10th Annual AICUR (All-Ireland Conference of Undergraduate Research)
Online at the University of Limerick, Thursday April 13th, 2023.
Please see Conference Schedule Here.
To submit an abstract for this year’s conference please complete this form and return to ctl@ul.ie.
*Deadline Extended to Thursday, 30th March 2023*.
The online nature of this year’s conference gives students from UL and all other Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Ireland, the opportunity to access the conference with relative ease and limited travelling.
We welcome submissions from all undergraduate students in any Irish HEI studying in any discipline.
Attendees including supervisors, academics, classmates, friends, and family are welcome to register to attend on the day and can register here.
Please email CTL@ul.ie with abstract submissions or for queries.
Accessing AICUR 2023 online
This year’s All-Ireland Conference of Undergraduate Research (AICUR) 2023 conference is being hosted online through a dedicated MS Teams site.
The MS Teams sites is called ‘AICUR (All-Ireland Conference of Undergraduate Research)’ and this is the link to access the overall MS Teams site.
This site has public access to allow all attendees, internal and external to UL, to attend.
Conference Schedule
The conference schedule will be hosted in early April.
Conference Opening and Welcome Address; Professor Norelee Kennedy, Vice President Research, UL
There is a channel in the AICUR Teams site called ‘Conference Opening and Welcome Address’ which will host the conference opening and welcome address from TBC pm. Access it here.
Keynote Address; We are very excited to welcome our Keynote Speaker, Oisín Hassan Policy Executive for Lifelong Learning and Skills, IUA.
Breakout Room links
Participants have been allocated a breakout room and time for their presentation. These details are provided in the Conference Programme.
To attend a session in any of the Breakout Rooms, you can access them through the links below;
Breakout Room 1
Breakout Room 2
Breakout Room 3
Breakout Room 4
Conference help
If anyone attending the conference has issues or concerns, there is a ‘Front Desk’ channel within the AICUR Teams site which will be staffed for the first hour of the conference. Access it here. Alternatively, if you need assistance email CTL@ul.ie
AICUR presentation tips Q&A Link scheduled April 06th @11am. Recording Link Here.
What is AICUR?
An undergraduate research conference is like any other academic conference, what makes it special is that the presentations will be delivered by undergraduate students presenting work they have undertaken as part of their studies.
The conference will give undergraduate students (from first to final year) from any Higher Education Institution (HEI) across Ireland the opportunity to present their research and showcase their research accomplishments.
This is a great opportunity for participants as it will provide feedback on your work, tips on presenting, and the real-life experience of presenting at an academic conference.
For those considering further and postgraduate study, participating in AICUR is an opportunity that you can add to your CV or application. Similarly, this is a worthy talking point in a job application or interview.
Testimonials
Previous participants in the conference shared their insights of the conference:
“When you put so much work into your research it is extremely rewarding to be able to share it in a setting that is both slightly nerve-wracking and yet very supportive, and ultimately to people who are interested in what you have done.”
“AICUR was fantastically organised and is a very worthwhile experience for any undergraduate student.”
“Participating in this conference was a fantastic experience.”
What are the benefits of participation?
The conference will give undergraduate students (from first to final year) from colleges and universities across Ireland the opportunity to present their research and showcase their creative accomplishments through posters, performances, workshops and oral presentations.
This is a great opportunity for participants as it will provide you with feedback on your work, tips on presenting, and real life experience of presenting at an academic conference - not to mention networking opportunities.
During the conference you will be able to meet and talk to other undergraduate researchers and faculty from both your own and other disciplines, and you will also be able to learn about how other disciplines approach research problems.
‘By heightening awareness and creating dialogue, it is hoped research can lead to better understanding of the way things appear to someone else and through this insight lead to improvements in practice.’ – Barritt (1986: 20)
Record turnout for 6th Annual AICUR (All Ireland Conference for Undergraduate Research)
This year’s All Ireland Conference for Undergraduate Research (AICUR) had its highest numbers of undergraduate research participants to date, and took place in the Kemmy Business School, UL on 28th March, 2019.
The keynote speech for the 6th annual event was delivered by Seamus Hickey. Seamus was part of the 2018 Limerick All-Ireland winning senior hurling team, is Chair of the Gaelic Players Association (GPA), and is a UL alumnus. Seamus successfully defended his PhD thesis from UL in 2018 and works as the Research Projects Coordinator for Johnson & Johnson.
The theme of Seamus’ keynote was ‘Finding Balance: Striving for Success in Academia, Industry and Sport’ and he imparted three key messages in seeking balance in his life, firstly seek to pursue what you are passionate about, secondly, prioritise because this enables focus, and lastly, trust the process. Amongst these three messages Seamus strongly advocated for periods of reflection and there are always learnings from ‘undesirable outcomes’.
Almost 80 students contributed their work on the day, the highest students’ representation was from UL, however this year saw students presenting and contributing from five other institutions including UCD, NUI Galway, Trinity College Dublin, Sligo IT and Mary Immaculate College. Students were given multiple options for delivery of their research including 15, 10, and 5-minute oral presentations as well as ‘Research in 3’, performance, video and poster presentations. There were awards presented to students in six categories, award winners are listed below.
What is an undergraduate student conference?An undergraduate research conference is just like any other academic conference but what makes it special is that the presentations will be delivered by undergraduate students presenting work they have done as part of their studies.
The CTL wish to extend a special thanks to AICUR’s main sponsor ZAGG, a Shannon based supplier of mobile accessories, who have supported the conference since its inception. Thanks also to prize sponsorship from Munster Rugby, O’Mahony’s Bookshop UL, the UL Visitor Centre, the Stables Club, Aramark, Get Up & Go Ltd, UL Sport Arena, the Undergraduate Awards and the Bank of Ireland.