Over 1,000 UNH students participate in Undergraduate Research Conference

Spanning a time frame of nearly two weeks, the Undergraduate Research Conference concluded this past Friday as students presented their final research projects to everyone from students to judges to residents of Durham. This event marks the 13^th year that the URC has been conducted, and it has been quite a success since it started back in 2000.

This year, the URC ran from April 13 – 28 and had one of its biggest turnouts yet, with over 1,000 students participating, and roughly 750 presentations.

“Along with the students, there were around 300 faculty mentors,” said Lynne Cooper, the program coordinator and a staff member in the Office of the Senior Vice Provost for Engagement and Academic Outreach. 

The event is one that takes a lot of planning, as it not only takes place on the Durham campus, but on the UNH-Manchester campus as well. 

“Normally, we plan over a 12-15 month period,” Cooper said. “There are roughly 23 events that take place on the Durham and Manchester campuses, so it takes time to prepare everything.”

Throughout the day on Friday, the participants set up their projects in the Granite State Room of the Memorial Union Building and presented to various audiences. Among the observers were several volunteer judges that graded and critiqued the students’ projects.

“We are given a rubric that we follow when judging the projects,” Joan Hahn, nursing associate professor and URC judge, said. “Each judge is given a set of eight or nine projects to judge in the two different sessions. All of the projects are high quality.”

Approximately 350 students presented on Friday, each with their own specific research topics. Many of the presenters were doing it for their majors.

“The research took pretty much the whole semester,” Mackenzie Colburn, a presenter, said. “Overall, it was a great experience. The best part was doing the research and coming up with the findings. It has also been gratifying because people are actually coming up and asking me about my project and are taking an interest in what I found with my research.” 

Also, there were many non-presenters who were eager to see what their fellow students came up with.

“One of my friends is presenting and I came to check it out,” James Assad, a junior, said. “All of the projects here are pretty cool. The presenters are really good at giving you a quick overview of what they researched.” 

The URC has been a growing event since 2000, with an increasing number of participants and projects each year. Thirteen years ago, there were only 159 participants, compared to this year’s 1,100 undergraduate students.