The Life Sciences Research Conference is a showcase of the research and scholarship undertaken by students in the College of Life Sciences at Brigham Young University. It includes both undergraduate and graduate student scholars. The conference is a unique opportunity for students to share their work with the broader academic community and to gain experience by presenting their research in a professional setting.

The Life Sciences Research Conference is open to all who wish to attend and see the amazing work being done by student scholars in our college. There is no ticket or registration required to attend. However, the awards luncheon following the conference is only for registered presenters and faculty mentors.

Only current or recently graduated BYU students mentored by faculty in the College of Life Sciences may register to present at the conference. However, your faculty mentor will need to approve your registration before you’re allowed to present.

Your participation in the conference gives you a valuable opportunity to develop your presentation skills by articulating your findings to a broad audience. It will also help you prepare to present at other national and international conferences and give you more experience with the entire process of academic research. Additionally, presentations at conferences such as this one bolster your resume when applying for post-graduate employment or educational opportunities. Lastly, there are cash awards given to the top presenters from each category in each department. (See Awards page.)

Click the “Register” link on the navigation bar to be taken to the registration page. You will be asked to sign in using your BYU login credentials. As part of the registration process, you will be required to provide the following information:

• The title of your poster/research project
• An abstract for your poster/research project
• Your phone number and BYU email*
• The names and emails of all student collaborators or co-investigators
• The name and email of your faculty mentor
• A short video describing your research project (in MP4 format)
• Your completed poster (in PDF format)

*We will use this information to contact you regarding the conference, so please make sure it is correct. Please also keep an eye on your email for more information about the conference.

No. Any student who is participating in faculty-mentored research with a faculty member in the College of Life Sciences may register to present. If you have any questions regarding your eligibility to present at the conference, please contact Associate Dean Michael Stark.

No. Each participant may only submit one poster.

Yes! All students participating in faculty-mentored research with a faculty member in the College of Life Sciences may register to present, even if another member of the same research team is already presenting.

You are still welcome to register and present at the conference. If you have any questions about registering for the conference as a recent graduate, please contact Associate Dean Michael Stark.

A week or two before the conference, you’ll receive an email asking you to RSVP for the award luncheon. Please watch for that invitation and respond quickly so that we can finalize the catering numbers for the luncheon.˝

Your video should be no more than 3 minutes in length.

All videos should be uploaded in MP4 format. If your recording device creates videos in a different format, use a converter software or online service to convert it to MP4. Simply changing the file extension won’t work.

Video files should be no larger than 500MB in size. Attempting to upload a video larger than that will cause your submission to fail. Reducing recording quality may help reducing the size of your video file.

Your video is essentially a shorter version of your poster presentation. As such, it should include the following:

• An introduction for your project, explaining your research objectives and methodology
• Your research findings*
• A conclusion explaining why your research findings are significant or important*

*If your project is not yet complete, focus on how the results or outcomes of your project might be useful or important.

You may resubmit your video as often as needed before the submission deadline. If you notice a problem in your video before that date, simply upload the corrected version to replace the previous one.

Your poster should be 48 inches wide by 36 inches tall, in landscape orientation.

Poster uploads should be in PDF format.

Your poster should include the following information

• A summary of your research project
• All student investigator name(s) and email address(es)
• All faculty mentor name(s)
• Department name (e.g., “Department of Biology” or “Department of Plant & Wildlife Sciences”)
• A title that matches the title entered on the online registration form
• A BYU monogram somewhere on the poster

You can download the official packet of BYU monogram images from BYU’s branding site (https:/brand.byu.edu/monogram.zip, BYU login required). Extract the ZIP archive and select your preferred image from the files inside, then import it into your poster.

To submit your poster, you will need to provide the following information:

• Title of your poster/research projectNOTE: This should match the title printed on your poster.
• An abstract for your poster/research project
• Your phone number and BYU email*
• Names and emails of all student collaborators or co-investigators*
• Name and email of your faculty mentor

The College of Life Sciences will print your poster for you before the conference.

You can pick up your poster from the check-in table at the conference. You will also be assigned your poster location number at check-in. Hanging materials will be provided for you.

No. If you already have a poster that meets the conference requirements, you can bring that instead of having the college print a new one for you. You can also opt out if you would simply like to print it yourself. However, this does mean that you are solely responsible for getting your poster to the conference. Presenters who do not have a poster at their poster location when the judges visit during their assigned presentation session will not be eligible for an award.

Both the HBLL and Cougar Creations on campus have wide-format printers to accommodate large research posters. Your department may also have equipment to print large posters. Check with your department secretary to find out.

Other off-campus locations—such as Staples, Fed-Ex, or Office Depot—may also be an option.

You may resubmit your poster as often as needed before the submission deadline. If you notice a problem with your poster before that date, simply upload the corrected version to replace the previous one.

After the submission, deadline, you will be unable to make any additional changes to your poster. You are welcome to attempt correcting errors or typos on the printed copy of your poster at the conference, if you would like.

There are two presentation sessions at the conference. The first session starts at 9:00 am and goes until 10:30 am. The second session start at 10:30 am and goes until 12:00 pm. A week or two before the conference, you will receive an email indicating which session you’ve been assigned to. **Depending on the number of registrants, the presentation schedule may be altered from this format. Please watch your email for updates.

You’ll receive your poster location number when you check in on the day of the conference. You’ll be given your poster and any hardware you need to hang it (T-pins, binder clips, corner weights, etc.) at the check-in table.

If you’re bringing your poster yourself, you can pick up hanging hardware at the check-in table.

The judges will be moving from presentation to presentation during each session. Make sure that you stay by your poster during your entire assigned presentation. If you’re not there to present when the judges arrive, you won’t be eligible for an award.

After hearing your presentation, the judges will give you a score based on your performance in four key categories:

• Research project objectives, introduction, & methods
• Research findings
• Poster design & visual aesthetics
• Verbal interaction

The complete rubric can be found here. Awards will be given based on the combined scores of all presenters in each category.

No. Presenter scores are kept strictly confidential. Your judges might be willing to give you some tips on how to improve, though.