The Committee on Diversity will sponsor the 5th Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium to be held on the evening of Wednesday March 25th. Any abstract with an undergraduate as the first author is welcome. Please encourage your undergraduates to apply for this event!

Deadline: C.O.D. Undergraduate Research Symposium abstracts are due February 1, 2015.

Abstract Preparation and Submission: Abstracts should follow AAPA guidelines (see section B of this document); failure to do so will mean that your abstract is returned to you, unreviewed. Abstracts should be submitted electronically as a .doc/docx file to Dr. Cara Wall-Scheffler ([email protected]). Any abstract submitted to the main conference that has an undergraduate as first author will be considered, as long as we receive the abstract by the Feb. 1 submission date so we can allocate space. If you have also submitted your abstract to the main meetings, please identify your abstract as 'already submitted/accepted' when you send it to us.

Review Process: Abstract review will be conducted separately from the main meeting’s review process. Each undergraduate will be paired with a graduate student who will provide mentoring advice on abstract structure and content. Full participation in this mentoring is required for abstract acceptance. Graduate students are are encouraged to volunteer to serve as reviewers/mentors (please see below).

Event: Posters should be hung by 5:30pm on Wednesday of the meetings. From 5:30 – 6 pm a private reception will be held for the undergraduates, their mentor, and their graduate student mentors during which participation certificates will be awarded by AAPA officers. The reception and posters will be open to the association members from 6:00-8pm on Wednesday. Undergraduates are expected to attend the entire event. Refreshments will be provided!

Graduate Student Volunteers: Graduate students interested in abstract review and undergraduate mentoring please contact Dr. Cara Wall-Scheffler ([email protected]).