Undergraduate Student Researchers

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Undergraduate Research Opportunities at the
University of Warwick
The Institute for Advanced Teaching and
Learning (IATL) has been newly established to
support the University of Warwicks clear
commitment to teaching and the development of
innovative programmes and modes of delivery,
which have a real impact on student experience.
The Institute will provide academic leadership
for teaching and learning innovation and will be
proactive in capturing enthusiasm and new ideas
amongst the academic community encouraging and
supporting colleagues to explore and apply
innovative teaching practices and methodologies
generating new ideas within strategic themes to
help shape teaching and learning across the
University and disseminating, embedding and
raising the profile of new approaches and
successful innovations. IATL has been created by
a merger of Warwick's two CETLs, the CAPITAL and
Reinvention Centres.
Reinvention a Journal of Undergraduate
Research Reinvention a Journal of Undergraduate
Research is a unique international journal edited
by undergraduate students for undergraduate
students it was founded by the University of
Warwick and Oxford Brookes University. The
publication provides an innovative approach to
academic writing, training students in academic
publishing from the points of view of the author,
the reviewer and the editor, and producing a
high-quality publication. Submissions are
accepted in any subject, from any undergraduate
student around the world. Around 25 students are
involved in the editorial team, with over 40
undergraduate papers having been published since
the journals launch in 2007. Involvement with
the journal is extra-curricular and all student
editors volunteer their time, though the main
editorial team receive a small bursary in
acknowledgement of their work. The journal is
currently funded through the IATL at the
University of Warwick. The journal team are
currently seeking on-going funding for the
publication and would like to hear from any other
institutions who might be interested in
collaborating on the publication. Their students
could become involved in the editorial team, and
training in writing for publication and peer
review could be offered at their
institution. The feedback was brilliant, it was
far more detailed than I had experienced with
assessed / class work and I had not predicted
such a detailed response. To date it has been the
single most helpful process with regard to my
writing skills. (Reinvention author)
Undergraduate Student Researchers The
contribution of undergraduate researchers is
invaluable to the work of the IATL and the
previous work of the two CETLs. Undergraduates
have been employed in part-time research roles on
a variety of projects related to the core aims
and areas of interest of the Institute and the
CETLs. While in the past a number of research
roles were voluntary, increasingly undergraduates
are paid either a bursary or an hourly wage, with
between two and five researchers employed on each
project. The undergraduates are selected for
these roles through a process of formal
application and interview, and once selected they
are supported both formally and informally by the
core team via research methods training and a
collegial environment. Importantly,
undergraduates are treated as integral members of
our research teams they are viewed as full
members of the teams, and we strive to make sure
undergraduates are fully engaged in the entire
research process from inception to publication.
Undergraduate Research Scholarship Scheme The
Undergraduate Research Scholarship Scheme (URSS)
gives students at Warwick the chance to become
directly involved in the research work of the
University, experience what it's like to be a
member of a research team and take part in
cutting-edge research. The scheme is designed to
enable students to develop transferable skills
that benefit them in their studies and beyond, to
gain an invaluable insight into the nature of
academic research, to make a contribution to the
development of new knowledge, and to work as a
member of a research team in a world-class
university. Bursaries of up to 1000 are
available to students who approach, or are
approached by, a member of staff to work on a
collaborative project. Applications for bursaries
are accepted from staff on behalf of their
collaboration, and around 100 projects are funded
each year.   As part of Warwicks commitment to
enriching the learning experience of all
students, the URSS scheme enables academics and
students to work together in the advancement of
knowledge. (Professor Nigel Thrift, Vice
Chancellor, University of Warwick)
Open-space Learning Open-space Learning (OSL)
bridges formal academic study with the practical,
professional applications of theory in practice.
At a theoretical level OSL is informed by but
is not limited to methods such as
enactive, embodied and kinaesthetic
learning. Influenced by the work in neuroscience
which seeks to re-connect mind, body and
world, we have incorporated social theory and the
ideas connected to third space, in which
teaching and learning are conducted in ways, and
in spaces, that bring together knowledge and
skills from students, academic subject experts,
and professional practitioners, in the creation
of understanding. Practically, the workshop is
the basic unit in pedagogic interaction between
facilitator and participant in OSL, defined as a
teaching and learning session that takes place in
an environment in which participants can engage
actively with the learning materials that are
that sessions focus.