Guidelines: URCAD

Image

Emily Gajda Earth Sciences URCAD presentation Fall 2016

University Research and Creative Achievement Day (URCAD) 2026

This year’s URCAD will take place on Friday, May 8th and will feature research, scholarship, and creative work carried out by Central undergraduate and graduate students. There are no restrictions to student class rank or academic discipline for these sessions. Students will have the option to present their work in either a poster or oral presentation format. 

What qualifies as original work?

Broadening the Notion of Creative Achievement

This year, URCAD plans to broaden the notion of creative achievement and invite applicants to showcase projects from a wider array of disciplines. As such, presentations outlining supervised student work in the following areas are welcomed:

Traditional Empirical Research

• Empirical/Experimental research project where data is collected and analyzed through quantitative and/or qualitative strategies
• An original demonstration or product is created as a result of the literature review and methodologies pursued

Creative Achievement

• Scoping literature reviews with actionable implications
• A detailed summary of a community learning project and/or internship
• A confidential case analysis outlining how theory was used to guide a project or intervention with people
• Art pieces
• An artificial intelligence application

In addition, "Reverse Job Interviews" will be featured at this year's URCAD event. This innovative idea brought forth the CLASS Board of Advisors will feature students presenting their research and projects from a variety of different disciplines in an oral presentation to community partners. These community partners will then share perspectives and opinions on how they think the idea could be utilized in the public sector to affect change for people. In this way, the creative achievement of researchers, creators, executives, and policy makers can be witnessed in real time with fascination discussions to follow.

Poster Presentations

Students will have the option to show their work in the form of a poster presentation which typically consists of a series of figures or tables that tell a story minimal text.

• Project titles chosen should be based on the professional standards of the students' discipline.
• Abstracts for poster presentations should adhere to the rules of each students' field of study. Typed abstracts should not exceed 300 typed-words. Graphical abstracts should not exceed 10MB in size.
• Posters should be prepared using Microsoft Power Point on a 48 in x 36 in (width x height) slide. This size is compatible with the poster display boards used at the event. While there are many templates that can be used to create your posters, you may refer to poster template for inspiration.
• The sections of your poster should correspond to the main sections of your creative work. Your goal is not to cover every detail of your paper, but to summarize your research in a visually appealing way that generates questions and inquiry.
• Please arrive at the indicated time to hang your poster.
• Students should be present during the poster session, prepared to answer questions from attendees.
• Contact your faculty supervisor for your project to ask questions about how to print your poster presentation.

Oral Presentation

Students will have the option to present their work in the form of an oral presentation. Generally, oral presentations consist of a slide show that describes the background, methodology, results/discussion, and conclusions of the student's project.

Duration: Students should prepare for a 10-minute presentation, immediately followed by a 5-minute Q&A session with the audience.

Students should adhere to the guidelines relevant to their area of study when designing their oral presentation.

Oral presentation slide shows should be prepared using Microsoft Power Point and saved to their OneDrive for easy access at the day of the event.

Demonstrations

Demonstrations can be compared to an interactive "show-and-tell" activity, where the presenter goes through the process of generating a finished, original product. Such presentations may include the following elements: Real-time action, physical models, or software demo. The components of a student's demonstration will ultimately be determined by what is customary in their field of study.

Students will be allotted a 15-minute time block to present a demonstration of their creative activity and address questions from the audience.

How to propose an URCAD Poster or Oral Presentation?

Students interested in presenting at URCAD should complete the appropriate form located at "Propose an URCAD Presentation". The form provides an option to indicate the preferred presentation format (poster, oral, or demonstration). There are separate forms for undergraduate- and graduate-level presentations.

A completed poster or slide show is not required at the time of proposing an URCAD presentation.

Note: Students participating in "Reverse Job Interviews" do not need to submit an URCAD Presentation Proposal as CLASS has their own procedures in place.

Please contact Dr. Jason F. Sikorski, Associate Professor of Psychological Science at CCSU, with any questions about applications, abstract submission or presentations.