Abstract submissions for the second annual Graduate and Professional Student Research Conference are due Feb. 28.

The conference is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. April 2 at the Memorial Union. All disciplines are welcome to present research and registration is free.

Any graduate or professional student is eligible to present their research in an oral or poster presentation. Ph.D. candidates are invited to give a three-minute thesis presentation. Organizers said students may present previously published research and they will not publish any research presented.

“We want to foster a sense of collaboration where students can share their research with each other and get experience presenting their research,” said Arko Provo Mukherjee, president of the Graduate and Professional Student Senate.

The conference, held in Howe Hall last year, has relocated to the Memorial Union this year because of space concerns. 

Peter Freeman, founding dean of Georgia Tech’s College of Computing and the former assistant director of the National Science Foundation, will be the keynote speaker. Humorist and molecular biologist Adam Ruben will also give a satirical lecture about his book, “Surviving Your Stupid, Stupid Decision to Go to Grad School”.

“We thought Dr. Freeman was a good candidate because the future of computing is a broad topic that hits all graduate students,” said Misty Spencer, GPSRC co-chair. “Graduate school can be very serious, so [Ruben] gives people an opportunity to laugh a little.”

Giving students the chance to learn how to prepare for life after school will be an emphasis of the workshops being offered. Workshops focusing on how to get a job, how to write research and how to negotiate a contract offer are all scheduled.

“When we brainstormed over the course of the last semester, the theme we kept coming back to was career development,” Spencer said.

Presenters have the chance to pick up a little cash at the conference as more than $2,000 will be given to award winners. The top five poster presentations will earn $200 each. $200 goes to the top three oral presentations, $300 to the best thesis presentation and $200 for the People’s Choice Award.

Spencer said there is value in attending even if the student is not presenting.

“Workshops are the best thing if you’re not presenting,” Spencer said. “It’s a great way of looking at how to find a job and it’s a great way to see what other people are doing, network and show support.”

Mukherjee said he is happy to see the conference grow and hopes to have a full-time GPSS executive position in place by the end of the semester to begin planning for next year.

Spencer said GPSRC organizers appreciate the support they’ve received for the conference, which is sponsored by the individual colleges and GPSS.

“Everyone has been very supportive and helped us find speakers,” Spencer said. “[Senior Vice President and Provost Jonathan] Wickert and faculty have been helpful in encouraging people to attend.”

Interested parties can find abstract submission instructions and forms at www.gpss.iastate.edu/students/gpsrc/submission.php.