Every academic discipline engages in some sort of research, scholarship, or creative activity (RSCA). How different disciplines conduct RSCA varies. A mathematician uses different tools to discover new mathematics than those a dancer uses to explore and advance their art. One things all disciplines have in common is what they do with a nearly complete RSCA project: they share it with their community.
By sharing their work with their academic community, the get feedback from their peers and mentors which help them improve their work. They can take that feedback home with them to improve their RSCA-related efforts.
In higher education, academic conferences serve as venues for people to share there work. Most professional societies sponsor annual, national (or international) conferences in their discipline, and many of those offer undergraduate researchers special opportunities to share the results of their work. In addition, there are conferences designed from the ground up to showcase the work of students. Four such conference frequented by CI students and faculty are described here: the Southern California Conference for Undergraduate Research, the National Conference for Undergraduate Research, the º£½ÇÉçÇø Student Research Competition, and the º£½ÇÉçÇø Channel Islands Student Research Conference.
Note: in what follows, the use of the word 'research' should be broadly interpreted as meaning RSCA.
Southern California Conference for Undergraduate Research (SCCUR)
Visit the 'About' page for more information on and its annual conference.
Southern California Conferences for Undergraduate Research (SCCUR) is an organization of Southern California faculty, administrators, and interested members of the community who share the common goal of improving education for college and university students through hands-on experiences of undergraduate research, scholarship, and creative activity. SCCUR supports inquiry-based education, in which students learn while doing, working closely with faculty mentors on significant academic projects and presenting their results to audiences in a professional manner.
Each year, the CI Student Research Office likes to support student attendance at SCCUR. Keep your eyes open for announcements about how to join the group of talented students who represent the University.
You can now until October 29, 2024. You will be asked to provide a response explaining why you would like to attending. After signing up you will receive additional instructions on how to register for the conference.
National Conference for Undergraduate Research (NCUR)
NCUR 2025 is now accepting abstracts from undergraduate research students in over 50 different disciplines as well as abstracts for our mentor-led sessions. Abstract submissions close on Friday, December 6, 2024.
The 'What is NCUR?' web page for says this about the annual national conference:
The National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) is dedicated to promoting undergraduate research, scholarship, and creative activity in all fields of study by sponsoring an annual conference for students. Unlike meetings of academic professional organizations, this gathering of student scholars welcomes presenters from all institutions of higher learning and from all disciplines. Through this annual conference, NCUR creates a unique environment for the celebration and promotion of undergraduate student achievement; provides models of exemplary research, scholarship, and creative activity; and helps to improve the state of undergraduate education.
Each year, a handful of students from CI attend this national meeting and present the results of their work to other talented students from across the country. Mentors generally seek out travel funding from the Student Research Officer (which is provided by the Instructionally Related Activities student activity fees). Ask your mentor if NCUR would be a good venue for your work.
º£½ÇÉçÇø Student Research Competition
Each year, in recognition of the important role undergraduate (and graduate) research plays in the lives of faculty and their students, the California State University holds a special conference for student researchers called the . Each of the 23 campus selects students to represent the campus at the event, and those students give an oral presentation on their research (or scholarship, or creative activity). Those presentations judged to be 'best' earn cash prizes, and everyone has a great time.
The competition is in the spring, just before our own campus celebration of student research. Students are selected to represent the institution through a competitive process that starts early in the semester. Keep your ears open for information.
Channel Islands Student Research Conference
Formerly known as SAGE, the Channel Islands (CI) Student Research conference is held annually in the spring.
The 17th annual º£½ÇÉçÇøCI Student Research Conference is scheduled for Saturday, May 3th, 2025.
Please visit the Student Research Conference Webpage for more details.
Conference Archives
You can visit the to find information about past conferences.
