President Lisa Freeman calls it her “favorite day of the academic year.”
Each spring for the last decade, hundreds of NIU undergraduates showcase their faculty-guided research at an event that highlights curiosity, creativity and scientific methods.
Originally called Undergraduate Research and Artistry Day (URAD), the event was started in 2010 by Julia Spears of the Office of Student Engagement and Experiential Learning (OSEEL). The first URAD was held in the Altgeld Auditorium, but by the following year it outgrew that space and moved to the Duke Ellington Ballroom at Holmes Student Center.
Students create posters describing their work, and present concise descriptions of their findings to attendees. The event not only gives undergraduates a chance to showcase their research, but also to present in an environment that mimics professional conferences.
“Our underlying goals are to elevate awareness of the amazing work undergrads are doing around us every day,” Spears said. “We wanted to provide a forum, to reward participation, to encourage future students and recognize both students and the faculty who are supporting this kind of work.”
Administrators in all of the colleges provide financial support for printing expenses as well as cash awards for first, second and third place entries. One research advisor wins the “Faculty Mentor of the Year” award, which also includes a cash prize and engraved plaque.
In 2014, URAD was joined by the Community Engagement Showcase (CES), in which students present the results of their community engaged outreach initiatives. By 2021, the event was renamed CURE, or the Conference on Undergraduate Research and Engagement. The new conference title is more in keeping with national practice, allowing students’ participation to be more easily recognized on resumes, in job interviews and graduate school applications.
Projects receiving top honors in the most recent CURE event (2020) included such diverse topics as the effects of galactic cosmic rays on gross motor control in rats; the effects of Metformin and Sorafenib on carcinoma cells; how ADHD symptoms effect parental stress and efficacy; and how community development work has improved quality of life in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Along with programs such as Research Rookies and the McKearn Fellows, the idea for URAD/CURE emerged from the Vision 2020 strategic plan, which had as its goal to make NIU “the most student-centered public research university in the Midwest.”
First URAD Day
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