by Jenny Wells

(Oct. 17, 2013) — The call for abstract submissions for the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR), which will be hosted at UK this April, is now open and will remain open through Dec. 6. UK undergraduates involved in research or creative activities on campus are strongly encouraged to submit abstracts of their work for this highly valuable opportunity that will take place on their own campus.

NCUR will bring nearly 4,000 additional students from across the country to the UK campus April 3-5, 2014. The conference will give these students a unique opportunity to present their research and creative endeavors, while meeting other like-minded students. They not only promote their individual work, but improve communication and presentation skills through poster, oral and artistic presentations.

More information on how to submit an abstract can be found at www.cur.org/ncur_2014.

NCUR is not just for science and engineering students. Diane Snow, director of UK's Office of Undergraduate Research, emphasized that research, especially at NCUR, is open to all disciplines.

"People traditionally think of research as only being in a laboratory setting, however research includes anytime a student or faculty member has a burning question that they want to try to find the answer to, and goes to original sources to do that," she said. "We have research going on in the fine arts, in history, in design, as well as other traditional areas like biochemistry, and psychology and physics."

NCUR will not only be an opportunity for the student participants, but for the entire campus to become involved in orchestrating such an important event. The conference will make such an impact on campus that the University Senate has granted professors permission to redirect their classes for the two days the conference takes place.

"This is a bit unusual; it's a new twist on NCUR," Snow said. "But our students will be permitted for the two days, April 3 and 4, to leave their classrooms, have an assignment from their professors, and be involved in all the activities that'll be part of NCUR."

For more information on how to become involved, contact the UK Office of Undergraduate Research.

The UK Office of Undergraduate Research is part of the Academy of Undergraduate Excellence within the Division of Undergraduate Education at UK.