Student Showcase of Artists
and Scholars
Thursday April 10, 2025
Registration will open February 1, 2025 and close on March 13, 2025. The registration form is available on student or faculty URSA accounts.
Faculty members who have any special requests for Student Showcase should contact U-Engage prior to November 1, 2024 with their requests.
2024 Full List of Presentations
General Information
UNC's Student Showcase of Artists and Scholars, formerly "UNC Research Day," brings together research, creative and scholarly works for one day of undergraduate and graduate presentations. A faculty Poster Session also provides faculty researchers the opportunity to present their work to students. The Student Showcase highlights UNC’s commitment to undergraduate and graduate student research, scholarly and creative endeavors.
Categories
Visual Arts Displays
Max size of 30-inch width x 40-inch height for displaying on a wall and 20 inches width x 20 inch height x 20-inch depth for displaying on table.
Students can showcase their research or creative projects through visual arts displays, which may include paintings, sculptures, photography, digital art, and other visual media.
Oral Presentations
These are traditional presentations where students present their research findings
or projects to an audience using PowerPoint slides or other visual aids. Each presenter
is allotted a 12 minute time slot for their talk, followed by a 3 minute Q&A session. A laptop will be provided loaded with PowerPoint.
Performance Art
Scheduled in a series of other oral presentations with a 12-minute presentation (to
include sharing of live version or recording of performance) with 3 minutes Q&A.
This category allows students to present research or creative projects through performances, such as musical performances, theatrical acts, dance routines, spoken word, or other artistic expressions. Note: If live performance is preferred, we encourage students to provide needed musicians, actors, dancers, readers, etc. as presenters and/or co-presenters as part of their submission. Alternatively, please plan to pre-record the performance piece so it can be shared in a digital format during the presentation.
Poster Presentations
Max size of 48" x 48". Student must print their own poster. 50-minute poster session.
Poster sessions involve displaying a visual representation of the research project on a large poster including a mixture of text with tables, graphs, and pictures to present your findings in a visually interesting and accessible way. This will serve as a tool to prompt discussion with colleagues during a 50-minute poster session. Students stand by their posters to discuss their work with conference attendees and answer questions. Items typically included: Title, Authors, Abstract, Introduction, Materials & Methods, Results, Discussion, Acknowledgments, and References.
Examples of Past Posters (from 2020 UNC Research Day).
Research Posters or Visual Art Displays
When poster or visual art presenters apply for Student Showcase, they may choose one of the following session options:
Thursday, April 10, 2025
- Student Graduate or Undergraduate poster (all disciplines) 9:30 AM - 11:00 AM
- Student Graduate or Undergraduate poster (all disciplines) 12:30 PM - 2:00 PM
- School of Biological Sciences Poster Session: 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM
- Faculty Poster Session ANY SESSION
Oral Sessions or Performing Art Presentations
Oral sessions and Performing Art Presentations will be held in the University Center.
Sessions may be scheduled for an entire hour for class or group presentations.
Individual oral presenters may select either 15-minute presentation or 30-minute presentation option.
Classes or large groups may select a one-hour time option.
Distance presentations are allowed for oral session type. Check the Distance presentation box on the application. Zoom links are provided.
Students may select one of the following time slots, and Research Day will group presentations into one hour sessions with related disciplines.
Oral Sessions are throughout the day in the following four 1 hour 15 minute sessions (which match the UNC Thursday regular class schedule):
- 9:30 –10:45 Session A
- 11:00 – 12:15 Session B
- 12:30 – 1:45 Session C
- 2:00 – 3:15 Session D
Course extra credit and Reassignment of Classes to attend Showcase
Faculty members are encouraged to assign course credit/extra credit for students in their courses to attend or participate in the Student Showcase. The Student Showcase will be collecting attendee information and can forward attendance information to classes who require it.
Application information for participants
Presenter Information
- You must have the bear e-mail addresses of all student presenters and the unco.edu e-mail address for your faculty sponsor in order to list them on the application.
- Only the "primary" presenter will receive communication e-mails about Student Showcase.
Please check your email account for the email confirmation from the Student Showcase which will be sent the week after Spring Break. - The faculty sponsor may submit the application for the student presenters (using the faculty tab in Ursa), in which case the faculty member must have all of the bears e-mail addresses for the student presenters in order to list them on the application.
Abstract or Project Description Guidelines
- The abstract or project description must be no more than 300 words.
- Abstracts/project descriptions should include information that is pertinent to a general audience. Please include an opening statement that highlights the significance of your project. An overview of what the audience will experience in the presentation or view on the poster may be appropriate.
- Research Project Abstracts should include the central purpose of the research or project, a brief discussion of research methodology as applicable, and research conclusions either final or anticipated.
- Creative Project Descriptions, rather than a traditional abstract, may be used for visual arts and performing arts presentations.
- An abstract/project description must be submitted at the time of application. It is recommended that you compose your abstract in a separate document, then copy and paste it into the form. Special characters do not always transfer through. If your abstract/project description has specific math symbols, etc., please email the abstract/project description to our@unco.edu with the presentation confirmation number in the subject line.
- Do NOT use subheaders, do not include the presenter names, and do not include "key words" section or citations section with your abstract/project description. Please keep your abstract to one block of text. The title will go into the slot for title, and should NOT be repeated in the abstract/project description.
- The title and abstract/project description will be listed exactly as you post them on the application. Please PROOF your title and abstract before submitting.
- Abstracts/project descriptions will be posted in the downloadable version of the program. The printed program will have the titles only.
Oral Sessions
The oral presentations will be held in rooms at the University Center. You will select one of the Sessions, each is a one-hour 15 minute time frame. Presenters may find that their assigned time conflicts with normally scheduled classes. In order to continue to promote undergraduate research and scholarly work at UNC, the Student Showcase planning team encourages instructors to either reassign classes on Thursday to attend the Student Showcase or to excuse students who are presenting, in the same manner that student athletes are excused for athletic events.
Number of Presenters
Oral presentations may be organized for an individual presenter or a panel of presenters. Panels may include a faculty member. Individual presenters must be either undergraduate or graduate students enrolled at UNC. Aims Community College attendees may apply to present as well - please email our@unco.edu for a link to our non-UNC student application.
Timing of presentations
Each presentation is scheduled for 15 minutes as part of a 1 hour 15 minute session block. You may utilize the time based on your needs, such as 10 minutes for the presentation and 5 minutes for questions. Individuals may also request a 30 minute time slot for longer presentations or panels, and instructors or groups may request a one-hour time slot for class or group presentations. E-mail our@unco.edu with any issues you experience or for any special needs.
Presentation format
Presenters will be allowed to share their screen in order to present. It is recommended that Microsoft PowerPoint or similar software is used for the presentation, or you are welcome to read your scholarly paper, such as is common for humanities disciplines.
Poster Presentations and Visual Art Displays
Posters and creative endeavor displays may include a variety of project types including individual research projects, group research projects, class-based projects, creative works (please include specifications in the "other information" box about your creative works display needs), applied projects, or for faculty-led research with student participation. Poster presenters will be provided with several presentation session options during the day.
Poster specifications
Posters should adhere to the following standards:
- 36" x 48 " large format printed.
- Tri-folds can also be accommodated - slim tables will be available for tri-folds.
- See above for visual arts dimensions and specifications. Please include comments regarding your needs for visual arts displays.
Faculty Poster Session:
Faculty may present their research in the faculty poster session.
