Conference rallies for research

The eleventh annual Student Research Conference is looking for submissions.
“Any student can present something they’ve worked on,” said Associate University Librarian Dr. Bella Gerlich, who is coordinating the event.
The conference is sponsored by the Office of Academic Engagement. Students have submitted abstracts in varying fields such as biology, chemistry and education. Submissions are not limited to scholarly papers; art projects and musical performances are also accepted. Some topics presented last year were chemistry research on water quality of the Oconee River, a historical analysis of baseball and Cuban-American relations, and studies of MySpace pages and what they say about people.
Last year, there were approximately 90 submissions. The students involved could choose to present their work in front of an audience with the aid of a PowerPoint or create a poster presentation to be displayed at the conference.
The conference is not a competitive event. It attracts an audience from the GCSU community, and some students and faculty stay the whole time to see the works of other students.
“It’s for experience and it gives students a chance to practice presenting their research,” said Gerlich.
To get involved with the conference, students should talk to their advisors. Advisors will go over the abstract and help get the research ready for submission. The abstracts from last year’s conference are also online. Full papers are available in the Special Collections section of the library.
Presenting research is an important skill for certain fields, especially for students who plan to work in a scholarly environment. Some students take their research to other conferences to present them in front of a wider range of people, and having experience is helpful.
Sophomore chemistry major Emily Williams is gaining research experience, and plans to attend the research conference.
“I’m beginning research on flavonoids (anti-carcinogens), to eventually find out how they work and how they can be used,” Williams said.
In addition to presenting research elsewhere, students can submit their work for publication. There are several opportunities for those who wish to publish. Works can be submitted to the “Corinthian,” GCSU’s student research publication. Although the Corinthian and the Student Research Conference are separate, they are hoping to integrate the two, according to John Bowen, coordinator of Leadership Programs, who is in charge of the “Corinthian.” Publication through other outlets can be pursued with the help of an advisor.
The conference will be held on April 11. The deadline for submissions is Feb. 15. Proposals are submitted online at the student research Web site.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Jan 25 2008. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry