Student Research Symposium
Applications are now closed for the 2024 Student Research Symposium
The annual Student Research Symposium provides an opportunity for UAFS students to present what they have learned from their research experience to fellow students, faculty, and the community. The Student Research Symposium includes poster, oral, and music/visual arts presentation sessions across all academic disciplines. This year's symposium is scheduled for noon to 2 p.m. Friday, April 5, 2024. Poster presentations will be in Boreham Library while oral presentations will take place in Boreham Library and the Pendergraft Health Sciences Center. Please view the symposium booklet for a full schedule of presentations.
Students actively carrying out research should apply. Students not involved in research are encouraged to attend and learn about the broad range of research being done at UAFS. This symposium allows students to learn from one another and become involved in interdisciplinary discourse.
Learn More
- Ask a faculty member to sponsor your presentation.
- Select a presentation format (oral, poster, studio art, etc.).
- Prepare your abstract.
- No student may be part of multiple applications/projects.
- Groups may have five (5) people maximum - no exceptions. Submissions from groups containing more than five people will be rejected.
- All applications and abstracts must be proofread and approved by the sponsoring faculty member. Poorly written abstracts will not be considered for participation in the symposium.
- Your sponsor must submit your application and abstract for review by Feb. 26, 2024, via the appropriate application form.
Select a presentation format based upon your particular field of study.
Oral presentations will be allotted a total of 30 minutes to include setup time and a question and answer period. A SMART System that includes a PC and projection capability is available in each presentation room. You should bring your material on a flash drive or provide your own laptop to be connected into the system. Oral presentations will be scheduled on the afternoon of the symposium at the discretion of the organizing committee. Changes to the schedule will not be made to accommodate any individual presenters. Each presenter is responsible for keeping their scheduled time.
Oral Presentation Judging Criteria
Poster presentations should be sized according to the standards imposed by your area of research. All posters must state the names of the student(s) and faculty sponsor(s) on the back of the poster. Posters will be displayed for up to two hours during which time you must be present to discuss your work. Posters should either be freestanding or you must provide means to support the poster (e.g. easel). In addition to posters representing research from specific colleges, the symposium also welcomes posters detailing civic engagement projects or those that involve forging connections between students, the university, and the community.
Poster Presentation Judging Criteria
Studio art includes works from the fields of ceramics, sculpture, photography, painting, or other
forms of visual communication. Art must be mounted, matted, framed, or otherwise displayed in a professional manner.
You must be present for a two-hour period to discuss your work.
Performing art is any musical or theatrical performance, no more than 15 minutes in length. The performance
will be recorded and presented as a viewing rather than performed live, so you must
specify a description of equipment needed to view the recording. Please note these
requirements when submitting an application and abstract. You will be required to be present for a two-hour session to discuss your work while
it is being presented.
If accepted your abstract will be included in the symposium's published program. Your
abstract should reflect the quality of your work as a scholar. Please work closely
with your faculty sponsor to produce an abstract that exemplifies academic excellence.
Abstract Instructions
- Summarize the essentials of your idea in a single paragraph that captures the core of your thesis or theme so that the audience and judges will understand the direction and significance of your research.
- Each abstract should be a maximum of 200 words.
- Carefully proofread your abstract and ask your faculty sponsor to also; substandard abstracts will be rejected.
- Your sponsor will submit your abstract and application information via the appropriate application form.
If you are considering presenting research that involves working with individuals
or groups of people or distributing surveys, you must complete the procedure for submitting
a research proposal with a copy of the Request for Human Subject Consent Form that
will be distributed to each participant in a survey. Each chief investigator is responsible
for protecting the rights of participants in the study, and participant should not
feel coerced to participate. All research procedures are outlined on the IRB webpage.
Suggestions for a Successful IRB Submission
- Contact with the participants and gathering of data must not occur until approval is received from the IRB, and the first date of contact on the application cannot be before approval by IRB. Failure to comply will result in withdrawal of IRB approval for the project, and you will not be allowed to present at the Student Research Symposium.
- Allow about a month for the IRB to review your procedure. (That is one month prior to engaging participants.)
- State where data will be securely stored (i.e. password-protected computer) and when the data will be destroyed.
- Submit a copy of your Human Subjects Ethics certificate, not just the number. This must be submitted even if you are seeking an IRB Exemption.
- NOTE: Design and presentation of the research or poster is the responsibility of you and the course instructor.
- For questions regarding IRB approval contact Lisa-Marie Norris at 479-788-7766 or IRB@uafs.edu.
Dr. Brandon Hutchison
- Symposium@uafs.edu
- 479-788-7414
- Math-Science 217