About URS

For over a decade, the University Research Symposium at UWA invited students from around the globe to showcase their innovative academic research and creative work to establish an archive for their research and assist them in achieving their educational objectives. The University Research Symposium is a venue that shows the students’ commitment to investigate research questions and show their creative work in a broad scope of disciplines.

The URS empowers participants to share their thoughts, discoveries, and other creative work with other students, faculty, and the community. Undergraduates, graduates, and professionals are welcome to present at the 2024 URS. Based on last year’s participation in the virtual meeting, we were inspired by the overwhelming participation of international researchers from 13 different countries. Therefore, we offer the 2024 conference in a hybrid format (in-person and virtual) to accommodate international participants and travel limitations. We are excited that this year’s URS is co-hosted with the University of Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah (USMBA), Fez, Morocco.

Presenters can choose their preferred style of showing their work. Presenters who can attend the in-person version of the meeting will present their research to a limited number of attendees to allow social distancing. Students who cannot participate in the in-person meeting will create an internet archive of their research, share their work with a broader audience, and build their portfolio through the virtual meeting format (live Zoom sessions or prerecorded video). The opportunity to record presentations will enable students to develop a digital exhibit of their research and creative work on the URS YouTube Channel.

On Tuesday, March 5, 2024, the symposium will take place. The URS will have diverse poster and oral presentations, including undergraduate and graduate student presentations, faculty and professional presentations, and keynote speaker Dr.  Melanie McReynolds, Professor and HHMI Hanna H. Gray Faculty Fellow at the Pennsylvania State University at 6:00 pm.

The URS started in 2011 with only 12 poster presentations and a handful of faculty mentors in one major, and has now served more than 450 students, 73 faculty mentors, and 20 different majors. In 2011, the URS was conceived as a local conference serving UWA students, evolved into a regional meeting serving surrounding universities in 2017, and matured as an international venue welcoming everyone from all over the world in 2021.

The University of West Alabama, Alabama Power, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama, Tombigbee RC&D, EBSCO Industries Inc., Sumter County Farmers Federation, and UWA Office of Sponsored Programs and Research sponsor the University Research Symposium.