All about NCUR

In a few months, MSU will host the 34th annual National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR). The announcement of MSU hosting the conference came three years ago, but is now becoming a reality as NCUR will be taking place on March 26-28, 2020. NCUR is a premier conference devoted to recognizing outstanding undergraduate research in all disciplines — STEM and humanities alike. Participating students will be able to present research, network with peers and faculty, and meet with graduate school recruiters. The conference is unique in the fact that its sole focus is on undergraduate students, compared to other events that cater to graduate level research.

NCUR will bring together over 4,000 undergraduate researchers from around the country, including many from MSU. The conference is not a competition but rather a time for students to share their work in an authentic setting. MSU seniors Bailey Mihalovich, Katie Meyer, and Anna Couch are presenting research at NCUR focusing on sexual health education in Montana. Their goal is to raise awareness of the need for relevant and comprehensive sex ed. This team of women submitted an abstract for NCUR about the research they conducted over the past few months.

Mihalovich shared, “The application process was much simpler than I thought. All we really had to do was write an abstract about our research and hope we did a good enough job explaining ourselves!” At the event, the team will give a presentation on their research and display an art installment they created based on their data. According to Mihalovich, the reason for choosing this presentation style was to make the research accessible to everyone, no matter their academic background. Typically, the style of presentation is open to posters, oral presentations, visual arts, and performances.

Abstract submissions for students applying to participate in NCUR were open from Sept. 30 to Dec. 6, 2019. After approval, the elected student researchers were able to begin online registration on Jan. 21, 2020. Early registration is open until Feb. 21, 2020; however, on-site registration will be open during the conference. For all approved MSU researchers, the registration fee will be covered by MSU as an incentive for student participation and attendance.

Since NCUR is such a large-scale event, MSU will be closed for the conference on March 26 and 27. Instead of attending regularly scheduled classes, MSU students and faculty are strongly encouraged to attend NCUR events and presentations. With an incredible variety of research topics, there will be something interesting for everyone.