The Study Zone helpdesk is situated in the Student Services Centre. We offer online and in-person support in preparing your submission to the Showcase. See how Study Zone can help.
Submission guidance
For any type of submission to the Showcase, please make sure you read over the submission checklist first. Make sure you have read through the additional requirements and guidance below.
When your entry is ready to submit, please do so using our online entry form, which will re-open in March.
We reserve the right to reject submissions if they do not meet our submission criteria stipulated on the submission checklist.
What counts as research?
We will accept the following list of activities as being suitable content for entry:
- Independent research/work you have completed or are undertaking as part of an assignment or undergraduate dissertation and are due to complete before the British Conference of Undergraduate Research
- Research/work completed as part of a research internship at the University of Exeter
- Research/work completed as part of a work placement integral to an undergraduate course
- Enterprise activity focused on social, economic or market research
- Research/work completed as part of Grand Challenges
- Research findings of a Students as Change Agents project, even if this is not yet complete
- Research/work completed as part of a study or work abroad year/term/placement while you were registered as a University of Exeter student
This list is not exhaustive and can also include any other extra-curricular activity so long as it has a clear focus on research and was completed whilst an undergraduate student at the University of Exeter. If you are uncertain as to whether your work counts as research or not, please contact UGresearch@exeter.ac.uk.
This tab includes guidance that applies to all submissions, whether you are submitting an abstract, poster or a video (or all three).
Additional requirements and guidance
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By submitting your work, you are giving the University permission to display it on University websites and social media channels at their discretion, meaning the University may also remove it by third-party request in line with its takedown policy.
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Please ensure you follow our copyright guidance for any imagery, film, quotes etc. Proof that you have read and followed copyright guidance will be required when submitting.
Submitting as a group:
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There is no limit to the number of authors contributing to your work, and authors may be a mix of students and staff.
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The project group must include at least one student who is either a current undergraduate, or has graduated from an undergraduate programme no earlier than Summer 2025 (recent graduate).
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Any student submitting a group project must have had a high level of involvement in the research.
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If the project lead is not a student, you must have obtained their permission to submit.
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It is only necessary for one member of the group to submit, however, this must be a student or recent graduate.
If your work used human participation:
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You must have obtained permission from participants to share the results of your findings anonymously and undertaken correct ethics procedures to conduct your research.
References
Every submission will be required to state their references. We do not mind what referencing format you use as long as it is consistent. When filling in the submission form, we will ask you upload a separate document with your references on. If submitting a video or poster, we will also ask you to put these at the end of your submission file.
Study Zone Digital has guidance on referencing that can be accessed via your university log in. You can also access Cite Them Right which is a great tool to help you format your references correctly.
Copyright
Please make sure you have read the copyright compliance tab on this page before submitting and that you fully understand what you have read. Failure to follow copyright procedures may lead to your submission being rejected and an academic misconduct case.
If using any video clips, images, or audio files found online, please make sure you have read the copyright guidance document. In this document, you can find a list of Copyright free media libraries.
What will you be marked on?
The marking criteria is split into two sections:
1. Content
- How much information you have included about the research
- Approach and structure
- Clarity of argument
- Clear conclusion or preliminary conclusions
- Use of references and secondary sources
2. Presentation
- How engaging your research is to read/watch
- Language (including how accessible it is) and syntax
- Images and graphs (applies only to posters and video content)
What is a research poster?
Research posters are widely used in the academic community, and most conferences include poster presentations in their programme. Posters summarise information or research concisely and attractively to help publicise it and generate discussion. The poster is usually a mixture of brief text mixed with tables, graphs, pictures, and other presentation formats.
Poster exhibitions, such as those at the BCUR Conference and at Posters in Parliament are open, are open to a wide range of people with different levels of experience, expertise and frequently no knowledge of your discipline and the poster content. You should consider how to make your research more accessible to those outside of your research area, but without compromising the academic quality of your poster. An excellent research poster provides enough detail to engage both an expert and a lay person.
What should my poster look like?
- Entries must be in A1 portrait. You can use our Poster Template - Portrait
- Submitted in an editable format
- Title is short and draws interest (max. 100 characters)
- Language is clear and to the point
- Use of bullet points, numbering, and headlines make it easy to read
- Effective use of graphics, colour and fonts
- Consistent and clean layout
- Includes your name and the University logo in the left-hand corner as per the Design Studio’s visual identity guidelines. Please see the poster templates on the website.
- References at the end
- Submitted in an editable format such as Microsoft Word or Microsoft Publisher
Your poster should address three key questions for anyone engaging with it:
- What is the most important/interesting/astounding finding from your research project?
- How can you visually share your research with others? Should you use charts, graphs, photos, images?
- How can you structure and phrase your work so it is accessible for as many visitors to the exhibition as possible?
There are also a variety of other online resources available to help you create a good research poster. You can also find lots of examples of previous submissions here on our website.
What is an abstract?
Abstracts are a summary of research conducted. Every long piece of research you read or write can be summed up in a short abstract. The BCUR states an abstract is ‘a summary of your research presentation of up to 250 words’.
You are also welcome to submit an accompanying photo or figure with your main abstract.
Our exhibition will be open to the university community and wider public, so will be seen by students, staff, and visitors from a variety of backgrounds and with possibly no knowledge of your background discipline. You should also consider how to make your research more accessible to those outside of your research area, but without compromising the academic quality of your abstract.
What should my abstract look like?
- It must follow this Abstract template
- Accompanying media file is optional
- Title is short and draws interest (max. 100 characters)
- Maximum 250 words
- Language is clear and to the point
- Includes your name
- Submitted in an editable format on Microsoft PowerPoint
The key features of a successful abstract are:
- A clear statement of your research question
- A clear statement on how you have conducted your research
- The background to your research project
- A summary of your conclusions (or preliminary conclusions)
There are also a variety of other online resources available to help you create a good abstract; a simple internet search will show lots of results. For example, the BCUR have an in-depth abstract guidance page.
You can also find lots of examples of previous submissions here on our website.
Copyright guidance
You must ensure that your submission is copyright compliant.
If you do not fully own the intellectual property of the content you are submitting, you must seek the appropriate permission/s from other authors or copyright owners prior to submission. This may apply if you completed your research as part of a research internship at the University, or completed the research using the resources of another organisation who have subsequently retained copyright on your work. If you have worked on your project with any other university staff/academics, or as part of a group project, you mustlist the other staff and student authors, and obtain their permission to submit.
This guidance applies to both research content and images. Some images sourced through electronic resources that the University subscribes to are for internal use only. You should check the copyright notes of any images used, and obtain permission if you require it, or remove/replace the images.
You should also be mindful about not sharing confidential information. For example, if you have signed a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) or wish to display or describe new inventions that may prevent patent protection.
As part of your submission, you will have to provide proof that you have read and understood our copyright guidance. Failure to follow copyright procedures may lead to your submission being rejected and an academic misconduct case.
Please contact UGresearch@exeter.ac.uk if you have any questions or need any further guidance about copyright issues relating to your work.
Notice and Takedown Policy
If the University of Exeter is notified of a potential breach of copyright, or receive a complaint indicating a violation of any law on, including but not limited to, intellectual property rights, data protection, confidentiality, obscenity, defamation or libel, the item involved will be removed from the website as quickly as possible pending further investigation.
The University will seek to work with any complainant with the intention to find a reasonable solution, and where possible, in order to enable the material involved or something similar to be made available again on the website.
How can Study Zone help you?
Study Zone offers on-campus and online drop-in appointments where you can get help with your Showcase submission. For times of drop-in appointments, please see the Study Zone website.
Study Zone Digital offers a range of study resources that you can use when preparing your submission, including resources on referencing, using tables and figures, and academic honesty and plagiarism. Please note that Study Zone Digital can only be accessed using your university login.
Based at Penryn?
If you are an Exeter student based at Penryn campus and are looking for support submitting to the Showcase, please contact ASK.
The Undergraduate Research Showcase is a fantastic way to network with other students and promote your research. It will develop your communication skills and help you get noticed on applications for funding and further study. If you are considering studying for a research degree, such as a PhD, this is a fantastic opportunity to demonstrate experience in disseminating your contribution within an academic environment to the public and wider university community.
In addition, students who attend Posters in Parliament get the opportunity to meet MPs, policy makers, and delegates from other Universities promoting their research in poster format. For students attending the BCUR conference, this is a fantastic opportunity to meet and network with hundreds of students from across the UK and further afield, all presenting their own research in different formats.
Participation in any of the Showcase activities can be counted towards your Exeter Award hours, which can help you to develop your employability as a researcher even further.
Do I need to be a current undergraduate to submit?
Not necessarily. For Posters in Parliament, alumni who have graduated from an undergraduate programme in the last year are eligible to submit research they completed as an undergraduate. If you graduated from your undergraduate degree in Summer or Christmas 2025, you are eligible to submit to any of our 2026 events. The BCUR Conference has its own separate entry criteria, please consult with their website for more information.
Do I need to include references on my poster submission?
Yes. Just like any university submission, it must include references. When submitting a poster, we ask that you include the references at the bottom of your work. Examples of this can be found on the previous submissions page.
Does my research have to correlate to the subject I study?
No. Most commonly, students decide to submit research in the field they are currently doing their degree course in, but that is not compulsory. As long as the research is conducted to university-level argumentation and is referenced correctly, we welcome students to research outside of their degree course.
I have never created a research poster or written an abstract before – where should I start?
Use our submissions guidance page for tips, templates and checklists. Make sure to also check out the previous submissions page to get a good idea of what a typical submission looks like.
You can also attend a drop-in session either with the Showcase Team (times on the page above), or head along to a Study Zone drop-in session for help with your submission.
Can I still submit if my research is incomplete?
We recommend that writing a research poster is easiest when your findings and analysis are complete, so Posters in Parliament is usually best suited to finished work. If your work is still to be completed through this year, we would definitely recommend you still submit a proposal to BCUR; you can give your preliminary conclusions in your application and the abstract of your presentation, and your work is most likely to be finished by the time of the conference in April.
Can I submit research as part of a group?
Yes, you are allowed to submit research as a group to Posters in Parliament or BCUR. Please ensure that all names of students submitting are on the research (please see this previous example as a guide); multiple presenters will be allowed to present at any internal events we invite you to take part in, and BCUR may also allow joint submissions. However, please note that we will only be able to send one representative per poster to those winning entries chosen to attend Posters in Parliament; you must consider who will attend if you are entering a group poster to be considered for this event.
What costs are covered if I attend any external events?
The two winning student entrants who attend Posters in Parliament for that year will have their travel expenses for the day fully covered. We will work with you to plan this according to your circumstances, and where you will be travelling from/to.
We hope to support all student applicants who are accepted at the BCUR conference in covering some or all of their costs in attending. However, due to the unknown number of applicants, and because the conference location changes across the UK each year, it is difficult for us to predict or guarantee what funds will be available for every event. We will endeavour to help every student presenter accepted, by attempting to provide or find full or partial funding to assist with their costs. We always advise that you be prepared to pick up some, if not all, of the costs yourself to avoid disappointment.
“I think it’s really useful to participate in the [British] Undergraduate Research Conference if you get the chance, it’s a unique experience that’s different from anything you’ll do at university yourself, and it’ll set you up really well for the future if you want to continue into an academic career, or even if you just want to go into something that involves talking to the public. It’s a real core set of skills that will be useful for whatever you want to do.”
Ben Fisher, Biosciences
“The Posters in Parliament event has truly helped to break down the walls in accessing academia as an undergraduate student. Presenting in parliament has built my confidence in presenting to researchers and succinctly summarising my research to an expert judging panel. It was a privilege to see the incredible research by other students from universities nationwide, and it illustrated how our work as students could potentially impact future government policy. I am so glad that I attended Posters in Parliament and that I received a commendation by the judges for my work on Social Prescribing. I would encourage anyone to apply and to make the most out of a fantastic opportunity!”
Daisy Kirtley, BMBS Medicine and Surgery
"Coming to this conference (BCUR) has been a really great opportunity. It’s given us the challenge of having to translate our research, which is from quite a technical field, to non-experts. And an audience, some of which haven’t come from a background of science and medicine, and that in itself is a skill I think we can apply to our future careers in medicine. In terms of having to translate diagnoses and treatments to patients, being a really key aspect of communication with patients and ultimately affecting how they’re cared for."
Lucy Hoades, Medical Sciences