On Saturday 2 May 2026 at the University of Bath, a delegation of 20 students and 8 staff members from the Schools of Psychological Science and Education at the University of Bristol joined over 100 colleagues from the other six South West universities (Bath, Bath Spa, UWE, Plymouth, Plymouth Marjon, and Exeter) for the South West Undergraduate Conference (SWUC). This annual event, which is sponsored by the British Psychological Society (BPS), is an opportunity for final year psychology undergraduates to showcase and celebrate their dissertation research in an authentic and supportive context.
Throughout the day, there were 36 oral presentations and around 60 poster presentations, as well as a fascinating careers panel session, a keynote presentation from Professor Lorraine Whitmarsh about the vital role that psychology can play in tackling the climate emergency, and lots of opportunities for networking. The day concluded with a prize ceremony, where Bella Smith from the University of Bristol was awarded the prize for best oral presentation. Bella’s research was supervised by Dr. Alyssa Alcorn. It was a mixed methods investigation into the ways that neurodivergence is portrayed in children’s books. The poster prize winner was Dongin Choi (University of Bath), whilst the runners up were Aimee Langwade (University of Exeter) and Nevanmi Kandegamage (UWE) for their oral presentation and poster respectively.
On the train back to Bristol, Dr. Polly Barr remarked that the “the quality was amazing”. Reflecting on her time as an undergraduate, Polly said, “I could never have done this when I was in third year!” Dr. Justin Park chimed in with “me too”, whilst other staff members praised the diversity of the talks, as well how engaged, curious, and supportive the student attendees were.
Thanks to the team at the University of Bath for organising such a stellar event. We are already looking forward to next year’s SWUC at UWE!