Annual Undergraduate Symposium

Students Sharing Creative Ideas, Research, and Discoveries

UG Symposium graphic

SAVE THE DATE: The 8th annual Undergraduate Symposium will be on Friday, April 24, 2015

J. Lawrence Walkup Skydome & duBois Center (south campus)

9:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Join us for Northern Arizona University's 8th annual Undergraduate Symposium - a campus wide celebration of student achievement. More than 1,000 students from across all colleges will come together to share their creative discoveries and present in-depth research and scholarly work to their peers, professors, and the University and Flagstaff communities. 

More than 500 posters and 240 presentations and exhibits showcase the diversity of the students' experiences - from creative endeavors like painting exhibitions or creative writing blogs, to more traditional research activities.

The Symposium will also spotlight student participation in service learning and collaborative projects, an invaluable learning experience that connects communities and applies passion to a purpose.

Events are free and open to the public, unless noted. 

Symposium poster presentation schedule 

Posters for all poster sessions must be on display for ALL day: 9:00am - 4:00pm. 

Student poster presenters will be assigned to be present at their posters during one of the following sessions:

  • Session 1 9:00am - 11:00am
  • Session 2 2:00pm - 4:00pm
Students should plan to put up their posters between 5:00pm - 8:00pm on Thursday (4/23/15) or prior to 8:30am on Friday (4/24/15).

Symposium oral presentation, performance, exhibit, and roundtable schedule 

 

NEW THIS YEAR:  Roundtables are 25-minute  discussions with attendees seated around a table or in a small group.  These presentations typically include a short presentation (about 5 minutes) by the facilitator (presenter), followed by discussion and feedback.  Roundtable presenters should bring targeted questions to pose to others at the table in order to learn from and with those attending.  Roundtables are an ideal format for networking and in-depth discussion on a particular topic.

 

Oral presentations and roundtables will be scheduled 9:00am - 11:45am and 1:15pm - 4:00pm. Times and lengths of oral presentations are determined by schedules for specific rooms or stages.

Exhibits should be on display ALL day: 9:00am - 4:00pm.  Student exhibit presenters will be assigned to be present at their exhibit during one of the following sessions:

  • Morning 9:00am - 11:00am
  • Afternoon 2:00pm - 4:00pm

Student registration process

Registration period: February 9 - March 16, 2015 (closes 11:59pm)

Applications from undergraduate students in all colleges to share their work as posters, oral presentations, exhibits, and performances should be submitted online during the registration period. 

NOTE: Only the primary author or presenter should register; all co-authors are to be listed by the primary author in the form.

  • Gather all necessary information PRIOR to going online to register (see the blank registration form for required information; use Google Chrome or Explorer - form appears blank in Firefox)
  • Beginning February 9, log into the online registration form and enter information.  
    • NOTE: If you will need to edit or add more information later, do NOT click "Done" on the final page....just save your work.  You should be able to log back in and complete the form later.  
    • Once you select "Done" your registration is final and no changes can be made.
  • NO LATE REGISTRATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED!
EXAMPLES OF GREAT ABSTRACTS in business, creative arts & design, humanities, sciences, and social sciences for general audiences ARE AVAILABLE HERE.

Poster Preparation Information

Poster Creation

It is the responsibility of participating students to create posters for the poster sessions. Posters should be designed to be pinned or velcroed on a large display board (no tri-fold poster boards). For consistency and convenience, we recommend that you download and take advantage of the poster templates provided here. There is a landscape version and a portrait version with useful tips to help you quickly create an attractive poster, but we encourage you to be creative as well.

Download the NAU landscape poster template

Download the NAU portrait poster template

Download the CEFNS landscape poster template

Download the CEFNS portrait poster template

This is some basic information:

  1. Posters should be no larger than 34 inches x 44 inches to fit on the display board; a bit smaller is fine.
  2. All posters must be attached to the display board using Velcro. No tri-fold posters are permitted.
  3. Posters must be readable from at least four feet away.
  4. The presentation title must be at least two inches high.
  5. Beneath the title, the name(s) of the student author(s), faculty sponsor, and department/school must be at least one inch high. 
  6. All source(s) of your funding should be acknowledged on the poster

Additional information below and on the UG Research Poster Presentation Tips webpage.

  • You should create the poster the size you need (maximum size: 34” x 44”) in PowerPoint or PDF format. Trying to blow up an 8 ½ x 11 does NOT work well!!
  • The use of dark (especially black) solid color backgrounds is strongly discouraged...and will incur additional charges.
  • There are large format NAU logos to be found at http://www.physics.nau.edu/~anderson/LOGOS/posterlogos.html
  • Generally more graphics/less text is preferable!

Poster Printing Options

On campus options:

CEFNS and HURA students ONLY: The student who registered the project for UGS/UGRADS must submit the poster to the Physics department by email to Ed.Anderson@nau.edu (3-7096) no later than 5:00pm, Friday, April 10, 2015.  Non-CEFNS HURA students should put HURA poster in the subject line of the email. Students should choose a white background to have a poster printed at no cost.

SBS College students only: Students may email a file for their poster in power point format to sbs.dean@nau.edu with the subject line “poster printing”.  It should be emailed no later than 1 week before the event; posters sent after this deadline will be printed only if time allows.  After completion, the student will be notified through email when the poster can be retrieved.  Posters that are the incorrect file, corrupted or incorrect in formatting and size will not be printed and will be the responsibility of the student to correct.  When picking up the poster the student will be required to bring a method of payment (credit/debit card or check).  Posters are printed on matte coated paper (this is NOT high quality photo paper).  Cost is $20 - $30.  Questions?  Please contact SBS Dean’s office at 523-2672.

SBS Psychology department:  Psychology students have priority, but other students can also print posters here.  Follow all instructions on the Psychology Department poster printing webpage and contact Janina Burton (3-0654); cost will be $30-$40.

SBS: Geography, Planning, and Recreation department: Students in any department may bring their PPT or PDF of their correctly sized poster (see instructions/templates above) to the GIS computer lab in Bldg #70, Room #10 to print a poster. Best to come early for heavy duty paper; otherwise paper is NOT heavy-duty.  Cost ~$10 charged directly to student’s account.  Contact Ke-sheng.bao@nau.edu (3-0587) for additional information.

NAU PRINTING SERVICES: We specialize in fast turnarounds! Students are free to stop by or email in their ready-to-print PDF or PPT at building #57. All posters are printed on 200g Satin Photo Paper at 34 x 44 with a standard turn around time of 2-5 business days. With special "Symposium only” pricing starting at $24.99*, we can ensure you get what you need on-time. Jacks Card, credit, and checks are accepted. NO CASH. Contact printing.services@nau.edu or at 523-1941 for more information.   *Additional charges may apply for expedited turnaround times. Pricing based on 200gram satin photo paper @ 50% ink coverage with no lamination & standard turnaround time.

Other local poster printing options:

  • Kinko’s FedEx: (1423 S. Plaza Way, 779-5159) ~$80 + tax (possible 10% discount with NAU ID)
  • Staple’s: (2625 N. Woodlands Village Blvd., 214-8424) ~$25 + tax (with their 50% off color promotion from 3/30 - 5/3, 2014)
  • Print Raven (1300 S. Milton #125, 773-1105) ~$52 (matte) or ~$62  (gloss) + tax
  • Need 24 hours notice and prefer PDF format; you will need to pay for the poster at the time you place your order.

Online options:

www.PosterPresentations.com: Price varies by size and quality ($45-$65); place order by noon (Pacific time) for poster to ship out the same business day (cost of shipping depends on delivery time: $0 - $60).

  • UG Symposium 2013 view 2
    UG Symposium 2013 view 2

    First Combined Symposium in Skydome

    April 2013 was the first combined UG Symposium in the Skydome.  There were 620 presentations, representing the work of more than 1,000 individual students. Engineering and Environmental Science oral capstone presentations were also held at the duBois Center.

Parking

Unregistered vehicles may park in lots P66 (Dome) and P45 (duBois) during the Symposium on Friday, April 24th.  Faculty, staff, and student permit holders should continue to park in their designated parking lots for set-up on Thursday and all day on Friday. 

Click here to see NAU Parking Map.