The University of Central Lancashire took posters to Parliament last week to inform MPs about the UK’s best undergraduate research.

The annual Posters in Parliament exhibition in Westminster was sponsored by UCLan, the Higher Education Funding Council for England and the Higher Education Academy.

Advertisements

Undergraduate students from 23 universities gathered in London on Tuesday 25 February, to unveil research findings from a huge range of fascinating subject areas.

The poster event is designed to give UK universities a platform to undergraduate work and demonstrate how research-informed teaching can enhance the overall student experience.

The posters display research work such as an innovative electronically controlled turbocharger which can reduce carbon dioxide emissions and an analysis of UK attitudes to buying beef following the horsemeat scandal.

The British Conference of Undergraduate Research (BCUR) event is a celebration of British undergraduate research excellence and inspired by the US Posters on the Hill event, where US students display their undergraduate research at the Capitol Building in Washington DC.

Judging took place by Ben Wallace MP (Conservative MP for Wyre and Preston North; and exhibition host) Sean Coughlan, Education Correspondent at the BBC, Professor Julio Rivera, President of the US Council of Undergraduate Research, and Katherine Harrington of the Higher Education Academy chose the most outstanding research project.

The winner was Talitha Bromwich from the University of Sussex with a project entitled ‘Searching for Dark Matter’.

Victoria Sleight, from Plymouth University won the Highly Commended award for her ‘Microplastics affect the bioavailability of harmful contaminants’ poster.

Aisha Bismillah and Karl Povey represented UCLan and showcased their undergraduate research posters on ‘Water purification by photo-catalytic destruction of pollutants’ and work on ‘An archaeology of Ribchester’.

Professor Gerry Kelleher, Vice-Chancellor at UCLan, said: “We were delighted to sponsor and host the second Posters in Parliament event. This year’s exhibition clearly demonstrated the breadth of undergraduate research taking place at universities across the country, and best of all gave these young people a chance to come together and showcase their projects in the heart of Westminster.

“The spirit of enquiry should be at the heart of higher education and at UCLan research-informed teaching is central to our ethos.”

Top picture from the left: Professor Gerry Kelleher, Vice-Chancellor, Aisha Bismallah, Karl Povey and Dr. Robert Walsh, Director of Research.

Bottom picture: Winner student Talitha Bromwich with Vice-Chancellor Professor Gerry Kelleher (left) and Professor Stuart Hampton-Reeves (second right).

Thanks to Lyndsey Boardman