Graduate Research Achievement Day set for March 5
People who’d like to explore the frontiers of knowledge are invited to stop by Hyslop Arena on Thursday afternoon, March 5.
That’s where they’ll find some 150 to 200 graduate students from UND, who will have set up posters to present their research. The students will explain their work to faculty judges and to the public. Cash prizes will be awarded to those students whose work and presentation are deemed best.
The Graduate Research Achievement Day (or GRAD for short) is a one-day celebration of UND graduate students’ work over the past academic year, said Chris Nelson, UND’s associate dean of the School of Graduate Studies.
“Graduate students are really the lifeblood of any research university; they are the intellectual fuel that drives the research engine forward,” Nelson said.
“Our annual GRAD event showcases the diversity, depth, and high quality of that research engaged in every day by our graduate students. To walk into the event space and see 150-plus intelligent and energetic graduate students talking about their research to judges, each other, and members of the public, is truly inspiring.”
GRAD was started in 2017 with four goals in mind, Nelson said. Organizers wanted to encourage collaboration between disciplines, give students a place where they could showcase about their work, “Enhance Discovery at a Level Consistent with Most Research-Intensive Communities” (that’s a quote from Goal 4 of the UND Strategic Plan) and show the community the exceptional range of UND graduate students’ research.
The graduate students’ work is sorted according to discipline in one of three categories: engineering; natural sciences; and a single category encompassing professional, social sciences, humanities and arts. Judges will look for work that is well organized, clearly formatted, concisely explained, compellingly argued and polished in delivery.
The public is welcome to attend the Graduate Research Achievement Day events. The judging session will be held from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. The public viewing will be from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., and the Awards Ceremony and Reception will follow at 3:30 p.m.
