'Professional, engaging and well-received' event

Sponsored by the BPS SW Branch and following on from the successful 2023 UG Conference held at the University of Bristol, the students and staff at Plymouth University took up the challenge and hosted a professional, engaging and well-received event that attracted approximately 130 attendees and showcased over 70 pieces of research via posters and seminar presentations. 

The event also featured a careers panel discussion with representatives from different areas of psychology who shared information about their own careers and answered questions from the audience. 

Lauren Dennis, SWUG2024 events manager has the following reflections…

"Organising the South West Undergraduate Conference 2024 has been an incredibly unique and valuable experience for each of us student organisers. Learning about the research being conducted by students of fellow universities has been an eye-opening experience about the depth and diversity these projects can take. 

"The success of the conference would not have been possible without the help we received from a variety of sources. Each of the seven university BPS representatives provided invaluable advice to us throughout the planning stages and assisted with the reviewing of nearly 90 abstracts submitted by the students. Our careers panel was coordinated and devised by Clara, our marketing manager. Our aim was to provide the audience with a variety of experiences from different fields of psychology, from NGOs to the criminal justice system.

"Behind-the-scenes, our logistics manager, Charlotte, organised various elements of the day to ensure the guests enjoyed themselves, including catering and souvenirs. We also owe thanks to the incredible team of volunteers, who managed the organisation and direction of over 130 guests. 

"The skills we have developed during this process will be invaluable as we embark on our professional careers, and working so closely as a team has allowed each of us to gain experience in multiple roles. 

"Throughout the process, we often reflected on what the University of Bristol (2023 organisers) did, and took direction from this, as such we owe them a thanks. Finally, we want to take this opportunity to offer the best of luck to the 2025 organisers; the University of Exeter."

Prize-giving

The following prizes were awarded:

 Expert Panel Prize (Seminar presentation)

• Poornima Jayaraj - University of Bath – 'Tik Tok Temptations: Navigating body image in South Asian women's digital landscape'
• Amy Godfrey - University of Bath – 'Nurturing the Next Generation: Investigating the impact of early educational environment quality on maths achievement'
• Helena Thornton - University of Bristol – 'Experiences of illness identity and stigma by individuals with Long Covid - a qualitative study'
• Jamie Cooper - University of the West of England – 'The Effect of Action Video Game Experience on Subsequent Search Misses: Exploring the role of visual working memory'
• Rachael Buldford-Fordbes, Meda Valecke and Liliana Schirru -  University of Plymouth – 'Forcing and free will' 

Expert Panel Prize (Poster)

• Eve Burgess - University of Plymouth -  'First impressions and evaluations of threat'
• Alexandra Papadaki - University of Bristol 
• Madeleine Martinaud Castro - University of Plymouth – 'Children's understanding of norm-violations in environmental protests'
• Valeria Bradosche Pallares - University of Bath 

Audience Favourite Awards

• Seminar presentation:  Tina Hunt - University of Plymouth – 'Controlling aggressive behaviour through drumming'
• Poster: Aleksandra Kowalczyk - University of Bath – 'Exploring neurodiverse predictors (ADHD, ASD, OCD) of maladaptive daydreaming traits'