St. Thomas University is preparing for its tenth annual Student Research and Ideas Fair, set to take place March 15.
“It really is a cross section of all disciplines,” event organizer Kim Fenwick said.
“It’s great. It really shows the talent of the student researchers coming out of St. Thomas.”
All students are welcome to display their research and other projects at the fair, so long as they are under the guidance of a faculty mentor and prepare an abstract to submit to the selection committee.
The due date for abstracts is Feb. 8. Details for submission are available on the university website.
The selection process is mainly in place to select two presenters to be sent to St. Thomas University, Houston, for three days. Two students from Houston will be sent to present in our fair as well.
Also an organizer of the fair, Michael Boudreau, said it is a great venue for students who are considering graduate studies to showcase their work at an academic conference.
“It’s a good way to get feedback from fresh eyes and fresh ears. Sometimes you are working really closely on something, and you may not see an error, or, the forest for the trees so to speak. Someone sitting in the audience hearing it for the first time may have some very good questions.”
The organizers hope that switching the event from Saturday, as it was last year, to Friday afternoon will attract a larger audience.
“We’re hoping that students will go and listen to the talks, even if they aren’t presenting. It’s a good way to get exposed to research from outside your own discipline,” Fenwick said.
Journalism student, Bridget Yard, presented a short documentary to the fair last year.
“I found it beneficial to sit in on other presentations. I was able to provide feedback to other students, and I learned more in that one day than I usually do in a week,” Yard said.
“I think other students should take advantage of the fair because it gives you a chance to show others what you’ve been working on. Most of my peers work extremely hard on their projects and research, and I think they should at least share their knowledge with the rest of the university.”
