Calling all undergraduates: Working on an innovative research project? Submit it to the Undergraduate Research Symposium, co-organized by the Office of the Vice President for Research Innovation, Division of Undergraduate Education and Student Success, and Housing.
Since its inception 12 years ago, more than 2,400 undergraduate students representing 86 majors have participated in this special opportunity to present research and further their academic and future career goals.
The participation registration deadline is approaching and closes April 11. After registering, participants can confirm their presentation by having all presenters complete the confirmation form and submitting their original abstract as well as adding any co-authors who deserve written credit and self-nominating for awards. That step is due by April 25. Digital materials must be uploaded by May 16.
The symposium is presented in-person and via livestream starting at 10 a.m. May 26. For more information, visit the Undergraduate Research Symposium website.
To get a better sense of what goes on at the symposium, last year’s program is available online as well as the symposium YouTube channel, which contains more than 350 videos comprising 800 undergraduate presentations.
"The Undergraduate Research Symposium is my favorite day of the year,” said Isabelle Cullen, a student in the Class of 2022. “I've presented at the symposium now for four years. I still remember presenting my first time and feeling so excited to share my research. It changed my career trajectory from pre-med to researcher and am excited to be pursuing a Ph.D in neuroscience in the next year or two.”.
Jyhreh A’knell Johnson used the Undergraduate Research Symposium to practice presenting research to a diverse audience and applied those lessons and experience toward applying to graduate school.
“Seeing all the different types of research sparked my interest in figuring out a way to integrate multiple disciplines into my own research to make my projects more well-rounded,” Johnson said. “Without my participation in the Undergraduate Research Symposium, I would have not been able to be exposed to different types of research and understand how to create an interactive presentation that can be used to describe my research to anyone, not just biological anthropologists.”
Tillena Trebon presented as part of a team of undergraduate assistants from the Speech Perception and Production Lab in 2020 and 2021, winning the College of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Poster Award in 2020.
“Being able to share research I conducted or helped conduct with enthusiastic undergraduates and faculty at the Undergraduate Research Symposium has been one of the highlights of my undergraduate experience,” Trebon said. “The Undergraduate Research Symposium reflects the University of Oregon’s strong commitment to undergraduate research and shows that the University of Oregon rightly believes that research is part of a well-rounded education.”