Welcome to the Undergraduate Research Conference

Each year during March, the Undergraduates from across Lancaster University and its partners come together to host a conference in which undergraduate students from across the Partnership and across all disciplines showcase and celebrate their research.

A conference takes a great deal of organising and so there are many roles you can participate in. Undergraduates from partners, disciplines and all levels of study are welcome to join in the organising and presenting – we need you all.

What is the UG Research Conference?

The UG Research Conference is designed exclusively for undergraduates. It takes place online and is open to undergraduate students throughout the Lancaster Partnership working in any discipline. The conference provides a valuable opportunity for students to present their research to an international audience by producing a poster presentation and giving an optional research talk. Participants are supported by a programme of skills and subject workshops in the run-up to the event.

Underlying the UG Research Conference is a commitment to a vision of Lancaster University as a community of staff and students engaged in the same basic enterprise – trying to push the boundaries of scholarship – and united by interest in and curiosity about our subjects.

Undergraduates from all the Lancaster Partnership, spanning the UK, China, Germany, Ghana and Malaysia, contribute by presenting and supporting the conference making the event a truly global showcase of UG research.

Deadline to submit applications will be announced soon.

How does it work?

The UG Research Conference takes place online, meaning that you can present from your home institution and interact with students from around the world without international travel.

You will produce a poster presentation, and also have the option to give a talk on your research at our online conference in March.

You can view the previous presenters and research posters on the our bespoke portfolio website.

As part of a programme of events leading up to the conference in March, you will be invited to a range of skills and subject workshops to help you produce your research poster, meet those working on similar topics, and boost your employability and research skills.

The conference is free and open to all UG students at Lancaster University and its Partners, including UGs on ‘Study Abroad’ schemes.

It is a wonderful opportunity for you to network with fellow student, find out about a wide range of topics and gain new skills.

There are many ways you can participate in the UG Research Conference. You can connect with undergraduates by presenting your research, volunteering for supporting roles, or simply by joining as a delegate to view the presentations.

How to apply?

Applications for presentations are open to all 2nd, 3rd and 4th year students participating on a Lancaster University undergraduate course from across all Teaching Partnerships.

The deadline for applications will be announced soon. You should apply to present by completing the application form. The application process involves producing a 200-word abstract. This abstract is a summary of your research which is suitable for a general audience. We have provided advice on how to write an abstract in the resources section. You will also be asked to give details of your institution, degree scheme and year of study, as well as 3 ‘keywords’ that best describe your research area. These words will be used in the presentation website index and help you to make connections with similar research around the partnership.

Please note that you do not have to have completed your research by the time of application – you need only to be the position to produce an abstract and be confident that the research will be completed in time for the conference.

As part of the application process, you must identify a supervisor and they must approve your application before you submit it. This may be your programme director, project lead, dissertation supervisor, academic tutor, or any other member of academic staff – you should ask them to confirm that the research has passed through any relevant ethics processes and is suitable for submission. Once received, all applications are reviewed by a panel of academics, who will recommend which presentations should go forward for the conference website, and may suggest small amendments to the abstract.

Once you have been advised that your presentation application has been accepted, you should visit the accepted presentation guidance section of this website (resources link). There you will find instructions on how to proceed, a detailed timeline and advice on how to prepare and upload your presentation to the conference website.

For more information, do not hesitate to contact our team if you cannot find what you are looking for.