Office of Undergraduate Research

Presentation Requests

The Office of Undergraduate Research facilitates presentations or workshops for a variety of campus audiences. Basic topics (listed below) can be adapted to fit your purposes or intended outcomes. To fit specific circumstances, we can shorten/lengthen some topics, combine topics, or create a new presentation with individualized outcomes.  

To request a presentation, complete this form (BoilerKey Login required). If you have questions regarding our topics, the form, or your request, please contact ugresearch@purdue.edu.  

Note the following: 

  • Requests should be submitted at least two weeks before the targeted date. 
  • If this request is for a course, we recommend you submit your request before the academic period begins to integrate us into your syllabus. 
  • We expect you to provide us with an identified list (name and email) of people who attend. (This list is not needed if presenting to a specific course/section.) 

Topics 

The following presentation topics are common requests and can be adapted within the length ranges provided. 

Topics for any Audience: 

  • Overview of the Office of Undergraduate Research (15-30 minutes): Within this presentation, the audience will learn about all the OUR programs and/or OUR infrastructure, varied based on whether the audience includes  
  • Overview of a specific OUR program (at least 5 minutes for each program): For any OUR program/initiative appearing on the OUR website, this topic covers a more in-depth overview. 
  • Q/A Session or Panel (any length): Select this topic if you wish for an OUR staff member to be available for a broad question/answer session, possibly for a group meeting or as part of a panel of experts. 

Topics Targeting Undergraduate/Professional Students: 

  • Marketing Yourself for Undergraduate Research (30-45 minutes): Learn how to describe yourself your resumeé/CV, in your interviews, during networking events, and on your online profiles that could help you locate research positions. Additionally, conducting research develops many skills and highlighting those skills, experiences, and results is key for leveraging the hard work you have put into your project when applying for additional research projects, internships, graduate programs, and/or jobs.
  • Undergraduate Research 101: Where to Start (30-45 minutes): Learn how to search and apply for undergraduate research opportunities at Purdue. This presentation will discuss the various types of research opportunities, how to find programs or potential mentors, and how to approach the application/email process.
  • Creating and Presenting a Research Poster (30-45 minutes): Presenting a research poster is a necessary skill for students who plan to share their research findings in a large setting such as a conference. Learn how to create and present a poster starting from getting started with formatting to how to organize the content.
  • Creating and Presenting a Research Talk/Oral Presentation (30-45 minutes): Learn how to create and present a research talk starting from getting started with outlining to how to organize the present it to your audience.
  • Searching for Summer Undergraduate Research Experiences (45 minutes): Purdue students can apply to summer undergraduate research programs at Purdue and off-campus. Summer research programs can be a great time to expand your discipline knowledge full-time. This presentation will discuss how to search for summer research programs and how to apply for these opportunities. This presentation is delivered during the beginning of the summer research application period.
  • Video Presentation Adaptation (various minutes):  Among OUR Resources, we possess a series of pre-recorded videos. Each video may be used in place of an in-person presentation request or, if needed, the topic could be modified for an in-person presentation.  

Topics for faculty/staff or anyone who identifies as a mentor: 

  • How to Recruit Undergraduate Students (30-60 minutes): Within this presentation, OUR staff will identify campus resources – with emphasis on the OUR infrastructure – to help mentors recruit and select undergraduate students.

Topics for Mentor/Mentee pairs: 

  • Learning contracts (15-20 minutes): Learning contracts provide a foundation for a mentorship, especially if the project is new for the mentee and the pair is new to working with each other. In this session, we will cover what we recommend is included and discussed for a learning contract and how effectively consider each section.