SUNRISE (Supporting University Network for Research in Sustainability Engagement) is a British Council funded managed by BU in collaboration with Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM).
The project aims at inspiring and building capacity for sustainability research through hybrid cross-institutional student mobility events. Particularly, it focuses on leveraging student online and hybrid mobility to build capacity for research on sustainability and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
To achieve this, we will be hosting three cross-institutional hybrid conferences celebrating sustainability research carried out by staff, and undergraduate and postgraduate students in both universities. These will be demonstrating research addressing local and global challenges on five key themes:
Food nutrition and eating behaviour (SDG 2, 3, and 12)
Gender equality (SDG 5)
Tourism and Hospitality (SDGs 3, 10, 12)
Sustainability marketing and communication (all SDGs)
Sustainability and employability (SDG 4, 5 and 8)
The events will be delivered following the following schedule:
17 April 2024, 8-10 am (UK time) - researchers from both BU and USM will introduce the work they carry out on the themes above
9 May 2024, 8-10 am (UK time) – we will host a student conference including live presentations and a virtual multimedia exhibition of UG and PG student research related to global challenges
Autumn 2024 - we will host a PGR conference including live presentations and a virtual multimedia exhibition of research related to global challenges
All events in the series will be run in a hybrid mode, i.e. they will be in-person at both the partner campuses with a virtual link between both universities capturing keynote presentations, online panel sessions and live pitches for research collaboration.
At BU, the project is managed by Dr Milena Bobeva (BUBS), Dr Reena Vijayakumaran (HSS), Prof Fiona Cownie (FMC), Dr Roberta Discetti (BUBS), and Dr Daisy Fan (BUBS). Our partners at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) are Dr Vina Tan Phei Sean and Assoc Prof. Ng Theam Foo.











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