Presenting Your Research

As an undergraduate researcher, you’ll have many opportunities to present your research in your lab or department, at the university, and potentially at regional and national conferences. Here we’ve compiled a number of resources, including a list of conferences to help you start thinking about where you can present research, and funding sources, both through the university (such as the UCARE travel grant) and from external sources.

Forums and Conferences

Consider attending disciplinary forums and conferences. You might present your own work or see your advisor present. Conferences are a great opportunity to learn more about the most current research in your field, get practice speaking about your own research, and meet professors you might want to research with as a graduate student.

To learn about conferences, speak with your advisor and any graduate students you work with. They can let you know about the major disciplinary conferences with national and international draw (such as the Modern Language Association (MLA) in January and the Geology Society of America (GSA) in October) and also smaller conferences with narrower focuses.

You’ll also want to learn about list serves specific to your discipline. Humanities and Social Sciences, for example, advertise reviews, calls for papers, and conferences on H-Net. Remember that these listserves don’t include every opportunity, and that you’ll want to keep an eye out for additional resources and opportunities.

Funding

Many of the larger conferences offer scholarships or other support for undergraduate and graduate students traveling to present for the first time. Check out the websites for these conferences to see what support exists. Also, talk with your advisor about whether there are funds in current research grants or if there’s departmental support. And of course, if you are a UCARE student, apply for travel grant funding if you are presenting research you’ve done with UCARE support.

Travel Grants

UCARE may fund your travel to a conference where you present the research you've conducted under UCARE's funding. Funds are limited, and grants are awarded on a quarterly basis.

Application deadlines coming soon.

If you are awarded a travel grant:

• You are required to follow University policy on travel.
• The application for a travel grant serves as your pre-authorization.
• Upon return, file receipts for all expenditures along with a program or other documentation from the conference you attended.
• You may only be reimbursed for travel undertaken while enrolled as a full-time student at the University and while a UCARE student.

Presenting Research at UNL

The Undergraduate Research Conference and the UNL Summer Research Symposium are just two of many opportunities for you to share your research on campus. Some departments also hold research conferences for its students at the graduate and undergraduate level. Ask your advisor about these opportunities!

Presenting your research at UNL first allows you to practice speaking about your research to a non-specialized audience. It’s also a chance to get feedback from your advisor, graduate students, and other UNL professors.