Conference Awards

There are two types of awards available for the conference: the Conference General Disciplinary Awards (General Awards) sponsored by UNC Charlotte academic departments, and the Atkins Library Undergraduate Research Awards.

All students who register for the Conference and present their research will be automatically entered into the General Awards contest – no other application is needed. Please see below for the criteria that the judges will use to determine the winners of these awards. 

Students who are interested in presenting a more detailed written description of their research and research process may also apply for the Atkins Library Undergraduate Research Awards.  Please see below for the criteria used by the judges to determine the winners of these awards. 

IMPORTANT! This year, application for both the General Awards and the Atkins Library Awards are combined in one registration form.

General Awards

Online Registration Opens	March 1, 2013
Online Registration Closes	April 1, 2013 at 5:00 PM

By submitting your conference registration online, you will be automatically entered in the General Awards contest.

These awards are judged by members of the University Department in which you did the research.  Generally, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and Honorable Mention awards will be granted to the best entries from each participating University Department. Each Department, however, reserves the right to determine the number and types of awards presented for their students.  Award recipients will receive a certificate and, in some years, a small monetary award.

CRITERIA FOR JUDGING THE GENERAL AWARDS

In general, both Oral and Poster Presentations will be judged based on:
 
Presentation Quality 50% 

Was the research presented in a clear fashion such that a non-specialist in the discipline of the project readily understands the material (including visuals, written or spoken material)?
 
Presentation Content 50% 

• Is there a clearly defined thesis, goal and/or hypothesis to the research?
• Is the thesis, goal and/or hypothesis put into disciplinary and/or societal context in terms of its importance?
• Did the arguments, resources, literature, etc. used and/or data collected directly and appropriately address the thesis, goal and/or hypothesis?
• Were the arguments/resources/literature/data presented necessary and sufficient to support the conclusions of the research? 
• Were non-supporting arguments/data/resources/literature sufficiently considered and/or explained?

Students from the Honors College will also be judged on the following criteria: The overall presentation exhibits the rigor and intellectual insight typical of honors level work. More specific criteria (Criteria for Judging the General Awards) for judging the presentations (oral and poster) will be used by the judges at the Conference.


Atkins Library Research Awards

Online Registration Opens	March 1, 2013
Registration Closes/Applications Due	April 1, 2013 at 5:00 PM
Faculty Advisor Support Letter Deadline	April 5, 2013 at 5:00 PM

Note: You do NOT need to apply for an Atkins Award to register for and participate in the conference, but all students who apply for an Atkins Award must also present at the conference

The Atkins Library Undergraduate Research Awards program was established in 2012.   Five awards of $1000 each will be awarded each year in the following Disciplinary Categories:

• Arts/Architecture/Humanities
• Social Sciences/Education
• Physical Sciences/Engineering (Stephen Mosier Award)
• Biological Sciences/Health Sciences
• Math/Computer Sciences

Click here for a list of all UNC Charlotte Departments and their corresponding Disciplinary Categories.

IMPORTANT! As part of the Atkins Library Awards you will be required to describe both the process and the content of your research in detail. Click here for complete application requirements. During the registration process you will be directed to submit your completed application requirements. 

CRITERIA FOR JUDGING THE ATKINS LIBRARY AWARDS

In general, entries will be judged on:

• Contributions of research idea to disciplinary field
• Depth and/or breadth of project
• Comprehensive use of library resources and creative research process

But as with the General Awards, scoring by the faculty judges will be governed by a predefined set of criteria (Criteria for Judging the Atkins Library Awards) -- different than the General Awards criteria.

Entries for the Atkins Library Awards will be judged by a team of faculty members from UNC Charlotte, including Faculty from the colleges and Library Faculty from Atkins Library.

While a conference presentation (oral or poster) is required to be eligible for the Atkins awards, the presentation style will not be a factor in the scoring by the judges.

---

Eligibility

Any undergraduate student currently enrolled at UNC Charlotte who completes a research project, either within a for-credit class or under the supervision of a faculty member, is eligible to compete for either the General Disciplinary Awards or the Atkins Library Awards.

Presentation of Awards
Both the General and the Atkins Library Awards will be presented to the winning students following the keynote speaker (see schedule) at the UNC Charlotte Undergraduate Research Conference on April 19, 2013. The event will be open to the campus community and to invited guests, and will be hosted by Atkins Library.