Virtual Undergraduate Research Conference (VURC) 2025: Opening the Doors to Research
The Virtual Undergraduate Research Conference (VURC) is an annual conference highlighting undergraduate research. The conference is entirely virtual. Undergraduate students around the world and faculty whose work involves undergraduates are encouraged to participate. The conference is a friendly environment meant to provide opportunities to showcase student work, model presentation skills, and create a fun, collegial environment to discuss big ideas.
The 4th annual VURC will take place on April 18th, 2025. Anyone is welcome to attend. The conference schedule with links to the virtual sessions is below. Posters can be be found virtually on BlueSky with #CIWRVURC2025.
The presentations last year were outstanding, and this year is shaping up to be equally excellent. Check out the highlights and award winners from last year’s conference. If you’re curious about what the VURC is take a look at the FAQ’s below to address questions you might have about the conference.
Frequently asked questions (FAQ) about the Virtual Undergraduate Research Conference
Who can participate? The short answer- You! Undergraduate students from all disciplines can present their original research in either a poster or paper format. Faculty and others who incorporate undergraduates in the research process can also present their research in a paper format. Further, faculty and others who wish to discuss the undergraduate research process and other topics related to undergraduate research can propose a “big idea” discussion. For example, we’ve had discussions on open science practices in undergraduate research, how to involve more students in the research process earlier in their educational careers, and outside-the-box approaches to leverage limited resources to get students interested in research.
Why should presenters participate? Do we really need to answer that? VURC was created to give opportunities to showcase undergraduate research in a easy and free format. Often, undergraduate researchers and even their mentors face too many obstacles to present their work. The cost of travel and registration fees may prohibit participation in other conferences. To facilitate sharing undergraduate research, we developed VURC to eliminate many of the main barriers to participation. To further motivate presenters to consider participation, here are some other benefits:
- Opportunities to hear about research outside of your major/area of interest
- Prizes (in the form of gift cards) for first (student) authors of the top 3 poster and paper presentations
- Easy participation (completely virtual)
- No cost to participation (absolutely no fees to participate, either as presenter or audience
Why should non-presenters attend the conference? The VURC provides a forum for diverse research topics to be discussed. Beside supporting the interesting work of our student presenters, attendees will learn about an array of topics covering, but not limited to, fields such as psychology, biology, political science, sociology, history, philosophy, chemistry, and more! Plus, the research is international in scope with presenters and topics that cover the globe. It’s free and easy to attend, so why not attend?