Showcasing Discovery: The Undergraduate Research Symposium at UIUC

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) fosters a ‘culture of discovery’ and demonstrates its commitment to innovative research and scholarship with global impact through events like Undergraduate Research Week (URW). A signature event of URW is the Undergraduate Research Symposium (URS), a day-long event that brings together students from all academic disciplines to share their work.

What are Undergraduate Research Week and the Undergraduate Research Symposium?

Undergraduate Research Week (URW) is an annual series of special exhibits, workshops, and colloquia sponsored by departments, programs, or units, showcasing student work. The Undergraduate Research Symposium (URS) is URW’s signature event hosted by the Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR). The URS provides an opportunity for University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign students to showcase and celebrate their research through performances, exhibits, and oral and poster presentations.

The Significance of the Undergraduate Research Symposium

The Undergraduate Research Symposium (URS) is a crucial platform for undergraduate students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It allows students to present their research, creative inquiry, and academic work to a broader audience, including faculty, staff, peers, and the public. These students and their projects take on the important issues and questions of our time, and hold the potential to change the world for the better.

Key Benefits of Participating in the Symposium

Showcasing Research: The symposium provides a venue for students to showcase their research findings, methodologies, and conclusions.
Celebrating Achievement: It celebrates the hard work and dedication of undergraduate researchers.
Networking Opportunities: The symposium allows students to connect with faculty, staff, and other students interested in research.
Developing Presentation Skills: Students gain valuable experience in presenting their work in a professional setting.
Receiving Feedback: Presenters can receive constructive feedback from faculty, staff, and peers.

Who Can Participate?

All undergraduates enrolled at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign during the current academic year are eligible to present, including those graduating in December 2025. Visiting students who are not officially enrolled but are currently participating in an undergraduate team research project, may present their work if one member of their project team is a currently enrolled student. All presentations must have a research mentor supervising the research being presented.

Research Mentors

All students must have a research mentor who supervises the research being presented. You should consult your research mentor before listing them on your application. They should be aware of and agree to support your participation in the Symposium. If you don’t currently have a research mentor, you are encouraged to reach out to a faculty or staff member who conducts research in a related discipline or has experience supervising projects in that area. It’s important for all presentations to have a supervising mentor. If you need further support, please contact the Office of Undergraduate Research for assistance.

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Application and Presentation Guidelines

To present at the URS, students may apply through the application portal on OUR's Symposium page.

Research Project Status

Students are encouraged to present in-progress and completed research projects or creative works.

Types of Presentations

The Symposium includes oral panels, poster presentations, and performances. The Symposium is open to projects in the fine and applied arts. The OUR will collaborate with student presenters to ensure that their creative projects are properly displayed.

Multiple Projects and Co-Presenters

Students may apply to present multiple projects. When applying to present at the Symposium, you may acknowledge graduate students and faculty as co-authors on posters, oral presentations, and performances, but you should not list them as co-presenters on your application to the Symposium. Students can present individually, as a pair, or as a team. If presenting a poster, all presenters will be standing by and presenting their poster to visitors. While there are no restrictions on the number of student authors or presenters, the Symposium application form can only accommodate a maximum of 5 presenters. Please note that only undergraduate students are eligible to be listed as presenters.

Canceling a Submission

If a student wishes to cancel one of their submissions to the Symposium, they can fill out the cancellation request form located at the following link: go.illinois.edu/urscancel.

Presentation Conflicts

The organizers do their best to slot students at times that do not conflict with their class schedule. Sometimes, however, a conflict cannot be avoided. However, excusal from class is at the discretion of the course instructor. Therefore, students are encouraged to contact their course instructors as soon as possible to let them know of the possibility of missing class.

Preparing for Your Presentation

OUR offers guidance and support for the design of oral or poster presentation. Throughout the Spring semester, OUR partners with the University Library and Writers Workshop to offer the Giving Undergraduate Research Presentations for students preparing to give oral presentations, and the Poster Presentation and Design Workshop for students preparing to give poster presentations. Registration for both is required to attend and spots fill up quickly.

Poster Presentations

Students are responsible for organizing and paying for the printing of their posters. For a comprehensive poster printing checklist and more information on pricing, please reference OUR's Poster Presenter Guidelines or the Online Poster Guide produced by the University Library. Posters should not exceed 4 feet wide by 3 feet tall. Posters will be hung on movable partitions, so they should not be mounted on foam core board. Student presenters are responsible for printing and bringing their posters to the Symposium at the time they are scheduled to present. You will not be giving these to OUR in advance. Because local print shops will be busy around this time of the year, students are encouraged to have their poster submitted for printing no later than a week before the Symposium. The OUR will provide binder clips and push pins to hang posters, so you do not need to bring your own mounting hardware. After students check-in, students will hang their posters on the partitions provided within their assigned room (Illini Union Rooms A, B, C, or South Lounge). Faculty members, staff, community members, Symposium judges, and other guests will circulate around the room and ask you questions about your work, so you should be prepared to explain your project and answer any questions. Each poster session will last one hour and 15 minutes.

Oral Presentations

All oral presentation rooms are equipped with PC laptops (no Apple Mac's) so be sure the format of your presentation is compatible with PCs. In general, we recommend that students save their presentations in two formats: the first being a .PPTX or .PPT (Microsoft PowerPoint) file, and the back-up being a .PDF (Adobe Acrobat) file. Please bring these files on a portable drive (flash drive, etc.) to your oral presentation panel and be sure to show up early to allow enough time to download it to the computer prior to the start of the session.

What to Wear and When to Arrive

Please be "presentation appropriate." While this means different things to different people (allowing for creativity in personal expression), keep in mind the event will be photographed for publicity purposes, and a polished appearance is part of your presentation. All students must check-in 15 minutes before the scheduled start time of their presentation. Check-in tables are located in the lobby outside Illini Rooms A, B, and C in the Illini Union.

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Attending the Symposium

The Symposium is free and open to the public, and we encourage you to invite friends, family, and other faculty to see your presentation!

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