No classes will meet April 10 so that students can attend the 13th annual Student Research Conference.

Students of all academic disciplines and levels will present research.

"The conference is a true celebration of student research, scholarship and creative work," said Jeff Osborn, associate professor of biology and chairman of the committee for the conference.

This year's conference is the largest in terms of participation. There are 257 student presentations, 349 student authors and 146 faculty mentors of projects. Last year's conference had 135 total presentations.

Osborn said the goal of the conference was not to increase in terms of raw numbers but to widen the scope of the conference.

"Our goal was to expand in terms of kinds of things we do on the day and expand the representation of divisions," Osborn said.

Jeremy Houser, member of the conference committee and professor of health and exercise sciences, said some disciplines are set up to encourage research more.

"Science and human potential and performance [have] been drivers of the conference in the past," Houser said. "This year we have an increased number of submissions from all divisions."

Osborn said he thinks the increase in participation came from changes made to the structure of the conference.

"Some divisions have not felt as welcome as others at the conference, and we wanted to make it more inviting," Osborn said. "We added new presentation options to encourage participation from all divisions."

Students can present their research with an oral paper, a poster, a performance, technical showcase or studio art, Osborn said.

Senior Catherine Perrine is presenting her senior thesis for art history at the conference. She is going to give a summary of her paper using a PowerPoint presentation.

Perrine said she has presented her work before but is still a little nervous about the conference.

"I know the art faculty will be there asking questions," Perrine said.

Sophomore Jessica Menke is presenting her research with a poster outlining the research and its results.

"I am required to present at the conference since I received a grant from Truman to do the research," Menke said.

Students submitted abstracts for their presentations through the Web site for the conference. Submissions were due Feb. 24.

Houser said the online process was new this year but worked out well.

Students had to find a faculty mentor to sponsor them for the conference, and when students sent in registration information, a copy was e-mailed to the faculty mentor.

Houser said the approval of the research by the faculty mentor is the only screening the presentations had.

"We were relying on the fact that faculty members would not let anything through that would embarrass them," Houser said.

Jason Lin, professor of business administration, is a faculty mentor to several students' research projects.

"Students come to me and ask me to mentor their project, so we set out a road map to follow, and I make sure they follow it," Lin said.

Lin said that most of his students did research separate from class assignments but that many research projects start from research done in class.

The name of the conference was recently changed from Undergraduate Research Conference to Student Research Conference. Osborn said now both undergraduate and graduate students can participate at the conference.

"We wanted to make a unified conference, where both graduate and undergraduate students could participate," Osborn said.

A new addition to the conference is the roundtable discussions that will take place during lunchtime.

"There are two student- and two faculty-oriented discussion sessions," Osborn said.

The student sessions are titled, "How to get started on research, scholarly or creative projects" and "Tips for delivering excellent presentations." Osborn said these sessions will be led by both faculty and students with experience in these areas.

Keynote speaker Joseph Gallian from the University of Minnesota-Duluth also will present his session, "Undergraduate research is hot!" from 11 a.m. to noon in Ophelia Parrish Performance Hall.

Jason Miller, committee member and assistant professor of mathematics, said he has enjoyed seeing Gallian speak before and described him as an energetic and engaging speaker.

Gallian is a mathematician and has received more than $1 million in research grants and has supervised more than 100 research papers.

Miller said Gallian received national notoriety for his work on decoding driver's license identification numbers and showing how to interpret the numbers to show birthplace, sex and age of the person.

Gallian has directed more than 25 summer research programs.

"He is a strong advocate for getting students involved in undergraduate research," Miller said.

Committee members agreed that students should try to attend a variety of sessions, both inside and outside their major discipline.

"We encourage students to get involved and appreciate the conference," Osborn said. "We want students to develop an appreciation for what their peers are doing and get excited about research opportunities."

Schedules of presentations are available at the conference Web site, http://src.truman.edu.Presentations start every 15 minutes, and presiding faculty are responsible for keeping the presentations on schedule.

All presentations will be in Violette Hall and Ophelia Parrish, from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., 9:45 a.m. to 10:45 a.m., 2:15 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. and 3:45 p.m. to 5 p.m.

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