Template

Undergraduate Research in the Department

In the curriculum: Modules

populated by the department

In the curriculum: Dissertation

populated by the department

Extra-curricular research opportunities

populated by the department

Undergraduate Research outside of the Department

Undergraduate Research Support Scheme (URSS)

The Undergraduate Research Scholarship Scheme (URSS) gives students the chance to become directly involved in the research work of the University, experience what it's like to be a member of a research team and take part in cutting-edge research. URSS is a competitive scheme that provides living expenses (up to £1,000) and skills development training to support successful applicants who wish to carry out a summer research project as an addition to their undergraduate degree course. Undertaking a summer research project via the URSS is more than just doing a project – it will give you dedicated skills training opportunities too. The Scheme gives you both a taste of research, invaluable for those looking to pursue postgraduate study, and also adds further value to your degree from Warwick. URSS has been in place since 2002, with students on the scheme having travelled to Europe and further afield to undertake the research.

Find out more on the URSS website.

British Conference of Undergraduate Research (BCUR)

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. The call for papers is usually published in the autumn.

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.

Find out more on the BCUR website.

International Conference of Undergraduate Research (ICUR)

Led and sponsored by the University of Warwick and Monash University, the International Conference of Undergraduate Research (ICUR) is an annual, two-day academic conference. Using video-conferencing technology, ICUR provides undergraduate researchers with a unique opportunity to present and discuss their own research – in any discipline in real-time, without having to leave their home university.

ICUR challenges undergraduate students to rethink their work in an international context. As a forum, it requires presenters to consider the perspective of students from different backgrounds, and to anticipate what may be shared across cultures and local contexts. This challenge translates to research questions as well, encouraging students to examine global and regional trends in their research field, and how these might conflict with local concerns and specificities.

Since its establishment in 2013, more than a thousand students from eleven institutions have presented at ICUR. At Warwick alone, 288 students have presented over four years.

Find out more on the ICUR website.

Global Research Priorities (Energy) bursary

Since 2012, the Energy GRP have been supporting up to 5 Undergraduate Summer Placements, each with a bursary of up to £2,000. The Energy GRP bursaries are affiliated with the University's Undergraduate Research Support Scheme (URSS), and are to help with living costs and expenses associated with a research project and will be paid directly to the student. The project normally lasts between 4 and 10 weeks and supports energy research. Students from any department are welcome to apply and the Energy GRP encourage applications from both science and non-science disciplines.

The scheme is open to all Warwick undergraduate students, usually non-finalists.

The Energy GRP are particularly interested in projects that develop connections between departments and with external partners.

Find out more on the Energy GRP website.

Global Research Priorities (Materials) bursary

The Materials GRP support up to eight Summer Placements, each with an award of up to £2,000. The Materials GRP bursaries are affiliated with the University's Undergraduate Research Support Scheme (URSS), and are to help with living costs and expenses associated with students’ chosen projects. The project lasts between eight to ten weeks and must involve the study of Materials. The level of support depends on the length of the project, based on a calculation of £200 per week, up to a maximum of 10 weeks, or £2,000.

Students from any department are encouraged to apply, but they must secure their own project before they apply.

Priority is given to (in the following order):

new collaborations (i.e. where the two academic supervisors have not previously worked together)
new projects (i.e. where there is an existing link between supervisors, but a new area of research is being explored)
existing collaborations

Find out more on the Materials GRP website.

Monash-Warwick Alliance funding

Monash University and the University of Warwick have formed a strategic alliance that aims to enhance the experiences of students at both universities through the development of new models of education and research collaboration.

The Student-led Activity Scheme provides support for activities that seek to integrate the student bodies of both universities, develop ”globally-engaged students” through working as part of international teams, increase both the impact and profile of existing student-led activities at both universities, and transfer knowledge and innovation in student activities across both campuses.

Examples of activities which can be considered for support include academic-related events (e.g. summits, student conferences), cultural and intercultural activities, including sporting events, and skills development events.

The Student-led Activity Scheme provides support of up to a maximum of £15,000 (for expenses incurred by Warwick students).

Find out more on the Monash-Warwick Alliance website.

Reinvention Journal

Reinvention is an online, peer-reviewed journal, dedicated to the publication of high-quality undergraduate student research. The journal welcomes academic articles from all disciplinary areas. All articles undergo rigorous peer review, based on initial editor screening and refereeing by two or three anonymous referees. Reinvention is published bi-annually and only houses papers written by undergraduate students or papers written collaboratively by undergraduate students and academics.

Reinvention is published through the Institute for Advanced Teaching and Learning and is an open access journal. Students are encouraged to make their work as interactive as possible and to include tables, diagrams and links to films, photographs and other websites where appropriate. Papers should be between 2,000 and 5,000 words in length, not including the abstract, bibliography and any appendices. They receive thorough feedback on their paper, regardless of whether it gets published or not.

Students also receive training on writing for publications, learning about what a journal article is, how it’s structured, and how to critically revise one’s publications.

Find out more on the Reinvention website.

IATL's Student as Producer

IATL's Student funding opportunities are in place to support innovative student projects under the following strands: Research, Collaboration and Performance.

IATL's Student as Producer (Research) funding is available to undergraduate students and taught Masters students only, who may apply for up to £1,000 for their project. Funded projects must be for research of students’ own devising, and work must be unrelated to anything they are required to do as part of their course.

IATL's Student as Producer (Collaboration) funding is available to undergraduate and taught Masters students only, who may apply for up to £2,000 for their project. The key criterion for this funding stream is that projects must be collaborative and student-led. IATL encourage students to consider the word 'collaboration' in a wide and innovative sense. Projects should always involve more than one Warwick student but students might also wish to work together with a wider interdisciplinary group of students, with members of staff, or with members of the local or international community. Their project must relate to at least one of IATL's key themes.

IATL's Student as Producer (Performance) funding is available to both postgraduate (PGR and PGT) and undergraduate students, who may apply for up to £500 for their performance project which must cover any technical costs, e.g. guidance from an approved theatre technician. Rehearsal and performance space in IATL's spaces is provided.

All IATL funding recipients need to submit a final report on completion of their project. This can take the form of a written report (1,500-2,000 words), films, podcasts, reflective journals or other resources.

Find out more on the IATL website.

IATL's Student Ensemble

The Student Ensemble is a trans-disciplinary group of Warwick students and an alumni network that facilitates learning through performance practice. Established at the CAPITAL Centre in 2009 (with funding from the Higher Education Academy), this group has since worked with international practitioners and local communities at the Emerge Festival and Laboratory as well as visiting professionals and graduate companies.

Find out more on the IATL website.

IATL Modules

The Institute for Advanced Teaching & Learning hosts a range of undergraduate modules that encourage students to formulate relevant questions and propose novel ideas via independent and collaborative research. Some students are encouraged to further develop those ideas for publication.