2025 Jay W. Boland Undergraduate Research Symposium
Wednesday, April 16, 2025
8:00am-4:30pm at the D.P. Culp Center
Dedicated to the memory of former faculty member Dr. Jay Boland, the ETSU Undergraduate Student Research Symposium showcases and celebrates scholarly achievement by ETSU undergraduate students. The Boland Symposium is sponsored by The Honors College and open to all undergraduate students who wish to give an oral presentation of their research prospectus, preliminary results, ongoing studies, or final results. This Symposium is intended to provide undergraduates the opportunity to discuss and receive feedback and ideas from others. Undergraduate student researchers will present a non-competitive 15-minute oral presentation/art display/creative performance or a research-in-progress presentation. The 2025 Symposium will be held alongside the Appalachian Student Research Forum and the Go Beyond Community-Engaged Learning Initiative as part of Research Day 2025 in the D.P. Culp Student Center.
Questions or concerns? Email URCA@etsu.edu.
Important Information for Presenters
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Abstract Guidelines
An abstract does not contain any references or illustrations. It is a paragraph written in your own words, describing your project. Please see the bulleted items below for an outline of the different parts of an abstract. In general, your abstract should be informative about the entire project. Abstracts are required for both Oral Presentations and Research-in-Progress talks.
TITLE: The title of your abstract should indicate the overall subject matter of your project. It doesn't have to be "catchy", just informative.- AUTHORS' SECTION: The authors section is where you will list all authors' name(s). The first author listed MUST be the student presenter followed by any additional authors - students and then faculty, in that order. Authors' department, college, and institution must be provided, as well.
- BODY TEXT: The abstract text is a paragraph written in your own words, describing
your project. It should be written in one single paragraph and the length of that
paragraph should be no more than 250 words. Your abstract paragraph should have three (3) distinct parts:
- an introduction which specifically identifies the projects objective(s) and briefly states the question and hypothesis. Your question and hypothesis statement should answer the questions: "Why do we care about the problem? What practical, scientific, theoretical or artistic gap is your research filling?";
- a thorough description of the methods and processes used. This is a very important section, as it should include details of what you actually did to get your results; and,
- a summary of the results and any conclusions. You should answer the question "As a result of completing the above procedure, what did you learn/invent/create?" Any conclusions drawn should explain the larger implications of your findings, especially for the problem/gap identified in the introduction. Note: if your project is not yet completed, you may describe the expected outcomes.
Limit your abstract text to approx. 150-250 words. Microsoft Word has a Word Count feature -- please use it.
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Oral Presentation Guidelines
- In preparing your presentation, consider your audience (students, faculty from various disciplines); design your presentation so that your major points can be easily understood.
- Develop a conversational style as opposed to a formal lecture.
- When designing slides, avoid having paragraphs; mainly indicate major points with a few key words or images.
- Focus on keeping the audience attentive to you rather than the screen. Be comfortable with your material by practicing your talk. Be sure to rehearse ahead of time.
- Presentations should include 10-12 minutes of information, with 3-5 minutes for discussion. This symposium is interactive & noncompetitive. Enjoy the experience.
- All speakers must check in 10-15 minutes before their presentation time and remain in their assigned room for the duration of the presentations being given by members of their session.
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Research-in-Progress Guidelines
The Research-in-Progress (RIP) roundtable presentation provides a unique opportunity for Undergraduate Research Honors Program (URHP) scholars in their junior year to discuss their research ideas, designs, and results and get feedback in an informal, cross-disciplinary setting.
The RIP roundtable is flexible and designed to meet the researchers where they are. URHP scholars can present about any stage or aspect of their research. Whether starting a project, planning the research methodology, analyzing the data, or addressing gaps in the literature, URHP scholars should address the aspect of their project for which they would benefit from feedback.
Presentations will be 8-10 minutes long, allowing an additional 5 minutes for the roundtable audience (consisting of URHP scholars from across programs) and RIP faculty facilitator to ask questions.- Develop a conversational style instead of a formal lecture; you are among colleagues
and in a feedback-rich environment where dialogue and questions are encouraged.
While URHP scholars are not required to design a visual presentation (i.e., PowerPoint, Sway, etc.) at the RIP roundtable, they will be required to submit an outline of their verbal presentation to the Undergraduate Research Honors Program. - All scholars must check in 10-15 minutes before their presentation time and remain for the entirety of the roundtable session, ready the engage and provide feedback to other scholars.
- For RIP presentations, set a clear objective about what you want to address. Recall
that “in progress” means that you might not be there yet, but you are well on your
way. Thus, after a brief introduction of your research (reading your abstract), you
have the flexibility of addressing elements of your research such as:
- Starting the project – You can present simply what you have already done, identify gaps in the literature, or focus on 1-2 issues you face along your research trajectory.
- Research methodology or data analysis – You can explain your specific aim(s) and hypotheses,
present and explain your research design, or discuss recruitment or data collection
challenges.
In synthesis, the RIP roundtable allows you the opportunity to present and seek feedback on those aspects of your project where additional perspectives are helpful.
URHP scholars should consult the program’s ADMN-0005-699 Undergraduate Research Honors Program D2L site for further information.