Past events
ICUR 2021
The ninth annual International Conference of Undergraduate Research (ICUR) took place on 28th-29th September 2021. ICUR continued to navigate the circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic by offering a hybrid event which gave undergraduate students at our participating institutions the opportunity to present remotely or with other students and staff at their own institution, depending on local restrictions on movement. Well over one hundred spoken presentation sessions were hosted by Zoom webinars, and accessed by audiences through our ICUR App, where they could also view pdfs and brief recorded presentations of research posters in our five poster presentation sessions.ICUR 2021 Best Presenters
Audience members were able to vote for their favourite presentations via the ICUR App. Congratulations to the ICUR 2021 winners:
Emily Kidner and Kajani Subhaskaran, University of Warwick
Voted Best Presenters for their Spoken Presentation, The Impact of Undernutrition on the Academic Performance of Schoolchildren in Low- and Middle-income Countries: a systematic review.
Sara Dierickx, Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Voted Best Presenter for their Spoken Presentation, P300 Inter-trial variability in patients with multiple sclerosis.
Lidón Pruñonosa Lara, University of Warwick
Voted Best Presenter for their Spoken Presentation, How to administer a drug that cannot dissolve in the body – a chemical approach.
Charlotte Taylor, University of Warwick
Voted Best Presenter for their Poster Presentation, A systematic review of physical activity and its effect on burnout and quality of life in medical students.
Participating Institutions
University of Warwick, UK
Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
Monash University, Malaysia
Baruch College, City University of New York, USA
CY Cergy Universite, Paris, France
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Pennsylvania State University, USA
Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona, Spain
Stellenbosch University, South Africa
University of British Columbia, Canada
University of Gothenburg, Sweden
University of Leeds, UK (including the Universities of Sheffield and York)
University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA
Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium
Keynote Speakers
Dr Tilman Ruff
Dr Tilman Ruff is a distinguished alumnus from Monash University and the co-founder and Australian Chair of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017. He is also the co-president of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War and an honorary principal fellow at the University of Melbourne’s School of Population and Global Health. Dr Ruff is also an Officer of the Order of Australia and currently holds the position as the Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians.
Prof Michael Tildesley
Prof Michael Tildesley is a professor in infectious disease modelling in the Zeeman Institute for Systems Biology and Infectious Disease Epidemiology Research (SBIDER) at the University of Warwick. He completed his Ph.D. in Astrophysical Fluid Dynamics at the University of Cambridge in 2003 but has been working in the field of mathematical epidemiology since then, focusing on the development of mathematical models to simulate the spread of livestock and zoonotic diseases. He has a particular interest in the predictive power of models in the early stages of disease outbreaks, when there is significant uncertainty regarding the spread of disease. Currently, Prof Tildesley is a member of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Modelling group (SPI-M), the modelling subgroup of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) and has been working throughout the COVID-19 pandemic on the development of models to provide scientific and technical advice to support government decision makers and inform a range of policy questions in the UK.
Ms Priya Sharma
Priya Sharma is the Director of PRME (Principles of Responsible Management Education) and the Chair of PRME Chapter ASEAN+.
Priya Sharma is also an academic within the School of Business at Monash University Malaysia. She is the recipient of the PRME Education Excellence Award and Monash Purple Letter for Teaching Excellence for 2020, signifying top scores in student satisfaction for the capstone unit she developed called “Ethics and Sustainability in a Business Environment”.
Her research interest is in humanity and the law, focusing on the Malaysian legislation surrounding the forced labour of children and migrant workers. Priya has published in the Malayan Law Journal on the exploitation of children for labour and most recently, a book chapter on Covid-19 and the trafficking of migrant workers for forced labour. She also actively contributes articles for the media and Monash Lens, an expert topical commentary platform by leading Monash University academics and researchers helping to change the world.
Priya Sharma strongly emphasises the importance of collaborations with the industry, civil society, educational institutions, government, and other stakeholders to boost sustainability and bring education and life skills to vulnerable communities like refugee youth.
Prof Steve Fuller
A graduate of both Columbia and Cambridge University , Dr Steve Fuller founded the first journal and published the first book on Social Epistemology in the late 1980s. Since then, he has spoken in over 30 countries, often keynoting professional academic conferences. He is the Auguste Comte Chair in Social Epistemology at the University of Warwick , and a Fellow of the UK Academy of Social Sciences and the European Academy of Sciences and Arts . He is also a Senior Research Fellow at the Breakthrough Institute, the leading ‘ecomodernist’ think-tank and an Affiliate Scholar at the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies , the leading ‘transhumanist’ think-tank. His writings have been translated into more than twenty languages. Dr Fuller’s major areas of research include the emergence of intellectual property in the information society, the interdisciplinary challenges in the natural and social sciences, and the political and epistemological consequences of the new biology, science and religion.
Student Directors
Ghanaanjani Jugurnauth
My involvement in conferences began in my home country Mauritius itself. Shortly after I joined Monash University Malaysia to major in Accountancy, I came to know about ICUR and could not resist the prospect. Although I had no prior exposure to research, the different workshops and training sessions of ICUR allowed me to explore the world of academic research and present my own research in ICUR 2020. Being one of the five finalists for the Best Spoken Presenter of Monash in ICUR 2020 was a great achievement as it has enabled me to share my research with a wider audience. Through this position, I wish to contribute to the journey of budding undergraduate researchers like me, supporting them along the way to the conference and providing them an unforgettable ICUR experience like mine was. As much as presenting one’s own research in ICUR would be an incredible opportunity, attending other panels and learning about the research of others while being supportive of them is an equally important contribution to the wonderful experience that ICUR can provide. I would thus highly recommend everyone to fully immerse themselves in every aspect of ICUR.
Xenia Sanut
I'm Xenia, a third-year journalism, Asian studies and Japanese student at Monash University. At ICUR 2020, I presented my research on how COVID-related Australian news stories reaffirmed racist attitudes towards the Asian community and what can be done to prevent racism in the news media. ICUR taught me the value of intercultural and interdisciplinary communication and allowed me to connect with people who are passionate about innovation. That's why I'm proud to be a Student Director this year. With the help of our global team, I hope that ICUR will continue to showcase the incredible work of students and help prepare them for the careers they envisage for themselves.
Yi Ting Loo
As a third year Mathematics and physics student, whose research interest is in areas of applied mathematics in biological systems, I greatly appreciate the importance interdisciplinary research from an undergraduate level. In the past, I have undertaken a summer research project URSS (Undergraduate Research Support Scheme) with SBIDER (The Zeeman Institute for Systems Biology & Infectious Disease Epidemiology Research). My work was focused on modelling the spread of dengue fever with mathematics and simulations. Currently, in my final year, I am also really excited to be working on a research project on theoretical neuroscience. Having been a presenter in both ICUR 2019 and 2020, I can safely say that ICUR is where my passion for undergraduate research began. My experience with ICUR has definitely broaden my horizons in research, having the opportunity to meet other inspiring young researchers. As a student director this year, I am passionate in creating an exciting and encouraging environment for undergraduate researchers and to support them in sharing their knowledge on an interdisciplinary and international platform.
Tobi Alao
My name is Tobi Alao and I’m a penultimate year Sociology student at the University of Warwick. My course has helped me to understand the theoretical side of both qualitative and quantitative research methods, but ICUR has played a critical role in allowing me to see how these methods work on a practical level. As a Student Director, I have enjoyed working in a cross-border team and hosting sessions with presenters across several continents. The difference in cultural perspectives has not only helped to broaden my world view, but it has also enabled me to build a local and global network.
Drakhshandae Badar
Growing up in a household where global politics was always at the forefront of any family discussions, I was always naturally curious about what lies beyond the confines of my echo chamber. Research helped me learn about cultures other than my own and allowed me to look at everything from a critical perspective. Whether it was covering the general election in my home country, or working with innocent prisoners, I have learned that collaboration and communication are the key ingredients to making any project work. ICUR combines research and collaboration and serves as an incredible opportunity for us to interact and communicate with those who share the same enthusiasm for research and innovation. I am currently studying Law at the University of Warwick.