AASCB Innovations that Inspire
Category: Engaging a Diverse Community
Innovation Name: Promoting Undergraduate Research
Innovation Statement:
In Partnership with the Political Studies Association, DMU Leicester Castle Business School (LCBS) launched a national undergraduate research conference in Politics, International Relations, and related disciplines.
Call To Action:
In April 2014 staff in the Department of Politics and Public Policy, LCBS, in partnership with the Political Studies Association (PSA), hosted the first National Undergraduate Research Conference in Politics and International Relations. We were motivated to support students identify themselves as part of a community of scholars, who have genuine contributions to make to the debates within their discipline, and to transform the final year undergraduate dissertation from a solitary process to one based on collaboration, and the collective exchange of ideas.
We were also conscious that our students, unlike those in the creative disciplines, lack opportunities to showcase their work in public forums. An undergraduate research conference was one means to overcome that inequality.
DMU welcomes students from a broad socio-economic and demographic range. Many of our students are first generation undergraduates, and can face challenging circumstances which impact upon their confidence to compete equally with their peers at other institutions. For us, this conference is a means to help our students appreciate their value and potential social and economic impact as graduates of their discipline. It brings them into contact with students from institutions across the United Kingdom, enables them to present themselves as experts in their chosen field, and begin to establish networks which will be useful to them after graduation.
We have collaborated with colleagues at other institutions and the PSA to ensure this event has become an annual fixture.
Innovation Description:
The undergraduate research conference is a free, student-led event. It provides the opportunity for students to organise, promote, and run a full academic conference, and creates a public space for them to showcase work, network, and establish a place within their discipline. Initially a call for papers was disseminated via the contacts of the contributing staff, and social media platforms of the PSA. The first conference welcomed 18 students from 10 institutions, and it was immediately apparent that undergraduates are prepared to travel considerable distances to participate in events which are designed specifically to prioritise their development and enhancement. We received funding from DMU’s teaching development programme to cover the cost of the event, and approached the PSA for its endorsement. This was secured, together with a financial contribution, which enabled us to reimburse all the delegates in full for travel and accommodation costs.
The event was repeated in May 2015 at the University of Manchester, again with PSA sponsorship and endorsement, with over 30 students delivering papers, and in excess of 100 delegates overall. Following this, Dr. Alison Statham, one of the principle LCBS architects of the project, was invited to join the PSA’s Executive Committee with the express brief of overseeing the implementation of an undergraduate research conference into its annual programme of events.
Impact:
The immediate impact for participating students is the opportunity to present their work in an authentic academic conference environment. It has also given undergraduates the opportunity to see their final year dissertations as work with the potential for wide economic and social impact. It enables students to establish contacts and develop networks which will be useful to them in their early careers.
The conference has extended its reach, welcomed more delegates (both paper presenters and attendees), and established a conference programme with multiple tracks and themes. PSA support means that we are able to call upon a wider pool of experts to deliver keynote addresses, and this enhances the interactions and experience for the students who attend.
The success of the first two conferences led the PSA to investigate the viability of introducing an annual undergraduate research conference into its programme of events. Dr. Alison Statham from the LCBS worked closely with the Executive Committee and conference convenors for the 2016 event. Its success and the overwhelmingly positive feedback from participants have led to this outcome. Importantly, the undergraduate research conference is embedded into the planning of the PSA’s main annual conference. All convenors of that conference must commit to supporting a team of their students to organise the undergraduate research conference.
The work of Dr Statham and her colleagues from the LCBS has become an integral part of the PSA’s wider strategy to improve undergraduate engagement, and has led directly to the second stage of that process; namely to create an undergraduate members’ network.
Contact Person:
Dr Alison Statham,
Senior Lecturer in Politics – Department of Politics and Public Policy,
Leicester Castle Business School,
De Montfort University