More than 160 students to present projects at Undergraduate Research Symposium

Fri, 04/24/2015

Dyan Morgan

LAWRENCE — The 18th Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium will take place at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, April 25, in the Kansas Union.

"The symposium is KU's premier celebration of the excellent research, scholarship and creative works completed by KU undergraduates each year," said John Augusto, assistant vice provost. "On Saturday, over 160 students will present their work, a 60 percent increase compared to last year’s participation. We are thrilled that this event continues to grow each year."

The Undergraduate Research Symposium is sponsored by the Center for Undergraduate Research and the Office of Research. Undergraduate students, faculty and the general public are invited to attend the symposium to learn about the breadth of undergraduate research at KU. A full list of student presenters and a schedule for the day are available on the Center’s website.

ACE Research Talks

The ACE Research Talks are the keynote presentations for the day. These talks showcase students presenting their research and creative projects in an (A)ccesible, (C)reative and (E)ngaging way. Students applied to give an ACE Research Talk by submitting an abstract of their work and a short video of themselves talking about their research. ACE Research Talk presenters each receive $500 in addition to the featured speaking slot. The 2015 ACE Research Talk winners:

Katherine Deckert, Leawood, “An Examination of the Structure of Obsessive Compulsive Personality Traits in Autism Spectrum Disorders Using Network Analysis"; research mentors: Evangelia Chrysikou, psychology; Stephen Ilardi, psychology.
Andrea Livingston, Wichita, “Lipid Monolayer Compression Isotherms for Characterization of Adjuvant Mechanisms of Action”; research mentors: Prajna Dhar, chemical & petroleum engineering; Cory Berkland, pharmaceutical chemistry.
Michael Wysong, Larned, “Exploring Musical Theatre Song Cycles”; research mentor: John Staniunas, theatre.