Together with its EUTOPIA partners, VUB is participating for the second year and we are proud to have six of our students present. They are all in action on 29 September, and we encourage the whole VUB community to join in and support them. All presentations can be followed via the ICUR App – check out the icurportal.com for more info and to see the programme of the two-day event. Our VUB students are Alisa Spriet (geography), Loyle Campbell and Paulina Rios Maya (political sciences), Yael Kahn (medicine), Sophie Coenen (biomedical engineering), and Arthur Meul (communications).
"The ICUR allowed me to present my bachelor research to an audience of global peers from multiple leading universities. Not only was this a unique chance to present my work, but it also connected me to a cohort of like-minded students all around the world." - Loyle Wesley Campbell, Political Sciences, VUB
Through the app, anyone can attend ICUR 2020 virtually, watch sessions, participate, interact and ask questions without leaving your home. No matter what time zone anyone is in, participants can access any panel that is taking place while you are logged on the app. It’s a great opportunity to meet fellow students from across the world, to network, to ask questions, to interact with the presenters and audience and be part of a truly interdisciplinary international academic conference.
It’s almost impossible to get more international than this event. Presenters from the EUTOPIA partners - Warwick University (UK), Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Belgium), Pompeu Fabra University (Spain), University of Ljubljana (Slovenia), and CY Cergy Paris University (France) - join forces with those from Monash University (in Australia and Malaysia), Nanyan Technological University (Singapore), University of Leeds (UK), Baruch College, City University of New York (US), University of British Colombia (Canada), University of Nebraska (US), and Stellenbosch University (South Africa).
"I am very grateful for the opportunity that I have had to present my research at The International Conference of Undergraduate Research 2020. Through this enriching experience you meet students from around the world, all with different fields of study and disciplines. Prior to the conference my co-panelists and I organized a roundtable. We got to know each other better, supported one another, discussed our presentations and scripts. During the ICUR journey, I had the chance to improve my presentation and academic writing skills. My best advice: enjoy the moment!” - Yaël Kahn, medical student at the VUB
Keynote by Helen Keen
This year the keynote will be given by Helen Keen, on Wednesday 30 September (9am, Belgian time). She is an award-winning performer and popular-science writer. In her BBC Radio 4 show about the history and development of human spaceflight, “It is Rocket Science”, she combines science with comedy. The critically-acclaimed show on the 2013 WISE Media Award and was nominated for the 2015 Writers’ Guild of Great Britain. During her career, she has hosted first live comedy night at CERN in Switzerland and was featured in a National Geographic series, StarTalk with Neil deGrasse Tyson where she talked about making connections between pop culture and science. Her innovative approach to factual matters was recognised by WIRED magazine who appointed her as an Innovation Fellow.
Monash University Opening Speakers
This year Monash University will be hosting two distinguished guests to officially open the conference, hosted by the Monash ICUR Student Directors Ryan Buhagiar & Brooke Maat: Simone Pianko a current Monash Engineering Honours student and founder of the Borrow Cup Sustainability Initiative at Monash University & Dr. Brian Martin the Associate Dean, (Indigenous) and Senior Lecturer at Monash Art, Design & Architecture.
Undergraduate Research Alumni Panel
You can also attend the alumni panel session, hear from past presenters about the value of undergraduate research, for their own careers and personal development.
More information on ICUR 2020: https://www.icurportal.com/