The Graduate and Professional Student Senate is hosting the sixth annual Graduate and Professional Student Research Conference (GPSRC) April 10 in the Memorial Union.

The conference is a chance for graduate and professional students from all colleges at Iowa State to present their research, get feedback from faculty and an audience, gain valuable skills from workshops and view fellow students’ work.

Students have until 5 p.m. Friday to submit abstracts for the competition.

Registration for the conference is open until 5 p.m. on March 8. Registration for the conference is free and non-presenters can also attend the conference, which anyone who is interested can attend as long as they have met the registration deadline.

The conference will be from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., but Niranjana Krishnan, chair of GPSRC, said attendees do not have to be there the whole time.

“Come for the parts you want and when you are presenting,” Krishnan said.

The GPSRC will have five presentation categories: oral presentation, poster presentation, exhibitions, three-minute thesis and a case competition.

Within these five categories, there are five grand challenge research items.

“Our grand challenge research themes were developed in collaboration with the colleges and a faculty visioning team to express the broad areas of interdisciplinary research where Iowa State has exceptional strengths and is most active,” Sarah Nusser, vice president for research, said.

The themes include enabling healthy lives, building sustainable human and natural ecosystems, designing next-generation materials and manufacturing technologies, creating data-driven science and information systems for societal challenges and developing global citizens and our workforce.

Nusser said the themes help develop research in several ways, such as articulating areas of research strength at Iowa State and providing a framework for responding to funding opportunities.

“Not all researchers are involved in interdisciplinary research, and it’s very important to emphasize that fundamental, sometimes called basic, and disciplinary research is absolutely crucial to creating the knowledge base necessary for interdisciplinary research to succeed,” Nusser said.

Presenters have a chance to receive feedback on their presentations, and young graduate students will have an opportunity to present when they normally do not. There is also a chance to win presentation awards available in all categories, certificates and raffle prizes.

Krishnan also said there will be four workshops available at the conference. There will be a “How to Get the Most Out of Graduate School” panel, a “How to Make Yourself More Marketable for Jobs” lecture, a “How to Communicate Your Research to the Public” seminar and a resources and support for graduate students workshop.

Krishnan also said TEDx speaker David Buss will be at the conference and give a talk about human mating behavior as well as have a book signing.