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Eligibility

All Participants

  • Applicants to the Student Scholar Symposium will be accepted based on the content submitted by the January 29, 2024 submission deadline.
  • If you can no longer participate after acceptance, you must email researchweek@ucf.edu by the withdrawal deadline.
  • Application abstracts must contain no more than 200 words
    • Note: your name, title, and abstract information will be publicly available.
  • For GROUP PROJECTS, only one presenter needs to submit the application to Oxford Abstracts; just include all presenters names, UCFID, and Knights email address on the same application. 
  • If your proposal submission is accepted, you will be required to submit your poster  to Oxford Abstracts by the deadline (details to be provided after acceptance).

Presentation Categories

The Student Scholar Symposium will be divided into two judging categories for all presenters. 

  • A.S.S.H. (Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities)
    • A.S.S.H. includes students doing research in the following Colleges: Business, CAH, CCIE, Rosen, and the Social Science Departments in COS.
  • S.T.E.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)
    • S.T.E.M. includes students doing research in the following Colleges: CECS,  CHPS, COM, COS, Nursing, and Optics and Photonics.

If you have any questions about your presenting category, email us at researchweek@ucf.edu.

Graduate Student

The following criteria must be met for UCF graduate students participating in the Student Scholar Symposium:

  • Currently enrolled UCF graduate students in good academic standing.
  • Applicants may only appear as primary author on one presentation submission.
  • The presentation submission must be the original work of the author(s) and completed at UCF.
  • If a presentation submission is co-authored, only the primary author will be recognized in the event program and be eligible for a scholarship award.
  • Applicants must receive permission from co-authors (if any) to present.
  • If the presentation submission is a result of a student/faculty collaboration, it is expected that the majority was completed by the graduate student.
  • A UCF faculty mentor must approve your presentation abstract.

Undergraduate Student

Presenter

  • Currently enrolled UCF undergraduate students.
  • Students who graduated with their undergraduate degree the December before the Showcase to which they apply.
  • Students on academic probation are ineligible.
  • Individual students may only be the primary author (who submits a project) on one poster. They may be listed as an additional author on another poster.

Student research conducted at other colleges or universities, such as competitive summer research program, usually qualifies for the Symposium; please contact us at researchweek@ucf.edu to confirm eligibility. All student presenters must attend the Symposium event. No projects may be presented in absentia. Three poster sessions are available, and presenters are encouraged to attend all three but only present at one.

Project

  • Projects from all fields and disciplines are eligible for presentation.
  • All projects must have a clear focus (e.g. central research question or creative aim).
  • Research and creative works in progress are encouraged.
    • These include projects that have not yet attained final results or are still developing: presentations of initial results, research or project designs, field experiences, methodology discussions, and literature reviews.

  • Presentations of completed projects and final results are, of course, equally encouraged.

What kind of undergraduate research projects are presented at the Symposium?

Students must be working on research or creative scholarship under the guidance of a faculty mentor. This can include work conducted with a faculty mentor inside or outside of the classroom.  Students who are working with faculty on research projects outside of class (this includes students who are enrolled in Directed Independent Research or 4912 credits) should apply to the Student Scholar Symposium. 

Academic research and creative work explores a question or objective that is important to the discipline. A student must know something about the discipline’s methodology for conducting research or creative scholarship, as well as how to decide if a line of inquiry is important to the discipline.

Who can be a faculty mentor for undergraduate research?

Faculty mentors typically have a terminal degree within their discipline and a formal fulltime appointment with an academic department at UCF or another college or university. For Undergraduate students, see the OUR policy on Faculty Mentors.

If any undergraduate students have questions on this policy, please contact the Office of Undergraduate Research
e: OUR@ucf.edu
p: (407)823-0101