Meeting Warwick's Undergraduate Researchers at ICUR
The Warwick Institute of Engagement held an evening event during Welcome Week for undergraduates to showcase their research and discuss it with visitors, new students and staff. This event dovetailed with the International Conference of Undergraduate Research (ICUR), which is organised by the Institute for Advanced Teaching and Learning, and many of the students in the showcase conducted their research through the Undergraduate Research Support Scheme (URSS), which is run every summer by Student Opportunity.
Students prepared for the event by participating in workshops with WIE's Student Directors to develop the skills they would need for communicating with the public about their research. In the workshops, students considered how to present their research in a visually engaging and interactive way and they practised talking about it in language suitable for people who weren't subject experts through elevator pitch exercises. As a result, the event was full of exciting stands and a great buzz of chatter about the students' research!
Well done to all involved in this collaborative effort, and particular thanks to the Student Directors and presenters who worked so hard over the summer to prepare for the event.
Student presenters' reflections on the experience
"First of all, it has been a massive confidence boost. Also, it has been really helpful in learning how to explain something effectively for people - and practising it over and over again - because if I understand something but I can't communicate it effectively to somebody else, it can't really change anything."
"This has been a really useful experience in order to think about how to explain the research in different ways to different people, or to answer questions that might not have occurred to me."
"I found participating in this event really useful because I've never really had to explain my research to anyone before. Having to put it into words has been very challenging but as I go person to person, it becomes easier and easier."
"It has been really useful to talk to different people and get different perspectives on my research. I've been able to think more deeply about other aspects that I didn't think about before. My research is about social capital and I've been able to build connections with people who might be able to help in the future."
"Doing this event has been really helpful, especially because I got to meet so many other students from different disciplines. Seeing how my research interests intersect their interests and how these can be used for developing future research projects was eye-opening and fascinating. I think it speaks to the future we're heading towards - very intersectional and interdisciplinary."
"This public engagement event was really valuable to me because I could represent my research to a whole variety of people, from mathematicians and scientists to humanities and arts students. I feel like that's a really important aspect of research as I got to understand how to represent what I did in a clear, concise way and really stretched not only my own understanding but also my confidence in my work. I also really enjoyed looking at other people's research and understanding the different connections between science and arts."
"This experience has been really useful for me because I would like to pursue a career in research, so it has given me a lot of skills that I'll be able to use for my future career."