Oral research presentations are primarily for projects in the arts and humanities. If you are unsure whether an oral presentation format is the appropriate format, ask your project faculty advisor.
The oral presentations are judged and prizes are awarded for top presentations in each judged category.
In addition, the University Libraries Award recognizes the scholarly work based on a foundation of careful background research and literature review and given to entries that demonstrate excellence in information literacy.
1. How to Register Your Oral Presentation Project
Consult with your research advisor prior to registering the project to ensure the correct information is submitted.
To register your project, you will need:
- The title of your project
- Your research advisor's name and email - This is the name and Penn State email of the professor with whom you spent the most time discussing your project. If other advisors contributed to your project in addition to the lead advisor, please indicate their name(s) only on the submission form.
- An abstract - The abstract is a summary of your project. A good abstract gives the reader a quick idea of what your project was about, why it was worthwhile doing, and what your key results were. Your abstract can be 150 to 250 words.
- Student Information - The names, emails and majors for all students working on your project.
Register Your Oral Presentation
2. Approval Process
- ADVISOR APPROVAL: The project registration form submission will be sent to your project advisor for approval and you will receive an email from "Microsoft Power Apps and Power Automate" notifying you that the project submission is either "APPROVED" or "NEEDS CHANGES."
- CHANGES: If your project submission NEEDS CHANGES, you'll submit changes via email to your advisor AND Suzanne Morgan in Academic Affairs at [email protected].
3. Creating Your Oral Presentation Project
Oral Presentations for the Undergraduate Research Fair and Exhibition should be a 10-minute version of your research essay or research presentation. (The research fair organizers will create panels based on common topics or disciplines.)
Oral Presenters should explain the topic you researched, including the how and why. (Describe your research project in an interesting way, explain the argument you developed through research, provide enough evidence to support your claims, suggest an impact or outcome of your project.)
Written text adapted for a listening audience or speaking from an outline or PowerPoint slides is encouraged.
4. Delivering Your Oral Presentation
Students will be placed into panels based on common topics or disciplines. Each will present a maximum of 10-minute presentation that may or may not include slides. Audience members will have time to ask questions.
5. Review Judging Criteria
Undergraduate research projects are judged with rubrics appropriate for the project. The Undergraduate Research Fair and Exhibition organizing committee determines the best judging rubric based on information provided with project submissions and, if necessary, consults with faculty research advisors.
For the oral presentation, download and use the judging rubrics listed below to prepare a competitive entry:
If you are interested in judging research projects at the Undergraduate Research Fair and Exhibition, please complete the online judging registration form.
