The IAFOR Undergraduate Research Symposium (IURS)

Join us in London, Incheon, and Tokyo for the 2024 Series


About IURS

Overview
The IAFOR Undergraduate Research Symposium (IURS) provides students with a motivating and thought-provoking opportunity to present their research. IURS takes place in a supportive and collegial environment at one of IAFOR’s renowned international conferences where students can network with other undergraduates and academics from around the world. Find out how your participation in the symposium can aid you in your career.

The two-day symposium allows participants to join other engaged undergraduate students from across the globe. This international and interdisciplinary course aims to enhance their oral communication skills through a series of challenging and exciting seminars and activities. All fields of study are welcome.

  • Present their research project to like-minded peers, academics, and professionals
  • Learn from feedback and advice
  • Develop their presentation skills
  • Broaden their professional network and forge new friendships

Day 1: is held online and focuses on shaping and presenting ideas – how to formulate thoughts, structure presentations in ways that are engaging and easy to understand, and communicate intentions with maximum clarity and impact.

Day 2 is held during an IAFOR conference and focuses on the hard skills that allow students to operate as an effective communicator during presentations. These techniques are invaluable in academic, business and everyday contexts, and will allow students to convey their ideas in ways that will leave strong impressions on their audience.

Participants will receive a Certificate of Presentation after the Symposium.
Facilitators: Professor Grant Black, Dr Joseph Haldane, Dr Melina Neophytou, Mr Apipol Sae-Tung
Language Requirement: The symposium will be conducted in English.
Participants should have an Intermediate to Advanced EFL/ESL proficiency level.

Requirements:
- Participants must be currently enrolled in an undergraduate programme (student ID is required)
- Participants must have an accepted submission to the symposium
- Participants must pay the registration fee
- Participants are required to join both days of the symposium
- Participants are expected to participate and present in English. Participants should have an intermediate to advanced EFL/ESL proficiency level.


2024 Schedule

The 2024 series is held in conjunction with IAFOR’s International Conferences in London, Incheon, and Tokyo.

IURS in London 2024 IURS in Incheon 2024 IURS in Tokyo 2024
Host Conference The 12th European Conference on Education (ECE2024) The Korean Conference on Education (KCE2024) The 16th Asian Conference on Education (ACE2024)
Submission Deadline Friday, April 30, 2024 Thursday, August 1, 2024 Friday, August 30, 2024
Review Results Monday, May 13, 2024 Monday, August 19, 2024 Monday, September 16, 2024
Registration Deadline Friday, May 31, 2024 Friday, September 6, 2024 Friday, October 4, 2024
Online Day Saturday, June 22, 2024 Saturday, October 12, 2024 Saturday, November 02, 2024
Onsite Day Friday, July 12, 2024 Monday, October 28, 2024 Tuesday, November 26, 2024
Capacity Maximum 100 Places Maximum 150 Places Maximum 150 Places

Facilitators

  • Professor Grant Black
    Professor Grant Black
    Chuo University, Japan
  • Dr Joseph Haldane
    Dr Joseph Haldane
    The International Academic Forum (IAFOR), Japan
  • Apipol Sae-Tung
    Apipol Sae-Tung
    The International Academic Forum, Japan
  • Dr Melina Neophytou
    Dr Melina Neophytou
    The International Academic Forum, Japan


Professor Grant Black
Chuo University, Japan

Biography

Dr Grant Black is a professor in the Faculty of Commerce at Chuo University, Tokyo, Japan, where he has taught Global Skills and Global Issues since 2013. Grant is engaged in diverse roles as a global manager, systems builder, executive leader and university professor. His research and teaching areas include global management skills, intercultural intelligence (CQ) and organisational management. He also has taught Japanese Management Theory at J. F. Oberlin University (Japan), and a continuing education course in the Foundations of Japanese Zen Buddhism at Temple University Japan. Previously, he was Chair of the English Section at the Center for Education of Global Communication at the University of Tsukuba where he served in a six-year post in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. He holds a BA Highest Honors in Religious Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara; an MA in Japanese Buddhist Studies from the University of California, Los Angeles; and a Doctor of Social Science (DSocSci) from the Department of Management in the School of Business at the University of Leicester. Dr Black is a Chartered Manager (CMgr), the highest status that can be achieved in the management profession in the UK. In 2018, he was elected a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute (FCMI) and Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA). Grant is President of Black Inc. Consulting (Japan), a Tokyo-based firm specialising in international and intercultural project management, communication projects, and executive leadership and training. He is the director of the Nippon Academic Management Institute (NAMI) and the author of Education Reform Policy at a Japanese Super Global University: Policy Translation, Migration and Mutation (Routledge, 2022). He serves as a Vice-President for the International Academic Forum (IAFOR).

Dr Grant Black is a Vice-President (at large) of IAFOR. He is a member of the Business & Economics section of the International Academic Advisory Board.

Dr Joseph Haldane
The International Academic Forum (IAFOR), Japan

Biography

Joseph Haldane is the Chairman and CEO of IAFOR. He is responsible for devising strategy, setting policies, forging institutional partnerships, implementing projects, and overseeing the organisation’s business and academic operations, including research, publications and events.

Dr Haldane holds a PhD from the University of London in 19th-century French Studies, and has had full-time faculty positions at the University of Paris XII Paris-Est Créteil (France), Sciences Po Paris (France), and Nagoya University of Commerce and Business (Japan), as well as visiting positions at the French Press Institute in the University of Paris II Panthéon-Assas (France), The School of Journalism at Sciences Po Paris (France), and the School of Journalism at Moscow State University (Russia).

Dr Haldane’s current research concentrates on post-war and contemporary politics and international affairs, and since 2015 he has been a Guest Professor at The Osaka School of International Public Policy (OSIPP) at Osaka University, where he teaches on the postgraduate Global Governance Course, and Co-Director of the OSIPP-IAFOR Research Centre, an interdisciplinary think tank situated within Osaka University.

A Member of the World Economic Forum’s Expert Network for Global Governance, Dr Haldane is also a Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Philology at the University of Belgrade (Serbia), a Visiting Professor at the School of Business at Doshisha University (Japan), and a Member of the International Advisory Council of the Department of Educational Foundations at the College of Education of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (USA).

From 2012 to 2014, Dr Haldane served as Treasurer of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (Chubu Region) and he is currently a Trustee of the HOPE International Development Agency (Japan). He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society in 2012, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in 2015.

Apipol Sae-Tung
The International Academic Forum, Japan

Biography

Dr Melina Neophytou
The International Academic Forum, Japan

Biography

Dr Neophytou has a PhD in International Development and Cooperation from Nagoya University (Japan) majoring in Governance and Peace, and a M.A. with a major in the same field and a minor in Rural Development. She was a MEXT Scholar during her Master’s and Doctoral studies. She also has a B.A. in European Studies from the University of Cyprus, where she developed a special interest in European Social and Political Philosophy.