UW-Eau Claire site of National Conference on Undergraduate Research

Undergraduate students from 45 states and six foreign countries will present their original research findings on the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire campus April 13-15 at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research.

NCUR will bring together 3,500 college students and faculty members to share and promote undergraduate research, scholarship and creative activity in all fields of study. Students present their research through posters, oral presentations, visual arts and performances.

Among the presenters will be 360 UW-Eau Claire student researchers who will take part in the conference.

“For more than a half-century UW-Eau Claire has been dedicated to undergraduate research,” says Chancellor James Schmidt. “The creativity of our students and faculty helps produce cutting-edge scholarly research that prepares Blugolds to make a difference in their future careers. We are honored and excited to celebrate the work of so many great young minds and their mentors from around the country and world.”

Dr. Mary Hoffman, interim associate vice chancellor for academic affairs and interim dean of graduate studies

Students will have the opportunity to hear and see the work of other undergraduate researchers and to network with faculty and other students across academic disciplines, says Dr. Mary Hoffman, interim associate vice chancellor for academic affairs and interim dean of graduate studies, who is an NCUR 2023 co-chair.

“Our work engaging and supporting student researchers can offer a model for other campuses working to promote these opportunities,” Hoffman says. “NCUR also offers UWEC a chance to learn from our peers.”

UW-Eau Claire’s long tradition of excellence in student-faculty collaborate research will be on display with the featuring of three prominent Blugold alumni as plenary speakers: Dr. Tim Nelson, director of research and innovation at Mayo Clinic Health System; Dr. Lisa Schulte Moore, a professor at Iowa State University and a 2021 MacArthur Fellow; and Dr. Tayo Sanders, a Rhodes Scholar who works with investors and startups in biotech and industrial technology.

The conference theme of Research at the Confluence represents a bringing together of the humanities, artistic endeavors and the sciences. Eau Claire’s Pablo Center at the Confluence will play a major role in the conference programming.

Karen Morris, senior lecturer in communication and journalism

“We are proud of our creative arts offerings at the conference, from jazz performances to ongoing murals to literary readings to art exhibits,” says Karen Morris, senior lecturer in communication and journalism who is an NCUR 2023 co-chair. “We promised to focus on creative arts and we have done just that.”

The event at UW-Eau Claire will be the first face-to-face NCUR since 2019, Morris says, and also marks the return of the Futures Fair that gives students opportunities to network and speak with representatives from businesses, universities and professional schools about career opportunities and options.

The community partnerships and student, faculty and staff volunteers at UW-Eau Claire make an event such as NCUR possible, according to Hoffman and Morris.

More than 1,100 students representing Wisconsin universities and colleges will share their research at NCUR 2023.