About SPUR

SPUR (Scholarship Projects for Undergraduate Researchers) was introduced by the Nottingham Trent Working Party for Research Informed Teaching with the aim of cultivating and strengthening the links between teaching and research. The scheme runs on an annual cyclical basis, and involves staff from across the University bidding for bursaries to involve 2nd year students in research projects.

Participating staff gain an extra pair of hands and the opportunity to gain invaluable insight into how students experience research and how research impacts upon the quality and nature of learning at Higher Education level. One supervisor commented that SPUR had, "reinvigorated my sense of undergraduates as part of a culture of knowledge and research at university".

Participating students gain invaluable research experience through their engagement with some of the cutting edge research undertaken by NTU staff. The scheme allows undergraduates a taste of real research, strengthening their sense of identity as knowledge producers rather than consumers. Student comments have included that SPUR is an "excellent opportunity to be involved in a real research project" and, "I feel like a real psychologist doing a real job".

The scheme has been designed to ensure that benefits are experienced by a wide group of students beyond the immediate participants. A feedback mechanism enables students to hear about the scheme and issues relating to undergraduate research via talks from the SPUR students and through the posters which each SPUR student is required to produce. In addition, each project is selected on the basis of its potential to cultivate links between teaching and research in the undergraduate curriculum as well as its provision of a quality experience for the scholarship student. The wider student community then benefit from the enriched curriculum which in some cases undergoes radical changes following the scheme. In the words of one supervisor, "to make it more challenging and to reflect the experience of the student".

Diagrammatic representation of the SPUR scheme 2012