Student Research Week Kicks off March 28 with a Whole New Look and Feel

The impact of research is seen every day from the latest smart phone innovation to the way music impacts healing and learning. And at UCF, it’s not just faculty conducting the research — it’s students, too. It’s an opportunity to be part of big changes that produce big results.

A group of UCF graduate students recently won $10,000 to help advance an idea that may revolutionize rocket engine technology. Another team of students is working on a new kind of nanotech space suit, which caught the attention of NASA. And one group of alumni and students from diverse disciplines produce prosthetics that are functional, artistic and don’t break the bank. The bionic arms are undergoing clinical trials.

UCF Student Research Week is an annual showcase of students’ work. It highlights the impact of student research while inspiring others to get involved in life-changing work.

This year the event runs March 28–April 1, and the longtime tradition has been reimagined with the Student Scholar Symposium taking center stage.

The planning committee includes representatives from the College of Graduate Studies, the Office of Undergraduate Research, the Division of Student Learning and Academic Success and the Office of Research, which have co-hosted the event for years.

Besides the Student Scholar Symposium, Student Research Week includes workshops and a two-day blitz of mini virtual presentations about ongoing projects sponsored by UCF’s Seed Funding Program starting on March 28. The bulk of the week, however, focuses on the Student Scholar Symposium, a two-day poster presentations conference, free and open to the public. An awards ceremony and panel discussion cap off the first day of the symposium on March 30 and a poster award ceremony concludes the week’s activities on March 31.

What you’ll see

Over two days, more than 770 students from across all the colleges will present 484 posters over five sessions in the Student Union on the main campus.

At the conclusion of the day’s poster sessions on March 30, participants and the public are invited to attend the Excellence Awards presentation at 2:15 p.m. in the Cape Florida Ballroom. During the ceremony the following winners will be announced and recognized:

• Award for Excellence in Graduate Student Teaching
• Award for Excellence by a Graduate Teaching Assistant
• Distinguished Undergrad Research Awards
• Champions of Undergraduate Research
• Mentor of the Year

The keynote presentation — The Impact of Student Research — will follow. Several panelists will share their research experiences and the impact that it has had on their successful career paths. The panelists are:

• Stephen Adamo, Postdoctoral Scholar, Department of Psychology
• Stevie Carnell, Postdoctoral Scholar, Department of Computer Science
• Caroline Cheong, Assistant Professor, Department of History
• Albert Manero II, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Limbitless Solutions

More poster sessions continue March 31. This is a great opportunity for the public to get a chance to interact with student researchers in person. The sessions vary and will be held in the Student Union.

Among some of the student projects:

• The Sound of Identity: Audios and Hashtags as Nexuses of Practice on TikTok
• Capacity and Change in Climate Migrant-Receiving Communities in Central Florida
• Giraffe Population Behaviors: A Mathematical Modeling Introduction to Gain Understanding of Giraffes to Save Them from Extinction
• When does self-focus lead to higher good for the world than other focus: An investigation of Compassion?
• Cathelicidin Mediates an Anti-Inflammatory Role of Active Vitamin D (Calcitriol) in Crohn’s Disease
• Music as Catalyst and Healer: Ely Haimowitz and the Origins of the Korean Sense of Self Within Western Classical Music

The winners of the Student Scholar Symposium will be announced at the Awards Ceremony on March 31, in the Cape Florida Ballroom. Students with presentations deemed exemplary by event judges will receive scholarships.

To get a taste for some of the presentations, and for your guide to all things Student Research Week, visit https://researchweek.ucf.edu.