The 25th annual 91探花 Undergraduate Research Symposium returns this year on May 20 with a hybrid format including both online and in-person presentations, following two years of online only events due to the COVID pandemic.

Hosted by the Undergraduate Research Program, part of Undergraduate Academic Affairs, the event is one of the largest symposia for undergraduates in the country. This research showcase covers student contributions, demonstrating the diversity of undergraduate research from scholarly to creative, crossing disciplines and addressing pressing critical issues of our time.

鈥淭he 91探花 ecosystem is on full display at the Undergraduate Research Symposium: Deep learning, mentorship, discovery, innovation, problem solving and the application of knowledge for the greater good are all articulated by students right before our eyes,鈥� said Ed Taylor, vice provost and dean of Undergraduate Academic Affairs.

More than 700 undergraduates are expected to present their research during the day, including lightning talks online, in-person oral and poster presentations in Mary Gates Hall and visual arts and design exhibitions in Odegaard Library. More than 1,000 faculty, post-doctorate researchers, research staff and graduate student mentors will be supporting the student researchers. In 2020, in the midst of the COVID pandemic, 8,299 students worked with 91探花faculty research mentors devoting about 1.5 million hours, more than 6,000 years of research, across the university鈥檚 colleges, schools, departments and research centers.

The event is scheduled from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; Taylor and 91探花Provost Mark Richards are scheduled to speak at an in-person welcome at 11:00 a.m. in Mary Gates Hall. For more information and a detailed schedule, click here.

“Excitation” is not just a scientific term or perfect Beach Boys lyric, it’s also the topic of this year’s cross-disciplinary , an intensive summer research program for undergraduate students.

This year’s institute, lasting through summer quarter, is “.” Guided by four 91探花instructors, about 20 selected students will attend lectures and seminars and gather for small group critiques, workshops and tutorial sessions, all on that theme.

They will study theoretical writing on the topic, and create a project that, program notes state, “reflects their unique insights into the role of energy in the arts and humanities.” These projects can be digital or physical, and they may include performances, visual artworks and creative writing as well as scholarly research.

Participating instructors are:

• , professor, School of Art + Art History + Design
• lecturer, Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering (formerly with 91探花Bothell)
• , associate professor, Comparative History of Ideas Program
• , doctoral student, Center for Digital Arts and Experimental Media

“To be excited means to be excited about something 鈥� which means that you’re actively engaged in the world in a certain way,” said Thurtle in a video you can view below. “And so, to get students to start thinking about how they are actively engaged in the world, and how they can best research that by using the tools of the arts and humanities 鈥� is the aim and purpose of this particular summer institute.”

The institute will conclude on Aug. 18 with a “works in progress exhibition” and a daylong seminar where students will present or perform the results of their research and inquiry. That will be from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the Allen Library Auditorium, and open to the public.

“We’ve got four amazing faculty, so this is going to be a very hands-on summer institute,” Thurtle said. “In some sense, this could be one of the most intense academic experiences the students will have during their lifetime.”

The institute was created by the Undergraduate Research Program in collaboration with the Simpson Center for the Humanities. Other sponsors are the Office of Research, Summer Quarter and the Mary Gates Endowment for Students.

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For more information, visit or contact the Undergraduate Research Program at urp@uw.edu, or Thurtle at 206-543-7333 or thurtle@uw.edu.

• Watch a video about the 2016 Summer Institute in the Arts and Humanities:

Trinh Ha did a lot of talking about electrochromatic windows on Wednesday morning, but she didn’t mind.

“In fact I enjoyed it a lot,” said the incoming 91探花 freshman, headed for a major in engineering, as others gathered near. “It really shows how diverse the 91探花is, and all the stories you can find here.”

Ha was one of dozens of participants in the popular Summer Undergraduate Research Poster Session, held in two sessions throughout the morning in Mary Gates Hall. There, students from several summer research programs described and discussed their work with visitors. The place was packed with people.

Ha studied with the eight-week National Science Foundation’s Research Experience and Mentoring Program this summer, working under the guidance and mentorship of , a 91探花professor of mechanical engineering.

“The purpose of my research was how to maximize the contrast of the window, how to optimize the darkest state and the lightest state,” Ha said. Electrochromatic windows, which automatically adjust themselves as conditions warrant, are already in use in certain high-priced automobiles, she said, but the advances she worked on might make them less expensive and more accessible.

Her program was but one of many summer research groups whose students presented posters on Aug. 20. Also present were students with the , the Summer Research Program, and many more. The event was organized by the UW’s in collaboration with a number of 91探花summer research partners.

Electrochromatic windows were not the only topic, by far. Other posters in the crowded Mary Gates Hall commons illustrated work in bioengineering, genome sciences, chemistry, neurology, oceanography, pharmacology, physics, electrical engineering, rehabilitation medicine and many other topics.

The busy week for undergraduate researchers continued Thursday, when Amgen Scholars and students in the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Exceptional Research Opportunities Program and Center for Selective C-H Functionalization presented and discussed their research in various Mary Gates Hall classrooms.

Arts and humanities will take a turn throughout Friday in the Allen Library Auditorium. There, 18 91探花undergraduates, three faculty members and one graduate student will present the , from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

They will explore the theme “Native Modernities: Histories, Politics and Arts of Indigeneity” with lectures, discussions and individual research projects.

On Wednesday morning, Trinh Ha cheerfully kept talking as others stepped up to view her poster and learn about her work.

“It’s really interesting that the 91探花can bring us all together,” she said.