Across college campuses, thousands of students and faculty commit countless hours to the pursuit of knowledge and research. But what good is newfound knowledge without the skills and platform to share it with the world?
That’s the idea behind UNC Research Day, an annual event to celebrate and workshop the scholarly works being created by members of the UNC community.
“It’s really to give a venue for students to come and present on the cool projects they’re doing, but also for that student to then develop and grow and to get some new ideas — some kind of new direction for what they’re doing as well,” said Loree Crow, executive director of undergraduate academic engagement.
The event, which took place in the University Center Thursday, featured poster sessions and oral presentations, allowing graduate and undergraduate students a chance to practice presenting their findings to the public and find out what their peers in other fields have been up to.
“I presented at Research Day last year, I volunteered at Research Day the year before, and now I’m presenting here again,” said Jess Renaud, a senior psychology major.
“I think it’s just a really interesting place to hear about what other people are interested in or what they’ve done research on.”
Renaud was a finalist in the Research Excellence Awards, an optional competition on Research Day where students were evaluated on the literary analysis and visual presentation of their projects.
Whether they want to compete or not, Crow hopes students with project ideas can use Research Day to further their skills as researchers and presenters, while reinvigorating their curiosity.
“Just by talking through what you’re learning about, you’re sharing it with a lot of other people who are now learning, and then, through the question and answer phase — which is kind of an important component — you start to get new ideas, it starts to create new paths,” Crow said.
“I’ve had many many students tell me that after Research Day they had like five, six new ideas that they get reinvigorated into their project.”
