News and Events

Real World STEM gives students the opportunity to develop their communication and presentation skills in a supportive environment and with the help of professionals from their own department, from education and from business.

We will be holding two sessions of two hours each to prepare students for the main activity which will require them, in small groups, to present and pitch a real world situation to a panel of subject experts, potential employers and presentation specialists. The last session will provide supportive feedback on their performance.

This is an opportunity for students from STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths) to practice and develop the skills that complement their academic speciality.

This course is open to all students, and will be capped at 30 places. If you are interested in participating please complete the  Real World STEM application and send it to Nicholas.Tipple@warwick.ac.uk before 13th January 2012.

The Undergraduate Research Scholarship Scheme (URSS), which is supported by IATL, offers undergraduates the opportunity to gain valuable insight into research work through a collaborative project with a supervisor. The Scheme provides bursaries of up to £1000 for students to undertake a short (4 to 10 weeks) research project within a department or research centre. In 2010-11, 93 projects were awarded full or part bursaries, with 113 total participants.

The 2011-12 Scheme opened on Monday 5th December, and applications will need to be submitted by Wednesday 1st February.

The Ensemble Project is an IATL Student as Producer funded project aimed at creating theatre through an intimate process of group learning, and testing the extent to which the idea of 'ensemble' can truly work. The group have been working over the autumn term to develop a strong group dynamic and a feeling of equality and collaboration, and will be performing Harold Pinter's 'The Lover' as a final showcase of this work.

Performances will be held in the CAPITAL Studio, Millburn House at 7.30pm on:

• Wednesday 7th December 2011
• Thursday 8th December 2011
• Friday 9th December 2011

Performances are free to attend. To register your place please email LonSomBluh@gmail.com

As part of a research project funded by HE STEM (part of HEFCE) the Institute for Advanced Teaching and Learning (IATL) and Student Careers and Skills at Warwick, are investigating how universities interact with Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SME's) in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) subjects. We hope to identify potential future interactions, and to provide recomendations on how interactions could be better facilitated.

Please could you spend 10 minutes to complete our SME survey. Your responses will be confidential and, if data is taken beyond the small research team, it will be anonymous. Few of the questions are obligatory but all information you provide will be invaluable for our research.

If you have any questions or comments about this survey, or the research project please contact Nicholas Tipple at Nicholas.Tipple@warwick.ac.uk

Millburn House Foyer, Millburn House

30 November 2011 (6-7pm)

The Insitute for Advanced Teaching and Learning (IATL) will hold its first Student as Producer Showcase on 30 November to celebrate IATL's Student as Producer (Research and Performance) Grants and to give those students who have received funding the oppertunity to share their successes.

This event is by invitation but the student's project posters will be displayed in the Millburn House Foyer throughout the Spring Term.

Early in November IATL's Dr Nick Monk led a session in his Forms of Identity interdisciplinary module which included particpation by Dr Sarah McDonald from Monash University who gave a presentation and answered questions on Brazilian Cinema and National Identies. One of the objectives was to integrate video conferencing into Nick's open-space learning workshop approach. Despite having to be on campus by 8am, the students taking part thought being taught by an Australian acedemic a great opportunity andf the technology 'brilliant'. There are plans in the future to offer the module to Warwick and Monash undergraduates working together.

For more information about using this technology in your teaching see
Robert O'Toole's blog at http://blogs.warwick.ac.uk/inspireslearning/entry/using_webex_desktop/

The  Autumn 2011 issue of the IATL newsletter focusses on internationalisation.

Two projects aiming to improve the employability of students in STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) were launched on 19 October by IATL and the Department for Careers and Skills.

The first will challenge STEM students with real-life industrial problems. Academics and local business will collaborate to devise the problems, and then assess students as they present their research and practical recommendations.

The second project will investigate the interactions between Higher Education Institutions and STEM small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with the aim of recommending improvements.

Attending the launch were representatives from the University's STEM departments and Warwick District Council's Ian Kirkwood. IATL's Director, Paul Taylor, spoke of his excitement about the projects and their potential outcomes.

Volume 4, Issue 2, was published on 27 October. It features the following content:

Editorial:

• Adaptability and Creativity

Papers:

• Kisses under the Starlight: The Performance of Masculinities and Emo on MySpace
• Understandings of testicular cancer in young adult males: A Q-methodological study
• Exploring patients' perceptions of living with psoriasis in a London general practice
• Expression and potential function of prion protein in the vasculature
• Start-ups, Small Firms and the Industry: An Empirical Investigation of the Determinants of Small New Firm Survival

Book review:

• Maya Jasanoff (2011), Liberty's Exiles: the Loss of America and the remaking of the British Empire

19th & 20th March 2012
Warwick Arts Centre

Warwick University will be hosting the 2012 British Conference of Undergraduate Research (BCUR).

This is an opportunity for students to present their dissertation, interim project or any other original research developed through the course of their studies, whatever their subject area. Staff and students are also invited to present research or case studies about the introduction of undergraduate research into modules or courses. .

The call for papers is already out (view the poster) and The deadline for submitting abstracts has been extended to 18 December. 2011. For more information about the conference go to www.bcur.org or email BCUR.2012@warwick.ac.uk