Portland State University
Ronald E. McNair Scholars Program
University of Washington Research Conference Application Process
About four or five students will be selected to present at the upcoming University of Washington
McNair Conference. If you are interested in applying for the opportunity to present please read
the following information and submit a formal abstract for consideration.
CONFERENCE INFORMATION
The University of Washington Annual Pacific Northwest Regional McNair/EIP Conference will
take place in Mary Gates Hall on the University of Washington campus in Seattle, Washington
on May 16-18, 2013.
Additional information online: http://depts.washington.edu/uwmcnair/conference.htm
SECTION 1.
If you are interested in submitting a proposal for an Oral Presentation or Research Poster, please
following the guidelines below:
ABSTRACT SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Abstracts must be submitted to Jolina Kwong Caputo at kwongj@pdx.edu by February 15 at 5
pm. Your abstract should follow the guidelines listed below:
1. Please limit your abstract to less than 300 words.
2. Include the following information at the top of the page:
o Your name
o Your major
o Your faculty mentor's name, title, and department
o Your university
o The title of your presentation
3. Your abstract should contain:
o A statement of the problem
o A summary of your approach/methods
o The theoretical framework, i.e., how your research fits into existing related
scholarship and how it contributes to the field
o Your research findings
4. Please compose your abstract in Word and send as an e-mail attachment.
5. Additionally, please include an answer to the following question, “What do you expect
gain from presenting at the University of Washington McNair Conference?”
You do not need to have already completed your research to be considered. Many students who
present are still in process. It is perfectly acceptable to share what your findings or anticipated
conclusions are up to the date of the Symposium.
Also, if selected to participate in the conference your abstract will be published in the
Symposium Proceedings. Therefore, you should submit a high quality version approved by
your faculty mentor.
ORAL PRESENTATION GUIDELINES
You may find a Presentation Tutorial created by the U of Washington's Undergraduate Research
Program to be of use in preparing your presentation.
http://www.washington.edu/research/urp/symp/presentationtutorial.html
For our conference, we expect to have 15 minutes per presenter, but this time also includes setup
and questions. Therefore, we estimate that each speaker should prepare a talk of approximately
10 minutes or less.
A projector will be provided for PowerPoint presentations. A laptop is also available. Please let
us know ahead of time if you would like to use the UW laptop.
POSTER GUIDELINES
Many institutions have put together wonderful web pages to give you tips on poster design and
creation. One such web page is "The Basics of Poster Design," by the Washington NASA Space
Grant Consortium.
http://www.waspacegrant.org/for_students/student_internships/wsgc_internships/posterdesign.ht
ml
The poster should include a statement of the idea investigated, a description of the method or
approach used, findings or progress to date, and a summary.
Your poster should be 40" x 32." Please note: your posters should not be free-standing.
SECTION 2. Conference Travel Details
If selected for the conference by the PSU McNair Scholars Program you will need to register for
the conference by February 25, 2013 at 5pm. Registration information will be provided at the
time of selection.
Travel arrangements and planning will be discussed once decisions are made. The conference
registration, hotel costs, per diem, and transportation will be paid for by the PSU McNair
Scholars Program unless otherwise noted.
Selection for the conference by the PSU McNair committee does not guarantee a presentation
space in the UW conference as the University of Washington conference committee is
responsible for the final conference abstract selection process.