Undergraduate Exhibition applications now open

Students from all academic fields invited to apply

Photograph of student interacting with small crowd in front of a research poster — The traditional research poster like the one pictured here is one of the most common sights at the Undergraduate Exhibition but students can also participate through performances and presentations. Credit: Steve Tressler / Penn State. Creative Commons

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The annual Undergraduate Exhibition for Research, Inquiry, or Creative Activity each April is one of the best venues at Penn State for students to share their work and compete for prizes.

Undergraduate students from all campuses and academic disciplines are encouraged to participate through performances, presentations and traditional posters at the HUB-Robeson Center at the University Park campus.

The application can be found here, and the deadline is March 22. More information on the exhibition can be found at the Undergraduate Research website.

The Undergraduate Exhibition is slated for 4 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 17, with posters in Alumni and Heritage halls, and oral research presentations and performances in the Flex Theatre. Returning for the second year will be the Engagement Experience Poster Exhibition scheduled for 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on April 17.

No matter the medium through which students share their scholarly research and creativity, each will be judged by at least two judges. Awards are announced at a ceremony the weekend following the exhibition and recognize the top-scoring students in different categories. There are also special awards that come with cash prizes, such as the Gerard A. Hauser Award for the participant who is judged best overall, and the University Fellowships and Phi Kappa Phi Peter T. Luckie Award for Outstanding Juniors.

Presentations

Presentations are great for students who don’t have a traditional poster to present. These sessions are five minutes long per presenter (or group of presenters) with another two minutes for a question and answer session. Each presentation will be judged by at least two judges.

Aminah Henderson presents from behind a lecturne — Aminah Henderson, a Health Policy and Administration major at Penn State World Campus, presented “Costa Rica: Preventative vs. Reactive Medicine” at the 2019 Exhibition. Credit: Steve Tressler / Penn State. Creative Commons

Performances

All performances during the Undergraduate Exhibition will be held in the Flex Theatre at the HUB-Robeson Center. These performances are five minutes long, and can be music, writing, poetry reading, dance, theater and other displays. The public is welcome to attend performances.

Gage Kroljic performs at the Undergraduate Exhibition — Gage Kroljic performed “Sounds of the Middle East” at the 2019 Exhibition. Kroljic graduated in December and majored in music education and music performance. He took first place in the Arts and Humanities category. Credit: Steve Tressler / Penn State. Creative Commons

Posters

The traditional poster is the most popular way to convey research. There are five different poster judging categories: arts and humanities (including visual arts), engineering, health and life sciences, physical sciences, and social and behavioral sciences.

Projects may enter as course-based projects, research or creative work that was completed as part of a class assignment. These projects should reflect how scholarly research or creative methods should be used to address or present a problem, issue or question.

Participants will need to set up their posters between 3 and 3:45 p.m. April 17, displayed for the entire exhibition from 4-7 p.m. and removed at 7 p.m.

Posters can’t be more than 36 inches high and 46 inches wide.

Alumni Hall crowded with Exhibition attendees — Heritage and Alumni halls in the HUB-Robeson Center are buzzing when the Exhibition is in full swing. Credit: Steve Tressler / Penn State. Creative Commons

Engagement Experiences

The Engagement Experience Poster Exhibition will return this year for a second time, scheduled for 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 17, in Alumni Hall in the HUB-Robeson Center. This event gives undergraduate students an opportunity to share a nonresearch poster highlighting their achievements and engaged learning experiences.

Engagement Experiences have a separate application from the rest of the Undergraduate Exhibition, and can be found here.

For more information

For more information on the 2020 Undergraduate Exhibition, visit the Undergraduate Research website.

The Research Opportunities for Undergraduates program is part of Penn State Undergraduate Education, the academic administrative unit that provides leadership and coordination for University-wide programs and initiatives in support of undergraduate teaching and learning at Penn State. Learn more about Undergraduate Education at undergrad.psu.edu.

Last Updated January 21, 2020