**2. The research-involved student journey at Canterbury Christ Church University**

### **2.1. An outline of undergraduate science programmes at Canterbury Christ Church University**

The Section of Life Sciences at Canterbury Christ Church University (CCCU) in Kent, UK, currently delivers eight undergraduate programmes (3-year BSc programmes Honours in Bioscience, Biomolecular Science, Animal Science, Plant Science, Ecology and Conservation, Environmental Science, Environmental Biology and Integrated Science) that can also be taken as joint-Honours programmes with other disciplines, such as Sport Science or Forensic Investigation. In addition, all eight programmes can be taken as 4-year programmes with an additional Foundation Year (which is shared among the programmes) that is designed to maximize inclusivity of all programmes and therefore has no entry requirements. The Foundation Year traditionally recruits students from highly diverse backgrounds, including mature students, students who have taken alternative routes into higher education and students who are from areas with low participation in higher education. Currently there are 500 students enrolled in the undergraduate science programmes at CCCU. Full-time undergraduate students in the biological sciences at CCCU are more likely to be from underrepresented groups in terms of gender (44% male students at CCCU versus 35% nationally), nonwhite ethnic groups (26% versus 19%) and reported disabilities (18% versus 10%) [43].

The teaching staff in the Section of Life Sciences currently includes 20 academic staff, 7 university instructors (part time PhD students with teaching responsibilities), 2 postdoctoral teaching fellows, and 8 technical support staff. All of the academic staff, university instructors and postdoctoral teaching fellows are active researchers. The staff is also highly multidisciplinary in composition, with 12 biomolecular scientists, 6 ecologists, 4 physicists, 3 chemists, 2 bioinformaticians, and 2 plant scientists. The learning and teaching in the Section of Life Sciences at CCCU is informed by the University's Strategic Framework 2015–2020, which calls for "the integration of excellent teaching, research and knowledge exchange" as one of its core values [44, p. [2]. The teaching staff share a vision of a curriculum with a strong focus on involving students in research and knowledge exchange to enhance their critical thinking abilities, subject specific skills, and employability prospects. The programmes the Section delivers are therefore designed around RIT and high-impact pedagogies to support the development of "student researchers" and provide students with a range of research opportunities and research-like experiences through CUREs and UREs.

#### **2.2. General aims and features of the undergraduate science curricula at CCCU**

All undergraduate science programmes at CCCU feature a high proportion of practical content (approximately 50% of contact hours) in which students engage in laboratory- or fieldbased experiments linked to lecture and seminar content. Research-like experiences feature from very early on in their student journey as part of the taught curriculum and there are both CUREs and UREs that provide opportunities for students to participate in research throughout their studies (**Figure 1**). Most importantly, however, these research experiences

**Figure 1.** A diagram representing the various opportunities for students to engage with undergraduate research experiences (UREs; bold) and course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs; italicized) during their student journey through the undergraduate science programmes at Canterbury Christ Church University. The box with a dashed line circumscribes UREs in which industry partners can be involved in RIT.

exchange to enhance their critical thinking abilities, subject specific skills, and employability prospects. The programmes the Section delivers are therefore designed around RIT and high-impact pedagogies to support the development of "student researchers" and provide students with a

All undergraduate science programmes at CCCU feature a high proportion of practical content (approximately 50% of contact hours) in which students engage in laboratory- or fieldbased experiments linked to lecture and seminar content. Research-like experiences feature from very early on in their student journey as part of the taught curriculum and there are both CUREs and UREs that provide opportunities for students to participate in research throughout their studies (**Figure 1**). Most importantly, however, these research experiences

**Figure 1.** A diagram representing the various opportunities for students to engage with undergraduate research experiences (UREs; bold) and course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs; italicized) during their student journey through the undergraduate science programmes at Canterbury Christ Church University. The box with

a dashed line circumscribes UREs in which industry partners can be involved in RIT.

range of research opportunities and research-like experiences through CUREs and UREs.

**2.2. General aims and features of the undergraduate science curricula at CCCU**

116 Global Voices in Higher Education

are coordinated across the years of study to build upon each other and provide continuity in student research engagement. First year students are introduced to the concept of undergraduate research and opportunities for becoming volunteer researchers in the first month of their studies via the "Mini-Conference" (see Section 3.1). A research internship programme open to students in any year of study is also available (see Section 3.2). Finally, students complete their studies with a research project (see Section 3.3). Significant investment into offsite laboratory facilities has greatly expanded and strengthened the delivery of CUREs and industrylinked UREs (see Section 3.4). Research-relevant experiences are also embedded into modules through assessments, for example (see Section 3.5). A student experience summarizes the impact an integrated approach to RIT can have on the development of graduate skills and employability (see Section 3.6). It is not uncommon for undergraduate science students at CCCU to co-author publications, posters and conference presentations with academic staff in peer-reviewed journals. An annual competition is held to send one or more undergraduate students to the British Conference of Undergraduate Research to present the results of their individual UREs to an audience of their peers (**Figure 1**).
