The Office of Undergraduate Research offers educational events on topics of interest to undergraduate student researchers and their faculty mentors. These events are open to all and are designed specifically with undergraduate students in mind.
The Spring 2021 URES will be entirely virtual with a combination of previously recorded sessions and live zoom events. Full schedule available soon.
If you are outside of the University of Utah, you can access these videos and materials HERE.
Current UROP students are required to attend or watch 2 events (must be completed by last day of class: April 27). These can be live events or previously recorded videos. Attendance will be tracked through logins to live events and evaluation forms for videos.
Please fill out the URES Evaluation Form to give feedback on each session you attend/watch and to get credit for watching videos for your URES required attendance.
Jan. 27
2 - 3PM
Microaggressions and Research
Presented by Ella Blanchard
Zoom Registration link TBD
In this workshop, you will learn about what microaggressions are, a bit about how they impact folks, how to identify them when you or others are performing them, and how to deal with/respond to them. This session is important for every student, as the content directly contributes to your overall working environment and helps develop an atmosphere of respect.
Student feedback from this session:
"We all come from places of privilege, and many things I learned helped me identify my own and other's microaggressions AND HOW TO DEAL WITH THEM, which is something super useful."
"This is an amazing opportunity to get everyone reflecting on their own bias in a welcoming and non-judgmental environment. Great for all researchers and all people in general. Thank you!"
"Speaker is very conscious of barriers to inclusivity and makes sure everyone can feel accepted at any level. Super well spoken and carefully checks privileges. She is real and straightforward. Awesome presentation."
Feb. 9
1:30 - 2:30PM
Increasing Diverse Representation in Research
Presented by Ofer Rog
Zoom Registration link TBD
In this session, you will discuss challenges to increasing representation in research in terms of thinking critically about which papers are selected to be in syllabi, invited speakers, power structures, role models, etc. Dr. Rog will lead this discussion-based session with a focus on choices he has made when teaching his courses. This session will be good for any student who wants to be thoughtful about who they are reading, citing, learning from, and how those choices relate to current academic power structures. This session will be guided by your questions, so submit questions via the link below and come ready to discuss!
submit questions to presenter before hand >>
Feb. 26
1:30 - 2:30pm
Writing Abstracts
Presented by Nkenna Onwuzuruoha
Zoom Registration link TBD
View presentation pdf>>
View presentation handout>>
In this session, you will learn about how to write an effective research abstract. You will work on framing your research project concisely and accurately. You will leave ready to write your research abstract. This seminar is most useful for students currently needing to write an abstract. It is also useful for students developing how to think about their project.
Student feedback from this session:
"A formulated pattern is given to help students compose their abstract efficiently."
"Abstracts are deceptively tricky to write, so I appreciate the help. I also really enjoyed the activity of analyzing abstracts in small groups. It was very productive to practice writing our own abstracts."
"Abstract writing can seem like a very daunting task but this URES session helped me narrow down components of an abstract. With those individual parts, it will help me approach writing one. I would recommend this to any research student."
Mar. 11
12 - 1pm
Asking for Letters of Recommendation
Presented by Matt Haber
Zoom Registration link TBD
In this session, you will learn about how to approach your faculty mentor about writing you a letter of recommendation. This is an art all its own and many students are not aware that there are professional parameters for this request. This seminar is appropriate at any point in a student’s education.
Student feedback from this session:
"I most appreciate comments relating to how to leverage seemingly thin relationships for letters of recommendation down the road, as well as leveraging your good relationships to get the best letter."
"This gave me more confidence in not only being able to ask for letters of recommendation but also to know what to include to help the writer compose a good letter."
"I think it is important to know how to ask for letters of rec and what to provide for them. As well as which professors are the best to ask/develop a relationship with. It is crazy that no one ever talks about this."
Mar. 24
11:45AM - 12:45PM
Giving Virtual Presentations
Presented by Colin Adamo
Zoom Registration link TBD
View presentation handout>>
In this session, you will learn some tips and tricks for presenting virtually. This is a newer phenomenon, given the present pandemic, and poses its own set of challenges for effective presentation and keeping your audience engaged. Learning how to present well in a virtual format will be beneficial for students in any stage of their research.
Student feedback from this session:
"This was super helpful and I filled a page of just notes on what I can do for my next presentation. Presenting virtually is now super important as we're living in the "new norm." Colin was awesome and a great presenter as expected. This seminar was the best URES I've been to so far!!"
"Virtual presentations are the only way to present currently, and I believe that virtual presentations will become a commonly used alternative in the future. This means that being educated on how to present virtually is an extremely valuable tool. This presentation was especially useful because the presenter talked about small details, like having a virtual background or having a good internet connection, that only apply to virtual presentations."
"Really great presentation on virtual presentations, tackles all the common problems with holding virtual presentations and was a great general model for what an engaging virtual presentation should be like."
Apr. 9
12 - 1PM
Myths About Doing Disciplinary Research
Presented by Jacqueline Eaton
Zoom Registration link TBD
Description TBD
Apr. 21
1 - 2pm
Reflection as Part of the Research Process
Presented by Robyn Moreno
Zoom Registration link TBD
View presentation pDF>>
Reflection, though a necessary part of the research process, is not often explicitly discussed or taught. This session will help you intentionally incorporate reflection into to your daily research and at the end of an experience. This session is useful for any student at any point in their research experience.
Student Feedback from this session:
"The information was presented so it actively involved all of us + was designed to be applicable to all fields."
"This session incorporated research but also touched on the importance of reflection in our daily lives. I thought it was very thought provoking."
"This session made me... well...reflect. On my research and on my organizational skills. It's really important to stop and ask yourself 'okay, how can I look back on this experience and recognize what worked, and what I can improve upon?' Oftentimes, I find myself subconsciously ignoring things I did wrong, which are things that could help me improve in the future. I think using reflection as a tool in my research process will provide me with new ideas that will drive my future research."
Chemistry in Everyday Life
Presented by Chideraa Nwachukwu
View Video of this Presentation>>
In this session, you will work on seeing chemistry in everyday life and how to use those everyday example to help you translate your research to non-specialists in your field. This is a new topic and will be helpful for any student who needs to convey technical information to a general audience or who just loves chemistry!
Strong Writing in STEM
Presented by David Belnap
View video of this presentation>>
view handout for this Presentation>>
In this session, you will learn about writing standards in STEM fields and will work on some helpful techniques for executing strong writing. Although this session is aimed at STEM fields, much of the advice will carry over to other fields as well and will be relevant for any student doing research.
Literature Reviews
Presented by Jenny Andrus
View video of this presentation>>
In this session, you will learn how to conduct and construct a literature review. This will focus on finding, analyzing, and citing relevant sources, but will also address organizing and writing the review. As all students and researchers will have to sift through relevant literature at some point, this will be useful to all researchers.
Doing Research Remotely: Tools, Resources and Strategies for Success
Presented by Donna Ziegenfuss
View video of this presentation>>
view materials for this Presentation>>
Are you doing research remotely this semester? This session will present tools, resources, and strategies to help you conduct virtual research. Online tools can provide an online space for collaboration, communication, as well as conducting and disseminating research. Come and bring your own challenges and lessons learned to share with this community of research.
Giving and Receiving Helpful Feedback
Presented by Janis Louie
View Video of this Presentation>>
In this interactive session, you will learn how to approach giving and receiving feedback in a productive manner. Communication is key to your relationship with your mentor and your success in research overall and feedback can be hard to deliver and hard to hear. This session will be beneficial to anyone, as we all give and receive feedback in every area of life.
Doing Library Research
Presented by Donna Ziegenfuss
view a recording of this event >>
And use the following resources from the presentation as is helpful to you.
In this session, you will learn how to navigate the Marriott Library’s online resources and how to efficiently do library research. You will be introduced to many library resources relevant to your individual field of research including field-specific journals and citation management tools. This seminar is useful for students at any point in their project and can be revisited as online resources continue to develop.
Responsible Conduct of Research
Presented by James Tabery
View a recording of this event >>
In this session, you will learn about some of the history of ethics in research and how to identify some common terms used in conversations about responsible conduct of research. This session is useful to any student involved in research, as an introduction or a reminder about ethical conduct and debates in research.
Introduction to the Institutional Review Board (IRB)
Presented by Gary Henderson
View a recording of this event >>
And use the following resources from the presentation as is helpful to you.
In this session, you will learn the basic history of the Institutional Review Board (IRB), what counts as Human Subjects research, and how and when you might need to use the IRB while doing research here at the U. This session is good for anyone who is or is interested in doing research with Human Subjects at any stage of their research.
Data Management
Presented by Daureen Nesdill
View a recording of this event >>
And use the following resources from the presentation as is helpful to you.
Effective data management is not intuitive. In this session, you will learn about basic issues with data management (e.g. naming files, file storage, etc.) and you will be directed to useful data management resources. As everyone who is doing research deals with some kind of data, this seminar is relevant to all researchers.
How to Read a Research Article
Presented by Behrad Noudoost
View a recording of this event >>
And use the following resources from the presentation as is helpful to you.
In this seminar you will learn about how to read a research article effectively. You will be given tips and strategies for how to read scholarly journal articles. This seminar in appropriate for any student who needs to read contemporary research in their field.
Citation Management
Presented by Lorelei Rutledge & Erika Church
View a recording of this event >>
In this session, you will learn how to set up and use both EndNote and Zotero, commonly used citation management systems. This session will be useful for any student needing an introduction to citation management systems to build their digital libraries (yes, now is a great time to start doing that!).
Images in Scientific Writing
Presented by David Belnap
View a recording of this event >>
And use the following resource if it is useful to you.
In this session, you will learn how to create images and incorporate them into your writing. You will also discuss the importance of accurate scientific communication. Although this session focuses on a science field, the use of images is common throughout many fields and will benefit any student who will use images in their work.
Contextualizing Your Research
Presented by Shane MacFarlan
View a recording of this event >>
In this session, you will work to identify several perspectives outside of the immediate perspective of the lab or project from which you can view your work, how your work fits in with those viewpoints, and how to explain those larger perspectives of your work to an audience (in a paper, presentation, or to a community member).
Creating Effective Research Posters
Presented by Taylor Sparks
View a recording of this event >>
In this workshop, you will learn about the characteristics of effective research poster design and how to use some tools to use to prepare a research poster. This session covers the content and aesthetics of research posters. This seminar is most useful for students currently needing to create a research poster but is also helpful for students thinking about how to talk about their project. This session will also be useful for students who are ready to start creating images for their posters.
Resources for this session will be shared in a designated Box folder. Please check this folder before attending this session!
How to Write A Personal Statement
Facilitated by Ann Engar
View a recording of this event >>
In this session, you will learn about the main goals of a personal statement and get some helpful guidance for how to approach writing one.
Translating Your Research to a General Audience
Facilitated by Dustin Stokes
View a recording of this event >>
Explaining your work to someone unfamiliar with your area of expertise is always challenging, but is absolutely necessary for professional dissemination (and self-marketing!). In this session, you will get some expert advice on how to make your highly technical work accessible to a variety of audience members. This session will be useful to students who need to present their work, want to discuss their work with folks outside their field, and who want to work on developing an articulate and succinct elevator talk.
Discipline Specific Writing: Engineering
Facilitated by Rob Macleod and Heather Palmer
View a recording of this event >>
In this session, you will learn about strong writing within the field of Engineering.
Discipline Specific Writing: Medicine
Facilitated by Yan-Ting Shiu
View a recording of this event >>
In this session, you will learn about strong writing within the field of Medicine.