Cutting-edge academic research produced by undergraduate students has been exhibited at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan).
Over 40 undergraduates spent June and July working as interns with scholars to produce postgraduate level research and their work was put on display on the Preston Campus.
Birth studies, community outreach, antenatal fetal movement assessment, smoke toxicity, virtual community medicine, and household toaster energy loss were among the topics covered in our Undergraduate Research Internship Scheme poster exhibition. The exhibition was the culmination of the students’ paid internship which runs over the summer. The programme helps with skills development and gives the interns opportunities such as conference attendance, data collection and analysis and community working.
The winner of the research poster competition was Nunrunnahar Sultana for her project entitled ‘The unknown alchemy of labour and birth: a review of longitudinal birth cohort studies'. The THRIVE Research Centre/ Research in Childbirth and Health Unit student conducted a review of web-based birth registries to find out what percentage of birth cohort studies collected data on biological samples and intrapartum data. The term intrapartum refers to the period between labour and delivery, including all care provided during this time.
"The Undergraduate Research Internship Scheme has been an unforgettable and beneficial experience for me. At first glance, one may wonder: what prompted an English Language and Linguistics student to take an interest in a midwifery internship. Well, firstly, I have three children myself, and I have always had a keen interest in understanding labour and birth. Often, when I would go for my antenatal appointments, midwives would ask me whether I would be comfortable with having students present at my delivery. "Of course!" I would reply, "Everyone has to learn from somewhere."
— Nunrunnahar Sultana
Siraj Darvesh, who worked with the Research Centre for Applied Sport, Physical Activity and Performance, scooped the runner-up prize for his ‘Desire Lines’ research with Tania Onate Atienzar coming third with her poster ‘Can insights from the Covid-19 pandemic promote engagement with climate change?
Other students were given honourable mentions and certificates for their work. Rebecca Oldfield, working with colleagues from Field Archaeology and Forensic Taphonomy was praised for her ‘Community archaeology outreach’ while Donna Gill working with the Centre for Translational Biosciences and Behaviour was commended for her research into ‘Eye movements in reading Chinese. Morgan Irving working with colleagues from the Institute for Global Health and Wellbeing was also praised for their work into ‘Psychosocial needs of parents of premature or sick babies'.
The Undergraduate Research Internship Scheme poster exhibition is now in its 14th year. Professor StJohn Crean Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research and Enterprise, who presented the students with their certificates and prizes welcomed the value the event brought, adding:
“The work produced by our undergraduates on the summer internship programme, confirms the quality of our student engagement with high performing research teams, helping the university maintain its reputation for research excellence.”
The winners of the URIP poster event have the opportunity to submit their posters to ‘Posters in Parliament’ which is the annual sister event of the British Conference of Undergraduate Research (BCUR) and brings together a remarkable collection of the best undergraduate research from across the country.