IMPACT: 2nd 2018 edition

impact THE OFFICIAL ICUR NEWSLETTER ISSUE 02 | APRIL 2018

ICUR 2018 SUBMISSIONS OPEN

SUBMISSIONS NOW OPEN High-achieving undergraduate students from around the world are invited to submit an abstract to the Monash-Warwick Alliance’s International Conference of Undergraduate Research (ICUR), scheduled to be held on the 25th and 26th September 2018. Aspiring applicants will then chose either a presentation talk or to produce a poster showcasing their research.

ICUR EXPERIENCE TIMELINE 1. Please submit your 250 word abstracts to: http://www.icurportal.com/icur2018/abstract-submission/ 2. Attend any abstract submission workshops for help and guidance 3. Abstract review 4. Notification of Success 5. Preparation/Workshop Attendance 6. Presentation at the ICUR conference 7. Reinvention Submission Stay tuned via Facebook (ICUR Students) and www.icurportal.com for updates and to see photos and abstracts from past ICUR events.

SUBMISSION

REINVENTION

REVIEW

A P P R O V A L

WORKSHOP

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EDITOR'S NOTE With submissions opening over a month ago, we eagerly await an interdisciplinary range of unique and exciting abstracts. All over the world from Warwick to Monash there are abstract workshops available for all students, from a variety of perspectives. The international Compass program will also be running to provide further peer support for anyone aspiring to submit an abstract to ICUR. Even if you've missed

out on these wonderful opportunities, there's even some workshop summaries in this issue of Impact! These workshops and programs are run to ensure ICUR receives as many quality abstracts as possible, giving more students the opportunity to present in a genuine conference setting. We envisage that the increase of quality abstracts raises the interest of presentations on the conference day itself!

-The ICUR team

ATTENTION WARWICK STUDENTS An ICUR information session is taking place at Warwick University on the 30th of April. This is a great opportunity to hear from past participants and Student Directors about their experiences. Register online via warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fac/iatl/activities/events/icur/

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ICUR TESTIMONIAL James Blake James Blake is currently studying a PhD in the Astronomy and Astrophysics group at the University of Warwick. He participated in ICUR twice, during 2015 and 2016. James presented at the British Conference of Undergraduate Research (BCUR) along with students from institutions across Britain.

From BCUR, he was one of two Warwick students selected to present at BCUR's Posters in Parliament, held at the Houses of Parliament. At this conference he presented a poster on his research, ‘Modelling panspermia in the James (left) at BCUR's Posters in TRAPPIST-1 system’, to British MPs and policy makers.

Parliament with Mike Hopper And was awarded the prize for best presented poster.

As an undergraduate, I was fortunate enough to participate in ICUR twice, thoroughly enjoying both experiences. I presented the results of a summer research project at the end of my second year, in what would be my first taste of an academic conference. Needless to say, I was incredibly nervous, as I’m sure most budding researchers are in that situation. However, as soon as I arrived for registration, my worries were washed away by the welcoming team of volunteers in flamboyantly coloured tshirts! Presenting a poster was an excellent way to introduce myself to the wonderful world of conference networking. Not only did I get to speak about my own research to a wide range of people, it was truly fascinating to peruse the efforts of other students in my position. The following year, perhaps with a little more confidence, I returned to present a different project as a speaker. This gave me valuable experience of answering questions from an interdisciplinary audience, something that is essential in everyday research.

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ICUR TESTIMONIAL I would urge any undergraduate researcher to consider presenting at ICUR, as it is such a unique opportunity. Here are my three main reasons why:

1. REWARDING Above all, the conference is extremely rewarding. It’s virtually impossible to come away without learning something new.

Moreover, it’s so important to grab hold of any chance to improve your presentation skills (in any format), especially if you aim to go into research or teaching after your undergraduate studies. If anything, you get to show off a piece of research that (hopefully) you’re passionate about, to an audience much less intimidating than your academic supervisors!

2. WELCOMING ICUR is a truly interdisciplinary conference, meaning that the atmosphere is always friendly and accepting. If you plan to go on to conduct postgraduate research and pursue an academic career, the majority of conferences available will likely be very specific to your field, where experts come together to discuss their latest findings, working towards a common goal. It can sometimes be refreshing to speak to people that have no affiliation to your area of research, and correspondingly challenging to do this in as accessible a way as possible. ICUR gives you a brilliant opportunity to practice this in a supportive environment.

3. CONVENIENCE Since starting my PhD, I’ve come to realise just how much travelling can be involved when attending conferences. With ICUR, you get to skip this as it’s on your doorstep! It’s a fantastic way to get a feel for conference life in the comfort of familiar surroundings. Of course, this shouldn’t be your only reason for wanting to attend, but it can certainly help to put you at ease for your first time.

In short, ICUR is most certainly worth a try, even if you’re unsure about a future career in research. I found it an excellent way of sampling the world of academic conferences for the first time and I hope it can be just as useful for you!

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ABSTRACT TIPS: MONASH On the 26th of March, a student led abstract writing workshop took place at Monash.

Three past ICUR presenters gave their top tips for abstract writing, which you can find below!

Jonathan Win likened abstracts to a sandwich, where the research is sandwiched by broader contexts and implications, with the structure: Scope - Intention, problem, thesis Methodology - Models, frameworks, approaches etc.

Results - Findings, data etc.

Scope - Implications, further research Jonathan also recommends to copy other abstracts, and to understand how specialised your work may be. Also, the abstract should answer "why would anyone be interested?" and "how would anyone find my work?"

Alice Kim suggests that abstracts give a rough idea of the main point of your research, as well as the purpose, with following structure: Introduction - Set the scene Aim/hypothesis - What you want to find out OR what you think you will find Method - How will you conduct your research?

Results - What did you find out?

Conclusion & Significance - What do your results mean (in the context of the field) Alice also suggests to do the "mum test" - That is showing people outside your discipline your abstract and asking for their feedback.

Similarly to Jonathan, Peter Halat suggests that a good abstract starts broad, hones in to research and ends with wider implications: Context/Significance - Some background that leads into the work What you did - What is your research?

How did you do it - State the method Key results - Summarize results and give the broader implications of them Peter also recommends that you should consider your audience (ICUR is interdisciplinary), and you ensure your abstract doesn't rely on jargon to make its point. www.icurportal.com | 5

NTU STUDENT DIRECTORS Greetings IMPACT Readers! I am S Shalini Sivakrishnan from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, and I am immensely excited to serve as the Student Director for ICUR 2018. I am currently in my final year of university, completing my B.A. (Honours) in Public Policy and Global Affairs, and have served as one of the Chairpersons for NTU’s United Nations Student Association.

Hi IMPACT readers! I’m Rajkumar Thiagaras from Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore, and I’m currently in my third year, pursuing my B.A (Honours) in English, with double minors in Creative Writing and Theatre and Performance. I’m basically a bit of a drama and literature geek, so I love to read and act out what I read in my department’s drama club.

Last year, I had the privilege of presenting my research paper at ICUR 2017, titled “The Dishonour of the Disrobed: Politics of the Female Body in the Mahabharata”. It was nerve-racking as I had to do a solo presentation for the first time on a topic which I presumed would be unfamiliar to most people. However, the support that I got from my academic peers and the enthusiastic response from the audience gave me the confidence to present my work with pride. As such, I am honoured to come on board as an ICUR 2018 Student Director representing NTU to serve like-minded peers who value quality research and creative research exploration at the undergraduate level. I look forward to working with my good friend Shalini, and with our fellow friends from Monash and Warwick to make ICUR 2018 a roaring success.

Last year, I had the opportunity to present my research paper on the Legal Citizenship Status and Resettlement of Rohingyan Asylum-Seekers in South and Southeast Asia. ICUR 2017 was a conducive platform for undergraduate students to not only present, but also learn about the research work that our peers from across different majors have embarked on, and I am looking forward to working together with the other student directors to make ICUR 2018 a meaningful learning journey as well.

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URECA POSTER EXHIBITION AND COMPETITION Shalini Sivakrishnan and Rajkumar Thiagaras NTU Student Directors On 14th March 2018, as part of NTU’s Undergraduate Research Experience on CAmpus (URECA) programme, NTU conducted its annual poster exhibition and competition where undergraduate students presented their research thesis and methodology through a poster under various categories such as Social Sciences, Physical and Mathematical Science and Engineering. The day long competition exhibited over 100 posters which were judged by a panel of professors. 22 student researchers won the best poster award in their category.

As part of our first duty as an ICUR Student Director, Raj was tasked to emcee the prize presentation ceremony with the previous student director, En Qi. It was a wonderful opportunity to view the posters of our friends from English, as well as our peers from the Humanities and other disciplines, and share

observations on our various research topics and interests. During the prize presentation ceremony, Raj shared his experience as a presenter for ICUR 2017 and encourage fellow URECA participants to take part in the upcoming ICUR session. It was an exhilarating moment as Student Directors to realise that we needed to be a role model and take the initiative to inspire and motivate our peers so that we can aid one another to display our research on a global platform and gain the recognition that our efforts deserve.

Furthermore, it was a wonderful opportunity to meet our friends from Monash, Peter, Ruby and Kate, and host them during the competition. Our candid conversations and insightful sharing on the efforts of our respective universities was mind opening for me as I got to understand the impact of ICUR in promoting academic research among the youth. We hope that Peter and Ruby enjoyed their brief visit to NTU and we wish them all the best, along with our friends from Warwick, for their endeavours as the current student directors.

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MONASH VISITS SINGAPORE Peter Halat and Ruby Ballantyne, Monash Student Directors In March some of Monash’s ICUR organisational team were lucky enough to travel to Singapore to experience NTUURECA’s prestigious poster competition.

Having heard about past competitions from NTU-URECA students, we were all very excited to experience the competition for the first time in person.

After arriving late in the evening, Monash’s ICUR student directors, Peter Halat and Ruby Ballantyne and Monash’s Academic Coordinator, Kate Aldred, were kindly hosted by Nicolas, one of NTU’s 2017 ICUR Student Directors. Taking us down Orchard Road, Nicolas introduced the team to one of Singapore’s most bustling areas. But the next day was when the real fun began - NTUURECA’s poster competition!

Traveling to NTU’s campus in the morning, we had the opportunity to have a brief tour around the campus, guided by En Qi, who was also an ICUR Student Director for NTU in 2017. Visiting The Hive was a highlight of the tour. We loved the building’s innovative architecture and the mix of tutorial rooms, student lounges and cafes which gave it a buzzing atmosphere, full of student life.

At midday the NTU-URECA poster competition commenced!

The Auditorium foyer was set up with rows of posters grouped according to their faculty.

With little details such as summary tabloids and signposts for each poster discipline, we were all struck by the competition’s professionalism. The Monash team were thrilled to be provided with our own booth to advertise ICUR, complemented with previous years’ abstract books. With the materials provided by NTU, we were made to feel like a worthy addition to the event. It was a special moment to unfurl our very own poster advertisement for ICUR, hanging it up behind our booth for all to see.

With a rotating roster at the booth, we capitalised on any opportunities to read the competing posters and discuss the research with a number of aspiring researchers. We were all impressed with the quality of each poster’s research and each researcher’s presentation and engagement with the audience. We hope very much to see many of them presenting at ICUR this year!

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We were also delighted to meet two of NTU’s freshly appointed ICUR Student Directors, Shalini and Rajkumar. Both of them kindly spent plenty of time at the ICUR booth helping us advertise. In return, we were able to introduce some finer details of Student Directorship, as well as integrate Shalini and Rajkumar into our communication channels with Warwick’s Student Directors.

The poster competition concluded with award presentations, where a winner was pronounced each discipline. The Monash team was then greeted by an attentive audience, giving our own presentation about ICUR, Compass and Reinvention. We were grateful that all the technology ran smoothly, and hope that NTUURECA’s students will be inspired to take part in one, or more, of these initiatives.

Unfortunately, with a plane to catch, there wasn’t much time for us to stay around after the presentations, but we were able to have one last meal with our new fellow Student Directors.

Overall, despite flying a total of 16 hours, and spending 30 hours in Singapore, every moment was worth it. We’re excited to have Shalini and Raj as Student Directors and we look forward to seeing many of NTU-URECA's talented scholars present at ICUR in September.

FINAL NOTE To end IMPACT 2018's second edition, we'd like to reflect on ICUR's incredible international community. Participating in ICUR is more than simply turning up on the day. It presents the opportunity for talented young researchers to connect with likeminded individuals across the globe. We hope this issue of Impact empowers you to submit an abstract for ICUR if you haven't already, or to just get involved with the international community that ICUR fosters. www.icurportal.com | 9

impact THE OFFICIAL ICUR NEWSLETTER

ICUR Student Directors University of Warwick Adam Place Ben Hayday Eugenia Lau Imogen Fitt Monash University Peter Halat Ruby Ballantyne Nanyang Technological University Rajkumar Thiagaras Shalini Sivakrishnan

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