Undergraduate Research Symposium

The Symposium

In support of SFU's commitment to student engagement and undergraduate student research experiences, we are hosting this second annual Symposium as an opportunity for eligible undergraduate students from all disciplines to share, showcase, and disseminate their academic research in a friendly and supportive environment.

Students will be grouped into sessions to give five-minute presentations of their work, followed by a 15-minute moderated conversation to explore common themes and encourage interdisciplinary discourse.

The event is free and open to all. Please register in advance to help us plan the day. If your schedule doesn’t permit you to attend the whole day, we still encourage you to register and join us for whatever time you can.

Featured Speakers

We are delighted to have the support of featured speakers and presenters from across SFU:

Elder Margaret


Gary George, Officer for Community Relations, Office for Aboriginal Peoples

Elder Margaret will welcome all participants to the Symposium. Gary George will lead us in an opening drumming ceremony. We are grateful to have the opportunity to pursue our work and learning on the traditional and unceded lands of the Squamish, Musqueam, Tsleil-Waututh, Katzie and Kwikwetlem peoples.

Dr. Jeff Derksen, Dean and Associate Provost, Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies 

Dr. Jeff Derksen will open the Symposium as our Master of Ceremonies (MC). Dr. Derksen’s research and teaching interests revolve around issues of culture, space, politics and contemporary poetics and art. For his accomplishments as SFU’s Department of English Graduate Program Chair from 2013 – 2015, he received an award for Excellence in Leadership. He has been a Fulbright fellow, currently serves on the editorial boards of Amodern (Montreal) and Canada and Beyond (Huelva, Spain), and in his current role, continues to demonstrate commitment to the research, experiences, and needs of SFU students.

Dr. Elizabeth Elle, Vice-Provost and Associate Vice-President, Learning and Teaching

Dr. Elizabeth Elle will provide welcoming remarks to all Symposium participants. As a renowned expert on wild bees and pollination ecology, Dr. Elle holds teaching as her principal passion, having won the Faculty of Science Excellence in Teaching award in 2010. Following her position as Chair of the Biology Department, in her current role, she is leading SFU’s initiatives to improve and enhance teaching and learning for today’s students.

Dr. Dugan O’Neil, Associate Vice-President, Research

Dr. Dugan O’Neil will provide welcoming remarks to all Symposium participants. As a professor in SFU’s Department of Physics, Dr. O’Neil received Compute Canada’s inaugural Trailblazer Award and is cited for integrating sophisticated digital infrastructure into a diverse scientific community that spans engineering, natural sciences, health, social sciences and humanities. Along with the Vice-President, Research, he now works to raise SFU’s research profile to an internationally competitive level.

Questions?

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us ugrs@sfu.ca.

Symposium sponsors

This event is a collaboration between the Office of the Vice-President, Research and International and the Office of the Vice-President, Academic and Provost. The Teaching and Learning Centre and the Library are co-leading the project, with the full participation and support of Student Engagement and Retention.