School/Directorate: Cardiff School of Sport and Health Sciences
Key theme: Support the Global element of the Cardiff Met EDGE developing students as global citizens.
Impact and achievements:
In partnership with City Unity College (CUC) Athens, a virtual student-led conference called "Psychology Across Borders" was developed to provide a platform for students studying all levels of psychology at both institutions to share their learning and experiences of conducting research. The conference enabled student presentations from the BSc Psychology and MSc Health Psychology courses, and Poster Presentations. Over 50 student delegates from the undergraduate and postgraduate psychology degrees attended the conference.
Global Grant funding was used to provide student engagement prizes during the conference; following the conference the teams met to discuss allocation of prizes and awarded £20 Amazon vouchers for best oral speakers and posters. To provide longer term impact, the surplus Amazon vouchers will be used to promote student engagement in follow-up research cafes which will be used to support the sustainability of the student-led conference and will include sessions that support students with preparing conference talks and posters. The conference is intended to be an annual event, and these "research cafes" will support students to develop their abstract writing and presentation skills to increase the numbers of students presenting their research at the conference.
The Global Grants fund was able to provide conference prizes which increased engagement at the conference; the following quotes highlight the impact that the partnership and conference has had on students and staff:
"Moderators from CSSHS have worked with colleagues in Athens, offering a research café and a student conference, Psychology Across Borders. Both enable students from Cardiff Met and CUC to work together, thinking critically about psychology and health psychology. The impact of these initiatives can be seen in closer cooperation between partners, and more importantly in the opportunities for students to develop cultural awareness, thinking internationally about their research" (Dr Dan Heggs, Associate Dean of Partnerships CSSHS)
"Really enjoyed the Psychology Conference this week, thank you so much for the opportunity to be a part of it. All the presentations were really engaging and informative, and it was great to be involved". (MSc Health Psychology student).