UTSC Undergraduate Research Poster Forum

UTSC Undergraduate Research Poster Forum

The UTSC Library and the Office of the Vice-Principal Research and Innovation proudly sponsor the Undergraduate Research Poster Forum to showcase the significant research contributions of talented UTSC undergraduates. The forum is a competitive, adjudicated event that promotes intellectual exchange and gives students an opportunity to develop presentation skills by disseminating new research and creative activities both to academic communities and non-specialists. The forum provides the perfect opportunity for students interested in becoming involved in research to learn more about what other students have already done.

Eligibility

The forum is appropriate for all UTSC undergraduate students who:

  1. Are in the latter or final stages of a research or creative project,
  2. Have at least preliminary results to report, and/or
  3. Are ready to publicly present their research or creative project in a juried setting.

Students can not submit the same project as last year unless there are significant changes or advancements in the final outcome. 

Criteria

What are students being judged on?

Students are invited to submit proposals that demonstrate research that addresses issues of local, national and global importance, and that connect with the University of Toronto’s Strategic Research Plan. This year the focus is on Knowledge Translation (KT), which refers to the translation of research results into knowledge available to others beyond academia. KT moves research from the laboratory, the research journal, and the academic conference into the hands of people who can put it to practical use. It includes synthesis, multiple ways of presentation and distribution, exchange, and ethical application of knowledge for the purpose of benefiting knowledge users and improving lives. Research results must be presented in accessible, non-technical language, images and graphs that can be understood by a layperson or non-specialist as well as by the expert. One main objective is to make research understandable without trivializing or over-simplifying. Such is the challenge of Knowledge Translation!

A panel of judges from a variety of fields will evaluate each poster and presentation, based on the following evaluation criteria: Content & Comprehension; Visual Information & Organization; Communication; Citations, References, & Context. Detailed judging rubric and additional information to follow. 

Application Process

Students must fill out a poster proposal submission form that includes a short description of their topic and a 250-300 word abstract of their work. This submission form must be accompanied faculty support form completed by their faculty supervisor/instructor in order to be elegible. 

Twelve proposals will be selected from the submissions for the Research Poster Forum. Successful applicants will be contacted on March 1st and will be asked to participate in a mandatory asynchronous research skills and poster workshop between March 2nd and March 5th.

Important Dates

Submission deadline: February 23, 2021 at 11:59pm EST - midnight (firm deadline)

Finalists contacted: March 1, 2021

Asynchronous Research Skills and Poster Presentation Information Session for finalists (mandatory): must be completed between March 2 - March 5, 2021.  Emails will sent to the finalists with additonal details.

Final e-Poster submission deadline: Thursday, March 25, 2021 11:59pm EST midnight

Event Day (Virtual online presentation): Tuesday, April 6, 2021 (time and additional details to come)

Winners announced: by Tuesday, April 13, 2021 via email, the UTSC Library Website and social media channels. 

Students are also encouraged to work with their liaison librarians

Prizes

Cash prizes of $1000, $500 and $250 will be awarded to first, second and third place winners. The winners' posters and their accompanying videos will be posted to the UTSC Library website, with the invitation to have a digital version of their poster archived in TSpace

All twelve  final participants will receive a Certificate of Participation and will receive a notation on their transcript as part of Co-Curricular Record program.  

Prizes are jointly funded by the UTSC Library and the Office of the Vice-Principal Research and Innovation.

More information

Contact your liaison librarian or review our Frequently Asked Questions.

If you have a disability/health consideration that may require accommodations, please advise Nina Adamo or the AccessAbility Services Office before the submission deadline.

Date:
Time: -
Location: Online