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 events are categorized by tracks to help students identify which events would be most helpful to them.
- Research Basics & Skill-building
- Social Justice & Ethics in Research
- Research Collaboration & Communication, and
- Careers & Research
The Summer 2022 URES will be a combination of in-person and virtual events, with previously recorded sessions also available. In person events will be held in Sill 120 and will also be available to attend virtually. Full schedule available below.
Current UROP students are required to attend 2 events. These events can be in-person, virtual, or pre-recorded videos. Attendance will be tracked through logins to live events (in person or virtual) and the URES evaluation form for pre-recorded videos.
If you are outside of the University of Utah (if you do not have a UNID), you can access these videos and materials HERE.
A flier for the Summer 2022 series available HERE.
May 25
11Am - 12PM
Research Participant Recruitment
VIRTUAL EVENT - presented by Sadie Gabler
REGISTRATION HERE >>
In this session, you will learn about the importance of and resources for intentionally diversifying study participants, including, language & translation services and informed consent. This session will be helpful for any student working with human subjects in research, in either a clinical or humanistic setting.
Tracks: Social Justice & Ethics in Research
June 3
12 - 1PM
How to Keep Up with Literature
VIRTUAL EVENT - presented by Allyson Mower
REGISTRATION HERE >>
Presentation Handout >>
In this session, you will learn how to keep up with and track literature in a time when research productivity is so high and publications come out constantly. You will learn about a few tools that might assist you in tracking the relevant literature in your area and how to discern which publications will be helpful to their research. This session will be helpful to any student in a field with high research productivity.
Tracks: Research Basics & Skill-building
June 9
11:30Am - 12:30PM
How to Read a Research Article
VIRTUAL EVENT - presented by Behrad Noudoost
REGISTRATION HERE >>
presentation Handout >>
In this session, 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.
Tracks: Research Basics & Skill-Building, Careers & Research
June 16
11Am - 12PM
Citation Management
VIRTUAL EVENT - presented by Lorelei Rutledge & Erika Church
REGISTRATION HERE >>
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!).
Tracks: Research Basics & Skill-Building
June 20
11AM - 12PM
Unsettling Settler Words, Images, and Ideas: Settler Murals and Settler Archives.
HYBRID EVENT - presented by Romeo García
REGISTRATION HERE >>
In this session, we will explore how settlers utilize the political economies of literacies, semiotics, and rhetorics to produce an excessive image of themselves as a savior of the world destined to bring about the world's salvation, progress, and development, manufacture images of empty landscapes from which inhabiting bodies vanish and/or disappear, and codify a modern/colonial system of ideas, images, and ends. We will reflect on how the idea of race and a logic of domination, management, and control, undergirding this epistemological project and system, have been sold and imported, purchased and shared-in, and expanded and/or disputed in the rhetorical market of cultural texts across three tempo-localities: Texas, Utah, and Washington. And we will contend with the consequences: the colonization of land, "resources," people, and knowledge, understanding, and being. We will then consider the utility of a rhetorical, ecological, and decolonial perspective and lens and the analytic task of unsettling the settled ideas land was either waiting to be discovered or up for grabs to be owned, that "resources" by divine and/or natural right were awaiting extraction and exploitation, and that certain people are dispensable by divine and/or natural designs.
Tracks: Social Justice & Ethics in Research
June 27
12 - 1PM
Writing Abstracts
HYBRID EVENT - SILL 120 - presented by Nkenna Onwuzuruoha
REGISTRATION HERE >>
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.
Tracks: Research Basics & Skill-building, Research Collaboration & Communication
July 8
12 - 1PM
Public Speaking
HYRBID EVENT - SILL 120 - presented by Sydney Cheek-O'Donnell
REGISTRATION HERE >>
In this session, you will hear about techniques for and issues with effective public speaking. You will learn how to present in a variety of formats. This session is useful for any student, as public speaking is both necessary in research dissemination and takes a lot of practice.
Tracks: Research Basics & Skill-building, Research Communication & Collaboration
July 11
11:30AM - 12:30PM
Data Visualization & Research Posters
HYBRID EVENT - SILL 120 - presented by Greg Hatch
REGISTRATION HERE >>
In this session, you will learn about how to create images for various types of data, including data from humanistic and creative projects, and how to visually represent those data on research posters. This session will be helpful to any student, especially those needing to create presentations or research posters in the near future.
Tracks: Research Basics & Skill-building, Research Collaboration & Communication
July 20
11:30AM - 12:30PM
Anti-Blackness & Research in Higher Education
VIRTUAL EVENT - presented by Meligha Garfield
REGISTRATION HERE >>
In this session, you will learn about anti-Blackness in higher education and how that impacts academic research, as well as about some of the research and resources on campus for combatting anti-Blackness. This session will be helpful to anyone in a higher education context, as the content directly contributes to the overall working environment in higher education & research and understanding the impact of anti-Blackness is crucial to our developing an atmosphere of respect.
Tracks: Social Justice & Ethics in Research
July 26
11AM - 12PM
Reflection as Part of the Research Process
VIRTUAL EVENT - presented by Seetha Veeraghanta
REGISTRATION HERE >>
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.
Tracks: Research Basics & Skill-building, Careers & Research
Introduction to the Institutional Review Board (IRB)
Presented by Gary Henderson
View Presentation REcording >>
Presentation PPT >>
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.
Tracks: Research Basics & Skill-building, Social Justice & Ethics in Research
Creating Effective Research Posters
Presented by Taylor Sparks
View Presentation Recording >>
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!
Tracks: Research Basics & Skill-building, Research Collaboration & Communication
Doing Library Research
Presented by Donna Ziegenfuss
View Presentation Recording>>
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.
Tracks: Research Basics & Skill-building
Mentor Panel
Panelists: David Hawkins-Jacinto, Ming Hammond, Marissa Diener, & Emmalyn Irvin
View Presentation Recording >>
In this panel discussion, panelists will answer questions about mentoring and building relationships with mentees, and provide attendees with their perspectives on this invaluable relationship. This discussion would be good for students at any stage in their research involvement.
Tracks: Social Justice & Ethics in Research, Research Collaboration and Communication
Bodies in Space
Presented by Sarah Shippobotham
View Presentation Recording >>
In this interactive session, you will learn about how to think about the relationship between bodies and space, how to intentionally use your body as a researcher in your research (e.g., spacing and positioning that signals power or equality), the relationship between bodies and their surroundings and how that relationship informs and constrains research. This session would be good for any student, but especially for those working with human subjects.
Tracks: Research Basics & Skill-building, Research Collaboration & Communication, Social Justice & Ethics in Research
Community-Based Research
Presented by Dean McGovern
View presentation Recording >>
This session will focus on introductory information and skills related to community-based research (CBR) – what is CBR, how do you conduct it, how do you build community partnerships, what happens when partnerships experience conflict, how do you work with faculty who are doing CBR, what are the types of methodologies that are used to conduct CBR, how does CBR differ from other action oriented research (i.e, YPAR, PAR, CBPAR, etc), how does race, gender and difference impact CBR?
Tracks: Research Basics & Skill-building, Careers & Research
Personal Statements
VIRTUAL EVENT - presented by Ann Engar
View Presentation Recording >>
Presentation PPT >>
In this session, you will learn about what content goes into an effective personal statement and how to structure your personal statement. Personal statements are necessary for graduate, medical, and professional school applications, as well as for many job applications. This seminar will be useful to students at any point in their education.
Tracks: Research Collaboration & Communication, Careers & Research
Student feedback from this session:
"Being able to write a personal statement is a universal skill, regardless of what you may be applying for. Such writing shows up in graduate school, law school, medical school, scholarship essays, etc. The speaker spoke clearly about important techniques to keep in mind while writing common mistakes to avoid and what to write about if no specific topics is given."
"Useful for understanding structure particularly when question calling for personal statement is vague. Good reminder to know your audience."
"Dr. Engar was very organize in her presentation and gave wonderful advice on how to open, structure, and end personal statements."
Data Management
Presented by Daureen Nesdill
View presentation recording >>
Effective data management is not intuitive. In this seminar, 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.
Tracks: Research Basics & Skill-building
Dealing with Conflict Research
Presented by Monisha Pasupathi
View Presentation Recording >>
Link to talk referenced in presentation >>
In this session, you will learn about different ways to identify, think about, and potentially resolve conflict in research, as well as how to avoid it. This session would be helpful for any student, as conflict is a natural part of research and collaboration.
Tracks: Social Justice & Ethics in Research, Research Collaboration & Communication
COVID-19: Researching in a Pandemic
Presented by Kimberley Shoaf
View Presentation Recording >>
This event was a Q&A style presentation, with Dr. Annie Isabel Fukushima moderating. Questions addressed include: what is the current public health policy & how does that impact research; how do we conduct research implementing public health standards within different research settings, i.e., people researching in labs, conducting interviews, working with community partners, research settings with a lot of people or close proximity, recognizing that state laws don’t mandate masking; what do you do if someone in your research teams get sick; etc.).
Tracks: Social Justice & Ethics in Research, Research Collaboration & Communication
Letters of Recommendation
Presented by Irene Yoon
View Presentation Recording >>
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.
Tracks: Careers & Research, Research Collaboration & Communication
Internships & Research
Presented by Brett Gaffney
View Presentation Recording >>
View Presentation PPT >>
Values at Work Handout >>
Wandering Map Handout >>
Ready to put your passion to work but not sure where to start? In this session we'll cover the basic components of academic research and working internships and discuss the application process and experiential learning benefits of both paths. This session will be most helpful for students trying to decide when or how to include both kinds of opportunities into their overall plan.
Tracks: Careers & Research
When the antidote is the poison: Current research on social justice and mathematics education
VIRTUAL EVENT presented by José Gutiérrez
View Presentation Recording >>
Does trying to achieve equity, diversity, and inclusion (DEI) in mathematics education work against broader social justice efforts? This presentation will explore recent trends in research on DEI and social justice in mathematics education and discuss the role teachers play in resisting (or perpetuating) systems of oppression. This session would benefit any student in thinking about the intersection of education and social justice, especially those involved in STEM, education, or social justice work.
Translating Research into a Resume
VIRTUAL EVENT presented by Crystal Cory
View Presentation Recording >>
Presentation Slides >>
Strengths Handout >>
Example Resume Handout >>
Impact Verbs Handout >>
In this session, you will learn which parts of and how to highlight your research experience on an academic resume. It is all about marketing! Please come prepared with a draft of your resume so that you may workshop it in the session. This session will be helpful to students at any point in their research, as keeping up a resume is a constant project.
Funding Grad School
VIRTUAL EVENT presented by Matthew Plooster
View Presentation Recording >>
In this session, you will learn about applying for competitive awards for graduate students, including where to find opportunities and making a plan for applying. Funding is often confusing and difficult to navigate for graduate students so this session would be helpful to any student who is interested in attending graduate school.
Microaggressions and Research
Presented by Ella Blanchard
View Recording here >>
Presentation PPT >>
Presentation Handout >>
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.
Responsible Conduct of Research
Presented by James Tabery
View Recording here >>
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.
Increasing Diverse Representation in Research
Presented by Ofer Rog
view Presentation Recording >>
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!
Giving Virtual Presentations
Presented by Colin Adamo
View PResentation Recording >>
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.
Myths About Doing Disciplinary Research: The Value of Working Across Disciplines.
Panelists:
Jacqueline Eaton, PhD, Assistant Professor, Gerontology Interdisciplinary Program, College of Nursing
Gretchen Case, PhD, MA, Associate Professor, Chief, Program in Medical Ethics and Humanities, School of Medicine
View Presentation Recording >>
Is research in STEM fields inherently different from research in the humanities, arts, and social sciences? During this session we will explore the shared features of research across disciplines and the value of interdisciplinary work. This session would benefit students in any field who are interested in bridging the disciplinary divide either to do interdisciplinary work or to understand more about how these myths inform our understanding of the broader research culture.
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.
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.
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).
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.