Students at any level (1st year through grad and med students) and across any discipline are encouraged to present at the SRC. Students in 200-level courses are allowed to submit their research projects to the SRC with the instructor's permission. Registration requires an abstract, information about the presenter, and a UVM faculty sponsor.

YES! While FOUR works mainly with undergraduates, the SRC is for ALL UVM students.

Your Abstract

An "abstract" is a brief summary (no more than 100 words) of your project. An abstract is required for registration and typically includes your research question or aim, background information, brief methods, and brief conclusions. We recommend submitting your abstract to your research mentor for review. Based on your mentor's feedback, you are expected to revise your abstract, if necessary. Effective abstracts are written clearly and understandable to someone outside of your field (i.e. not too many undefined technical terms). 

Online Help

Below are several resources to help with writing and/or editing your abstract:

1. How to Write an Abstract 
2. ​Writing an Abstract — Graphical Representation
3. Abstract Examples

Questions?

Contact Vivien Enriquez, Undergraduate Research Advisor at Vivien.Enriquez@uvm.edu or make an appointment with a peer writing tutor for support writing your abstract by clicking here. 

A co-presenter is another student who is co-creating the presentation and available to take questions. Collaborators are people involved in the project who should be referenced in your registration and presentation. (Note: There are limits to the amount of information that goes into the brochure, so please consider this when addressing who is a co-presenter and who is a collaborater.)

Research is never truly complete, so no one expects your project to be final and without lingering questions. Many students choose to present information about methodology, research questions and processes, as well as simply what they have THUS FAR. No matter what stage your research is in, you can successfully present your current materials.

All presenters are required to upload a pre-recorded (asynchronous) virtual poster OR oral presentation. In an on-line format both the traditional poster and oral presentations merge together a little. Both have visuals; both have a voice over recording that accompanies the work. Here are some basic differences:

Poster Presentations are created as a single slide that is composed of images/graphs/charts and explanatory text; the poster may be designed in PowerPoint or similar program. Once uploaded to the conference platform, VoiceThread, you can provide a brief voice-over that describes your research, zoom in on sections of your poster, just as if you were talking to someone in person. Click here to view examples from the 2021 SRC. 

Oral/Paper Presentations are 10 minute "readings." Depending on your discipline, some students will write a paper and read it to the camera, some will show a series of PowerPoint slides and provide a voice over to accompany the images; some provide images, perhaps a series of paintings or pictures of sculptures that have only a written component. Look to your research or creative field and follow those standards. Click here to view examples from the 2021 SRC.

(Optional) In-Person Lightning Talk includes a brief, 5 minute microtalk in which you highlight the most relevant or key components of your work. A maximum of 2 slides may be included with visuals. Lightning talks are followed by brief Q&A from a live, in-person audience.

Once you have submitted your registration, you are committed to present. No one is rejected and there is no acceptance sent besides the confirmation email post-registration. If you do not receive a confirmation through ScholarWorks, please check your spam folder. If you still don't see a confirmation notification, please contact the SRC Coordinator at Vivien.Enriquez@uvm.edu. 

If you have selected to participate in-person in addition to uploading an asynchronous presentation, please be on the look out for in-person scheduling information after the registration period closes (notifications will be sent via email). 

Keep an eye out for a series of workshops and opportunities for professional development before the conference date on April 21, 2022. Dates and times will be posted to the 2022 SRC hompage. 

Here are some personal testimonials of past presenters discussing their presentation preferences.

Poster Presentations

• "I chose this because I got to have a more one-on-one conversation with the person that approached my poster. I could then answer direct questions and have a conversation rather than feel like I was doing a lecture. Also it was less intimidating to have other people around because they were all nervous about presenting as much as I was. It gave me a chance to learn more about other people's research and to present my own in a more personal fashion." - Margie '18
• "I have an easier way of explaining my project with my poster... (Yup, I put the whole mechanism on my poster). I could freely point to my data on the poster whenever I wanted, and I didn't have to remember the information since everything was on my poster. It took time to prepare the poster but it was worth it, and I reused the poster for other presentations as well." - Lorraine '18

Oral Presentations

• "While most would think that I chose an oral presentation because I was working in the humanities, it actually had to do more with my comfort zone. I knew how to put together a Prezi far better than a poster, but I also know that I'll be using the skills that come from presenting in that style more often. I loved presenting with a cohort of similar projects, to the point where we all took a photo together afterwards!" - Lily '16

Creative Presentations (not available at virtual SRC)

• "[The] 'creative presentation' format inspired me to make something different and it was a lot of fun." Andy '17 (PhD)