Attendee FAQs

The Undergraduate Symposium is an annual showcase and celebration of undergraduate research, scholarly work, service-learning, community-based research, creative projects, and fine arts. The event is composed of four poster and presentation sessions in which students concurrently present their posters, presentations, art/project displays, and films/performances. All mentors, faculty, staff, students, family, and friends are welcome and encouraged to attend!

The Undergraduate Symposium is held at the end of the spring semester each year. The 2027 Undergraduate Symposium will be held on Friday, April 16.

You are welcome to head directly to students’ presentation rooms if you know where they are presenting. You are also welcome to stop by registration. There, volunteers will provide you with an overview of the symposium schedule and assist you with finding where an undergraduate is presenting.

The symposium schedule will be released in mid to late March. It will be available on the “Overview and Event Details” page. You will be able to search for a student’s name to find when and where they will be presenting. If you have any difficulties with finding this information, you are welcome to reach out to ugradsymposium@wisc.edu for assistance.

We are committed to ensuring the symposium is inclusive and accessible. If you have questions about accessibility or will require specific accommodations for the event, please contact ugradsymposium@wisc.edu. Requests for accommodations must be made at least two weeks in advance. We will attempt to implement late requests, but we cannot guarantee they will be met.

We encourage event attendees to:

• Be mindful and considerate of space in the poster session. If you find yourself in an aisle that becomes more crowded, please stand to the side to allow traffic flow.
• Silence and refrain from using phones in presentation rooms.
• Wait until a presentation in progress concludes and the next presenter begins setting up before entering or leaving a presentation room to avoid disruptions.
• Quietly listen during students’ presentations in breakout rooms and ask any questions during the question-and-answer period (which moderators will announce).
• Ask presenters questions about their work. Some good questions to ask are:
  • How did you get involved in this project?
  • What is most interesting to you about your findings?
  • What did you enjoy most when working on this project?
  • What was your biggest challenge when conducting this research or completing your project?
  • Do you plan to continue your research or project in the future?
• Feel free to ask event staff any questions you have!

Photography and/or video recording may occur at the Undergraduate Symposium for promotional, educational, and news-related purposes. Images and recordings may be shared on websites, social media, print materials, and other platforms. By attending, you grant permission for your image and/or likeness to be used in these materials.

If you would prefer not to be photographed or recorded, please notify an Undergraduate Symposium volunteer at registration on the day of the event.

We encourage students to work closely with their mentors as they prepare for the symposium. Students might request support as they write their project titles and abstracts, create their posters or presentations, or practice presenting.

Here are some helpful resources you can share as they do so:

1. The Writing Center’s Guide to Writing Abstracts
2. DesignLab’s Poster-Creation Resource
3. The Writing Center’s Guide to Creating a Poster
4. DesignLab’s Project-Specific Resources
5. DesignLab’s Presentation-Creation Resource

We also encourage students to make appointments with the Writing Center and/or DesignLab as they prepare for the symposium. The Writing Center and DesignLab can supplement the support you provide, allowing you to focus your feedback for students on content.

Yes! The symposium is a great way for students to:

• Learn about what engaging in undergraduate research, scholarship, service-learning, and creative projects looks like
• Experience being and engaging in a professional setting where researchers, scholars, and creatives are presenting work
• Connect with mentors and other students on research topics that interest them
• Be inspired by the work of their peers and learn about research, scholarship, service-learning, and creative opportunities for undergraduates

We encourage you to check the “Overview and Event Details” page for important symposium details and information.

If you were listed as a mentor on a participant’s application, you will receive email communications about the event in March. If you signed a mentor approval form and do not receive any communications by late March, please contact ugradsymposium@wisc.edu.

The symposium schedule will be available on the “Overview and Event Details” page in mid to late March.

We strongly encourage students who are not presenting to attend the Undergraduate Symposium! The event is a great way to:

• Meet other students and faculty doing work in and outside of your area of interest
• Learn about what it’s like to engage in undergraduate research, scholarship, service-learning, and creative projects (and how to get involved!)
• Experience engaging in a professional setting where researchers, scholars, and creatives are presenting work, which may be helpful if you plan to attend or present at a conference in the future
• Be inspired by the work of your peers and learn about research, scholarship, service-learning, and creative opportunities available to you

Yes! Attending the Undergraduate Symposium is a great way to learn about research happening across campus and to talk to other students and mentors about how to get involved. We encourage you to ask students presenting posters about how they got involved in their current work. You also can ask if they have advice for students looking to get involved in similar work.

Here are a few general tips for student attendees:

• If you are able to attend the Undergraduate Symposium for only a short time (twenty to thirty minutes), we encourage you to prioritize visiting the poster sessions. The poster session will allow you to have conversations with presenters sharing posters and to ask any questions you have about what it’s like to engage in the research or projects they’re working on. 5- and 10-minute presentations are timed, so you will not have the same opportunity to engage with presenters one-on-one in breakout rooms.
• If you plan to enter or leave a breakout room in the middle of a session, we encourage you to wait for the 5- or 10-minute presentation being given to conclude and for the next presenter to begin setting up before entering or leaving the room. Movement in the audience can be disruptive and distracting for presenters in the middle of a presentation.
• Ask presenters questions! Here are a few examples of questions you can ask:
  • What was the most interesting finding or idea they learned when working on this project?
  • How did they get into this area of study?
  • What was their biggest challenge when conducting this research?
  • Where do they go from here? Do they plan to continue this work in the future?
• Don’t hesitate to ask symposium volunteers at registration for help if you’re having difficulty finding a presentation room or would like guidance as you navigate the event.

The location of the 2027 Undergraduate Symposium will be confirmed in Fall 2026.

Parking availability can be very limited in April. We encourage you to consider taking public transit or bicycling to get to the Undergraduate Symposium. If you plan to park nearby to get to the event, you can check this page to see current lot occupancy before departing.

The Undergraduate Symposium schedule will be shared on the “Overview and Event Details” page in mid to late March. You will be able to search the schedule to find which presentation room your friend or family member is presenting in. If you have any difficulties finding this information or navigating the schedule, please feel free to reach out to ugradsymposium@wisc.edu.

Yes, volunteers at the registration tables will be available to assist with navigation and any other questions you have on the day of the event.