The sixth annual British Undergraduate Dental Research Conference (BUDRC) was held virtually over three consecutive Sundays in March. Tasked with adapting to current COVID restrictions but firm in our aim to promote research, enhance clinical skills and provide a networking platform for future dentists, the Manchester Undergraduate Dental Research Society (MUDRSoc) organised yet another memorable event.

Day 1 commenced with talks by world-renowned speakers such as Professor Jan Clarkson who discussed her Cochrane rapid review on AGPs, followed by student research and clinic case competitions. One hundred percent of delegates enjoyed the event and we received great feedback such as 'Thank you for giving students the opportunity to find out more about research and how it benefits our future careers'.

The rest of the conference consisted of innovative virtual hands-on workshops. Day 2 was a suturing workshop where delegates received suturing kits in the post, followed a live tutorial by Dr Kushnerev and practised in small groups with dentists who provided tailored feedback.

Day 3 was a posterior composite workshop where we teamed up with Dr Shiraz Khan and Sculpt Composite to provide home composite kits and a live tutorial of the fast-modelling technique. These sessions were highly popular with feedback such as 'It was really lovely to finally get some hands-on experience as a first year!' and 'The session was so helpful; I'm really excited to implement what I learnt into clinics'.

The conference was a national success, with 300 students from 15 dental schools in attendance. We are pioneering these remote hands-on opportunities, and feedback showed that 96% of delegates agree that similar sessions should be made part of university curricula. The MUDRSoc committee, including Sumaya Al-Attar, Sabina Rahman, Yasmin Egonu and Mobina Bohloli, created an unforgettable virtual experience and one which may help reshape the future of dental education.