By Emily Salvatori, Contributing Writer
The Student Research Competition returns to West Liberty for its 26th year. The competition has two categories: the first is Social Sciences, Humanities, Business and Education, and the second is Natural Sciences and Math.
Students can enter in one or both of the categories. The amount of students competing depends on the year. Dr. Roger Seeber said, “We did once have one student who won both categories about three years ago.” The winner of each category will receive $700. Teams of two are able to enter, but the winners must equally divide the winnings.
All research projects are due by noon on March 31 and must be emailed to Seeber at [email protected]. The email must include the research paper, an abstract, and contact information.
After the deadline, judges will then score the research projects, and the top three contenders will then present their projects in the oral competition on April 12 at 3 p.m. in the Boyle Room of the ASRC. The presentations are open to anyone in the West Liberty community and attendance is encouraged.
“I’d like people to come and watch their peers,” Seeber said. “We would love to have people coming. You’re going to get all kinds of different topics. We’ve had a fair number in psychology. We’ve had a fair number in education, some business; kind of across the board. We would like some support, so that people can come and watch their friends and peers and give these presentations, and from the faculty too.”
After the presentations, the scores from the written and oral portions will be combined, and whoever has the highest score will win. The winners will then be awarded at the Honors Convocation.
The competition is important because it helps prepare students for their futures. Seeber said, “Presentation is an integral part of research. Most of these students will go on to medical school or graduate school where they are going to have to do something along these lines, and no matter where you go, you have to present. Finding something out doesn’t do anything if nobody knows. And one of the things students dread the most is standing up in front of somebody and talking. So, this is a way to get people to understand that this is the next step in their careers if they are going to stay in science or do graduate level work.”
There is a committee of faculty for the Student Research Competition. “There’s one representative from every college on campus,” Seeber said. “They are there to advertise, support, and give me judges. So they will give me judges, and we’ll get volunteers.”
To keep the competition fair, Seeber said, “If you’ve got a student competing, you recuse yourself and you don’t judge.”
For more information or if you have any questions about the Student Research Competition, please contact Dr. Roger Seeber at [email protected].
Image by Mimi Albon
