The Graduate Student Research Symposium, celebrating its 10th year, will be held from 1-4 p.m. April 2 in Uncas A. Whitaker Hall for Biomedical Engineering.
The symposium, which is open to the entire WUSTL community, provides graduate students an opportunity to present their research to a broad and diverse audience, while helping them develop their communication skills by requiring them to present their material in a way that is accessible to a general audience.
“The symposium answers several needs in graduate education at Washington University,” said Dawn Cardace, president of the Graduate Student Senate and co-chair of the Graduate Research Symposium Committee, along with James Williams.
“Those include promoting interdisciplinary communication and community building, increasing awareness of the diverse and high-quality research being carried out by students on both the Hilltop and Medical campuses, providing a forum for polishing aural and visual presentation skills and recognizing laudable accomplishments of graduate students.”
Developed in 1996 by the Graduate Student Senate in partnership with the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, the event aims to enhance the professional development of graduate students. The first symposium had 19 presenters in three categories. Last year, nearly 70 participants presented work in five categories.
The symposium’s development has been fostered since its inception by Robert E. Thach, Ph.D., dean of the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, and Elaine P. Berland, Ph.D., associate dean of the graduate school.
The event provides students a great chance to explore the research of their peers. The symposium provides a unique forum for interaction among students and faculty across the University, encouraging students to mingle with other graduate students, to share their experiences and to learn about ongoing research outside of their specific disciplines.
In past years, graduate students from a variety of fields throughout the graduate school have presented their research in poster format. Many students have also begun to use computer displays or audio-visual materials.
The presentations are judged by members of the University community, who award three cash prizes in each of five categories — humanities, engineering, professional degree programs, sciences and social sciences — based on students’ abilities to present their work to a broad audience.
The symposium is sponsored by the Graduate Student Senate of Arts & Sciences, the Graduate Professional Council, the Association of Graduate Engineering Students and the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences.
For more information, go online to artsci.wustl.edu/~gss/research_symposium/index2005.html.