2024 Undergraduate Research Symposium
The 2024 Undergraduate Research Symposium took place on Tuesday 22nd October in the TSI building. The event showcased the research work of 50+ Maynooth University undergraduate students who had successfully completed the Summer Programme for Undergraduate Research (SPUR). The SPUR Programme, now in its seventh year, is an active research based and paid experiential learning programme for undergraduate students who wish to learn more about the postgraduate experience and possibly pursue a career in research.
The SPUR students worked during the summer months on a wide variety of live research projects in collaboration with faculty mentors. This academically enriching opportunity allowed the students to gain exposure to a myriad of learning and research skills, grow in confidence and develop their research network by forging important connections.The students were also regularly met with MU PhD students who were able to advise students on what life as a postgraduate student is like. The students also had to complete various elements including an online workbook, a research poster and attend an end of programme developmental day.
The highlight of the SPUR Programme each year is the Undergraduate Research Symposium which allows the students to showcase their research poster and present their work to fellow students, academic mentors, colleagues and guests. This year's event was officially opened by Prof Tim Thompson, Vice President Students & Learning and judged by colleagues in each Faculty.The winning students, alongside the Audience Choice Awardee, were presented with their prizes by Maynooth University President Professor Eeva Leinonen during the MU Research Week Prizegiving Ceremony on Thursday 24th October.
Congratulations and Thank You to all SPUR Students, Academic Mentors and Supporters for their involvement in this programme.
The 2024 Undergraduate Research Symposium faculty winners and audience choice awardees are:
Faculty of Arts and Humanities: Hannah Lyons, mentored by Dr Michael Potterton, for the research project “The Urban Archaeology Survey” (History Department).
Faculty of Social Sciences: Sharon Tyndall, mentored by Dr Linzi Ryan, Dr Derek Barter, Dr Nuala Whelan, and Dr Margaret Nugent, for the research project “Barriers to lifelong learning for the older adult” (A collaboration between the Department of Design Innovation and Department of Adult and Community Education).
Faculty of Science and Engineering: Jake Feeney, mentored by Dr John Regan and Dr Patrick Kavanagh, for the research project “Using JWST datasets to probe for Massive Black Hole Seeds”/ “Searching For JWST’s Little Red Dots” (Physics Department).
Audience Choice Award: Saoirse O’Toole, mentored by Dr Joanne Masterson and Dr Sinead Ryan, for the research project “Breaking Barriers: What stress causes epithelial dysfunction in allergic oesophagitis?” (Biology Department).
Thank you to the faculty mentors and students who participated in the SPUR Programme this year and in previous years. If you are an academic working on a research project and would like to be involved in the SPUR Programme in 2025, a call for project proposals will go out in December 2024.
For more details on SPUR and other programmes the Careers and Employability Service offer, visit www.maynoothuniversity.ie/careers