What is UCUR?
Modeled after the National Conference on Undergraduate Research, UCUR is a celebration of academic, professional, and personal achievements from undergraduate research projects and creative endeavors. Undergraduate students from across Utah and from all disciplines are invited to apply for the conference; presentation opportunities include poster displays, oral presentations, and creative performances.
Each year, the Utah Conference on Undergraduate Research allows student researchers from all over the state to come and present their research. Presentations are given to an interdisciplinary audience, as accepted research projects can be centered on anything from art to molecular biology. Students from all disciplines are encouraged to apply.
Upcoming UCUR
The 19th annual Utah Conference on Undergraduate Research will be held at Southern Utah University on Friday, February 28, 2025. Any undergraduate researcher from any Utah higher education institution is eligible and welcome to present at UCUR. For more information, visit the Utah Conference on Undergraduate Reserach (UCUR) website. USU provides transportation and registration support for all USU students (including Statewide and Distance students) presenting at the event.
Apply
Call For Papers
Call for Abstracts open: September 9, 2024
Abstracts close: November 8, 2024
Notification of Acceptance: December 6, 2024
Registration Begins: December 6, 2024
Registration Deadline: January 24, 2025
In order to apply to UCUR, you will need an abstract summarizing the nature and outcomes of your research or creative opportunity. If your abstract is chosen, you may be selected to present a poster, a creative project (for art, music, dance, or similar projects), or an oral presentation. Presentation guidelines found here.
Additional Resources
For help creating a successful poster/oral presentation, see our advice and templates below. Most presentation events follow similar guidelines, so much of this advice will be relevant to professional conferences, in addition to all USU Office of Research events. If you intend to reuse your poster at future events, check their guidelines for any unique expectations or requirements.
Past Events
In 1987, the first National Conference of Undergraduate Research (NCUR) was held at the University of North Carolina, Asheville. Today, NCUR not only attracts thousands of undergraduate researchers from across the country, representing all disciplines and institutions from community colleges to leading research universities, but it has also provided the model for dozens of state-level events modelled on its inclusive and celebratory format.
Since 2005, when USU’s own Dr. Joyce Kinkead began to collaborate with the University of Utah’s Dr. John Francis to institute the first Utah Conference on Undergraduate Research (which took place in 2007), students from across the state’s public and private institutions of higher education have come together in February each year to share their research and creative and scholarly inquiries with an audience of other students, university faculty, and the wider public.
Just prior to the COVID-19 pandemic’s first severe wave in the spring of 2020, over 800 Utah undergraduates presented at UCUR, hosted on the Logan campus of USU, the largest ever edition of the event. Sadly, the 2021 event, hosted by BYU, had to be virtual, but by 2022, UCUR was back as a hybrid event hosted by Dixie State University (now Utah Tech). UCUR not only brings together the incredible diversity of undergraduate research in Utah, it also unites the state’s undergraduate research leadership, so that each event provides the opportunity for all of us to learn and improve our programs. Heartfelt thanks to all the amazing student, staff, and faculty volunteers and undergraduate research program administrators and staff who make UCUR happen every year!
As a collaborative event, each host works with the committee to document past events centrally. Check out UCUR to learn more about past events and read accepted abstracts.