Seven undergraduates from Bournemouth University have shared their research at the annual British Conference of Undergraduate Research, hosted by the University of Sheffield. This follows BU’s successful hosting of the conference in 2017. Around 600 students presented their research as part of the conference.
Atanas Nikolaev, who won a funded place at BCUR, after taking part in SURE – BU’s undergraduate research conference – presented his research on an ethnographic study of embodied experiences of women at leisure centres. He commented:
“The most interesting aspect of the conference for me was the opportunity to engage with like-minded people across various scientific fields. It was a great way to get exposure for my research project and be challenged by ideas that could potentially lead to future developments. BCUR was a great way to learn about research that was of interest to me and to potentially build lasting relationships with young researchers from across the country.”
Bethan Stephenson, a student from the Faculty of Media and Communication and studying English, presented a piece of research entitled ‘The changing space of Warwick County Museum’ which challenges notions of memory and how historic accounts are valued. She said:
“I really enjoyed the experience of attending the British Conference of Undergraduate Research (BCUR) at Sheffield University, and found it very illuminating. I got there not really knowing what the conference fully entailed, and so was very pleasantly surprised. As a final year student, I’ve been recently contemplating post-graduation options, and the introduction to BCUR was incredibly informative. They discussed the importance of research-based careers, and the opportunities this can lead to. I’ve always loved research, and have multiple fields that I’m passionate about, and so I really feel like this introductory talk helped confirm my desire to undertake a masters, and possibly a PhD, in the future”.
Other BU students taking part included:
- Charlie Simmons, a Business Studies Marketing student presenting research on digital immersion and the streaming of e-sports,
- Tereza Paskova, a final year Tourism student presented on emotional intelligence as a tool in customer satisfaction in tourism/hospitality settings,
- Isobel Hunt, a Faculty of Science and Technology student studying Psychology presenting on consumer decision making and trust for online restaurant reviews,
- Scott Wilkes who is studying Sport Development and Coaching Sciences and presented his research on the effects of stammering on social participation in sport among young people.
Student involvement in BCUR and Posters in Parliament has been made possible thanks to support from BU’s Centre for Excellence in Learning. Both of these opportunities and BU’s internal undergraduate research conference – SURE – are excellent opportunities for students to engage with the research process and make real world connections to further the impact of their research. For more information about these initiatives, contact Dr Mary Beth Gouthro.
