Graduate School

Purpose

The Graduate Student Research and Project Showcase strives to acknowledge and celebrate the contributions of graduate students to the UL Lafayette and academic communities by providing graduate students the opportunity to showcase their research, projects, and original works during Graduate Student Appreciation Week events.  The judged Graduate Student Research and Project Showcase will honor outstanding students with awards.

Who can participate in the Graduate Student Research and Project Showcase?

Any graduate student who is the primary author of a research project, original work, class paper, or class project may register to participate in the poster competition or presentation competition for the Graduate Student Research and Project Showcase.  Any group of graduate students may also register their research project, original work, class paper, or class project to participate in the poster competition or presentation competition.  Any graduate student who registers as an individual AND as part of a group must submit two unique projects.  Students may participate in either the poster competition OR the presentation competition, not both.  Note: for the Graduate Student Research and Project Showcase, a graduate student is defined as a UL Lafayette graduate student who is currently enrolled in a degree-seeking graduate program.

Rules and Guidelines

All students participating in the Graduate Student Research and Project Showcase agree to the following rules and guidelines.  If the following rules and guidelines are not adhered without prior approval of the Research and Project Showcase Coordinator, a student participant faces disqualification from receiving awards.  If you have questions about the rules and guidelines, email emily.kimball@louisiana.edu.

·         Attire is a minimum of business casual for all student participants.

·         All participants must arrive 15 minutes prior to their designated time to sign in and set up.

·         The Research and Project Showcase will be held in Dupre Library in the first floor main hallway and the bibliographic lab on Tuesday, April 9, 2013.

·         All participants are required to be present for the entire time of their assigned one-hour judging time to answer any questions for judges and visitors.  Exceptions to this rule are only granted in advance by the showcase coordinator.

·         If registering as part of a group project, at least one group member is required to be present during the entire showcase to answer any questions for judges and visitors.

Poster Guidelines

·         All posters must include the participant’s name and title of the project or research topic.

·         All posters should include basic elements, or their equivalent format for your discipline, like an abstract, introduction, objective, approach, results, and discussion/conclusions.

·         Poster dimensions cannot exceed 4 feet in height by 3 feet in length.  Smaller posters or segmented (pieced posters) are acceptable, given that the segmented posters take up no more than the allotted space mentioned above.  You are not required to fill up the entire available space.

·         Posters should be mounted on foam board or other sturdy backing so that it can easily stand on a tripod easel.  The tripod easel will be provided; foam boards will not be provided.

·         Posters should not have attachments that pose a hazard to viewers, should not interfere with passersby, and should not include handouts.

·         There are several stores and resources in the area that can assist in printing your poster.

Presentation Guidelines 

·         Presenters will be allowed 10 minutes for presentation and 4 minutes for questions and answers from the judges.  There will be a 3-minute transition between presenters.  This time-frame will be strictly adhered.

·         All presentations should include basic elements, or their equivalent format for your discipline, like an introduction, objective, approach, results, and discussion/conclusions.

·         Audio-visual equipment will be available for power point presentations; however, presentation aids are not required.

Statement of Understanding

As a participant in the Graduate Student Research and Project Showcase, I have read the Rules and Guidelines and agree to follow these.  I understand that, should I choose not to bring a poster, one will not be provided for me.

Awards and Scoring

·         All Research and Project Showcase participants will be judged by the same scoring criteria.

·         All judges’ scores and decisions are final in regards to the competition.

·         First, Second, and Third Place awards will be given to the highest, second highest, and third highest (respectively) combined average judging scores.  In the event of a two way tie, two 1^st place awards will be awarded with no 2^nd place (or two 2^nd place awards with no 3^rd place).

·         Should a group project receive an award, the group participants will receive an equal portion of the award money.

·         If there are less than or equal to 4 participants in the competition, there will only be 1^st and 2^nd place awards given.

·         If a participant scores less than 60% of the possible score, they will not be eligible for an award.

·         The poster competition and presentation competition will be judged separately and will have awards for each competition.