Plymouth student wins BCUR Posters in Parliament event

A Plymouth University student has won a national research competition after presenting her work to MPs in the Houses of Parliament.

Marine Biology and Oceanography student, Rebekah Simpson entered the annual British Conference of Undergraduate Research (BCUR) competition, which invites students from all disciplines to submit their work in various forms including poster presentations, papers or creative outputs.

This is the first time the event has been staged in Parliament, and it brought together students from 10 universities to give presentations of their projects at Westminster.

Rebekah said she was delighted to win after coming up against some tough competition. She said:  “I was really surprised, but very honoured as the quality of the research and candidates was so high.  We were given five minutes to present our work and respond to questions by the judges.”

Rebekah’s project, submitted in poster form, investigated the presence of a new non-native species of amphipod or sand-hoppers to the UK.  She not only found the species but identified three separate populations on the North Kent coast within 10 km of each other. Rebekah now hopes to continue the work to find out whether the animals found are a new species, distinct from other European populations.

Chair of the BCUR Steering Group, University of Central Lancashire’s Professor Stuart Hampton-Reeves said: “The judging panel were unanimous that Rebekah was the outstanding student at the event. Her research is genuinely important and demonstrates that undergraduate research can have a real impact. All the students did really well but we are really proud of Rebekah’s achievement. This first year has been a success and it is planned to be an annual event.”

The panel this year included an MP, the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Higher Education Academic, and a BBC News Education Correspondent. HEFCE’s CEO Sir Alan Langlands presented Rebekah with her award at a special reception.

Professor John Spicer, from the School of Marine Science and Engineering, said: “This is an excellent example of the calibre of students we have at Plymouth University.  Rebekah’s determination to have her research known about and discussed by people outside of her field is proof as to what can be achieved.  We hope more people will get involved in future.”

Rebekah has since completed her MRes Marine Biology at Plymouth and is now undertaking her PhD on the effect of climate change on animal’s energetics and immune systems with Plymouth University.

The next BCUR conference will be held at Plymouth University in April this year when over 230 UK and international students will present their research. BCUR is a coalition of over 50 universities from across the sector, founded in 2010 holding its first conference at the University of Central Lancashire in 2011.

For more information visit http://www.bcur.org