Pain relief, fiber optics, magnetic fields and farmers’ markets will be some of the subjects covered by 287 undergraduate and 208 graduate students scheduled to participate in the annual University Research Symposium. A showcase of research, scholarship and creative endeavors, the symposium will run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, April 10, at Illinois State University. It is free and open to the public.

Graduate and undergraduate students will present in two poster sessions during the day.  There are currently 168 entries in the morning session, which runs from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 163 entries in the afternoon session, from 1 to 3 p.m.  A majority of the symposium will take place in the Bone Student Center Brown Ballroom.

The symposium encourages cross-disciplinary association and focuses on communicating research to the general public. Faculty members, staff, visitors and peers are encouraged to provide oral and written feedback to the student participants.

The sessions will include interesting presentations from across campus, such as a group of students from the School of Art who will display projects during the poster session under the title Cultural Identity: Citizen Designer. Other topics include Can Money Buy Happiness?Snapchat and Relationship Jealousy,Reciprocity of Attraction in a Social Interaction Study and Understanding Farmers’ Markets Play in Increasing Access to Fruits and Vegetables in Low-Income Areas.  A complete listing of abstracts for the topics to be presented at the symposium can be found online on the Graduate School website .

Presentations will also be held in other areas of campus, including oral presentations prepared by seven students from the Department of Physics from noon to 1:45 p.m. in Moulton 215, and a panel presentation from the School of Theatre and Dance in Centennial West 207, beginning at 1 p.m. These presentations are also open to the public.

The symposium began 24 years ago to promote student research and is sponsored by the Graduate School, Research and Sponsored Programs, and the Honors Program.

For additional information, contact Kim Shennett of the Graduate School at (309) 438-2587.