract submissions is Sunday 31 May 2020. You can submit your abstract here.

Congratulations to Maddie Booth, one of our final year Politics, International Studies and GSD students, for putting together an art exhibition throughout March to address the important issue of gender based violence (GBV).

Congratulations to our students for securing funding for research projects over the summer!

The Undergraduate Research Support Scheme (URSS) enables undergraduate students to carry out an interdisciplinary summer research project. The scheme is open to any undergraduate student at Warwick. Research can be completed in the UK or abroad.

Four GSD students have successfully secured a bursary this year: Benjamin Georges-Picot, Angelo Balagtas, Cathy Dong and Tanyaradzwa Kasinganeti. Their research projects will be presented in the form of a poster showcase at the annual URSS Celebration and Research Showcase, which will take place at the start of the next academic year.

On Monday 24 February 2020, Warwick Cup launched its reusable cup sharing system at Curiositea, one of the food and drink outlets on campus. The launch was a great opportunity to celebrate the hard work put into this project by the students involved and to find out more about the initiative.

Warwick Cup has been founded by final year Politics, International Studies (PAIS) and GSD students Hollie Ryan and Maddie Booth, and final year Economic Studies and GSD student Ellie Church. The inspiration for the project came from their time at Monash University, where they had the chance to see how an idea like this would work across campus.

L-R: Seiwaa Osei Afriyie, H.E Samira Bawumia (Republic of Ghana)

On 25-26 January 2020, the Warwick Africa Summit 2020 took place in the Oculus Building at the University of Warwick. The Warwick Africa Summit is an interdisciplinary conference focused on African development and is solely organised by students. Students from the GSD Department were part of the team behind the Warwick Africa Summit 2020, including final year Sociology and GSD student Seiwaa Osei Afriyie (President of the Warwick Africa Summit), second year Single Honours GSD student Taigh Adebajo (Co-Director of Finance) and second year Single Honours GSD student Trinity Awelo (Logistics). As President of the Warwick Africa Summit, Seiwaa has put together her highlights of the event.

Maddie Booth, a third year PAIS and GSD student was on Hillz FM radio station this morning on 'Kate's show' to discuss and promote her upcoming art exhibition titled: "Stand Up, Stand Back, Stand With". The art exhibition is going to be on from 3 March 2020 until 22 March 2020 at The Arts Trail Studio, Leamington Spa. The exhibition is surrounding the issue of domestic violence and seeks to raise awareness for the issue as well as raising money for three charities who support survivors: Coventry Haven, RSVP and The Survivors Trust.

 Find out more about the event here and you can also donate to Maddie's JustGiving page to help support her work.

 You will be able to find a recorded version of the live radio broadcast on Hillz FM soon!

The end of last month marked two moments in GLOBUS' history as the Editor's Edition of the student-run sustainability journal went on sale and Todd Olive stepped down as Editor in Chief. GLOBUS was founded in early 2015 by staff from the School for Cross-faculty Studies and was taken over by students in September 2016.

Your feedback helps to shape our GSD courses and the wider University at Warwick for future generations

• NSS is a national survey of final-year undergraduates at all UK universities, run independently by Ipsos Mori
• The survey asks for your views on your whole course and covers teaching, assessment, resources and support
• You'll be able to claim £5 credit on your Eating at Warwick card for completing the survey
• The survey is open from Monday 3 February 2020 and takes ten minutes to fill in
• Your personalised link will be emailed to you on Thursday 6 February 2020 or go direct to thestudentsurvey.com

NSS is a really important way for you to reflect on your experience as a GSD student. It’s a great opportunity to think about what you found productive or enjoyable, and it's a chance to make suggestions for our continuous development. We take your responses seriously: in the previous NSS survey, GSD students told us that they would benefit from improvements around employability. In response to this our dedicated Placement and Employability Manager is putting in place resources, meeting with students and running sessions designed to enhance employability skills.

For example, next week the first School for Cross-faculty Studies Work Placement Fair will take place on Tuesday 11 February, from 4-5:30pm in The Oculus, room OC0.01. Students from all years within the School for Cross-faculty Studies are invited to attend. This event is designed to improve your employability skills by giving you the opportunity to network and gain a better insight into work placements. You'll have the chance to learn first-hand from students about their work placement journey which will support you in shaping your future career.