A great deal of value is placed on student research within universities, exemplified by the prominent role of the dissertation or extended written work at the end of many programmes, and the more general benefits of embedding research-based learning into a curriculum in order to develop higher-order learning. This article reports on a collaborative problem-based learning (PBL) activity undertaken by staff and students to run an undergraduate conference for first year students on how to develop a research culture. The aim is to better understand how students undertake research and how a research culture might be inculcated much earlier in undergraduate programmes.