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Pioneering project gives underrepresented students valuable research experience

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RIMES 2022
RIMES 2022 Brian Sayle Photography Research Internships for Minority Ethnic Students Brian Sayle Photography for Edge Hill University

Ten trailblazing Edge Hill students have been hailed after successfully completing the University’s pilot Research Internships for Minority Ethnic Students (RIMES) programme.

Minority ethnic groups are under-represented in research degrees nationally and RIMES aims to give students experience to help give them a taste of working in a research environment.

Projects offered students the chance to work alongside established researchers, developing skills that will help them develop an awareness of research degrees and careers in research.

The pilot was led by Professor Fiona Hallett, Associate Dean of the Graduate School, alongside Dr Chris Greenough, Reader in Social Sciences, and Professor Christopher Dent, founder and leader of SustainNET.

Professor Hallett said: “Giving minority ethnic students first-hand research experience is vitally important in tackling national inequalities. We are absolutely delighted the pilot RIMES programme has been such a resounding success.

“The students who took part in this innovative project excelled and gaining this experience will help them pursue further opportunities in research.”

Projects the students supported all contribute to the wider sustainability agenda. They address global challenges including poverty, inequalities, climate change, environmental degradation, peace and justice. 

Among the interns was medical student Humza Muhammad, who contributed to a systematic review of international variations in primary care physician consultation time, mentored by Dr Greg Irving and Dr Mohammed Moinuddin.

He said: “Scientific research is very much a whole world within itself, and this experience has not only given me a solid grounding but also the inspiration to pursue it further.

“I worked on various elements of the systematic review from writing, running and fine tuning the search strategy, extracting the results, and applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria.

“Learning to do all this showed me the collaborative nature of research as I worked with new professions. The internship was also able to bring to life my theoretical knowledge.

Fellow intern Yasmin Draoui, whose project investigated societal and personal factors affecting the mental health of young people in the English-speaking Caribbean society, added: “As a psychology student, I find social interactions and their subsequent effect on the individual to be fascinating.

“I am appreciative of the opportunity I was given to take part in a research project that allowed me to further examine this and where I also learned academic skills to improve my research abilities.

“This experience opened my eyes to the potential of psychological research and the ways in which it might be applied to help various communities.”

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