Empowering students: a success story of developing student research culture in higher education

The study aims to share insights and practical guidelines of a 10-year journey on fostering student research culture at Middlesex University, Dubai. Recognizing its importance in student success, a team of academics, with support from the senior management, designed and implemented a roadmap to promote, support, and enhance students’ research skills. The positive outcomes of this initiative include an increase in the quality and quantity of students’ research output, recognition at national and international levels, and a positive change in students’ perception of research as ‘interesting and fulfilling academic activity’. Furthermore, the project’s strategy and key performance indicators have been mapped with the best practice guidelines of the Council of Undergraduate Research’s (CUR)- Characteristics of Excellent in Undergraduate Research framework (COEUR) demonstrating their concurrence with industry standards.