University Research Week 2025
University Research Week (URW) returned in 2025 with the theme “UNC Research is North Carolina,” highlighting all the ways Carolina research benefits the state.
The week showcased how UNC-Chapel Hill’s research fuels North Carolina’s economy, supports businesses, meets community needs, trains the workforce, and cares for its citizens. It was a week packed with inspiring talks, interactive events, and opportunities to engage with Carolina’s thriving research community.
The feature event was the second annual Research & Discovery Fair, a “science fair”-style event held in the Great Hall of the Frank Porter Graham Student Union. The event featured more than 25 UNC research labs and projects spanning engineering, costume production, archaeology, library science and more. Attendees got an up-close look at the work Carolina researchers are doing and learned how they could get involved in research themselves.
The Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research also held the Het Talks, featuring presentations by the year’s recipients of the Phillip and Ruth Hettleman Prizes for Scholarly Achievement. This year’s Het Talks we held over zoom throughout the week, with two researchers presenting each day.
The Office for Undergraduate Research (OUR) hosted the workshop “Undergraduate Research 101: How to Get Started,” which introduced undergraduate students to the research community at UNC. The session highlighted research opportunity resources, offered guidance on identifying faculty mentors and explained how OUR supports student research efforts.
URW also provided an opportunity for campus partners to host events reflecting their unique research missions. In 2025, more than 50 additional sessions featured workshops, lectures, demonstrations and conversations that broadened the week’s reach. A complete list of these events is included below.
- Pathologist for a Day
- School of Medicine Art in Science Competition
- Microscopy Image Analysis Workshop
- Preserving the Past, Shaping the Future — Archives and Digital Curation at SILS
- Crossing Borders: Journalism, Human Rights and the Law
- Environmental Research at Carolina Square
- Het Talks: Sarah Cohen and Alex Zhukovitskiy
- Strengthening UNC Research through Carolina Across 100 Community Partnerships
- Core Facility Technology Talks
- Psych & Neuro Fest [Day 1]
- Undergraduate Research 101: How to Get Started
- Clear Health Communication: Strategies to Communicate Clearly with the Public, Patients, and Each Other
- Maximizing Your Research Impact
- Jefferson-Pilot Fellowships in Academic Medicine and James W. Woods Junior Faculty Awards Seminar
- Research as Collaboration: Dyads and Triads Supporting Undergraduate Scholarship
- Complex Problems, Collaborative Solutions: Interdisciplinary Research at UNC
- So You’re Interested in Graduate School in Math. What Now?
- When the waters rise: Using data science to prepare N.C. for future floods
- Psych & Neuro Fest [Day 2]
- Het Talks: Lindsey James and Angel Hsu
- Three Minute Thesis
- University Research Week Career Mixer
- Getting Started in Undergraduate Research in Biology
- EXSS Alumni Panel on Applying to Grad School (Science-focused)
- Converge-Con
- Introducing BioSTAR
- Covidence: Simplify Literature Review Screening
- Research & Discovery Fair
- Psych & Neuro Fest [Day 3]
- ‘Implementing Techniques for Assessing and Addressing Inadequate Physical Activity’. Dept. Health Sciences Research Forum
- Exploring Local Demographic Data with UNC’s Research Data Center
- Webinar: The World’s Health Is Our Health, How Global Health Impacts North Carolina
- Mapping our NC Impact
- Carolina Innovators Connect
- The Future of Arabic Language Pedagogy
- You Can Do Both!: Undergraduate Research and Study Abroad
- Het Talks: Marissa Hall and Kathryn Leech
- From Data to Action: How APSViz Powers Hurricane Prediction and Policy Decisions
- Inaugural Graduate Research Symposium
- Professional & Polished: Funding Your Research Future
- PubMed Basics: Tips for Effective Searching
- Carolina Health Informatics Program Lunch and Learn Panel
- The NC Tiers System
- Postdoctoral Awards for Research Excellence (PARE) Awards Ceremony
- Undergraduates in Public Health Research: From NC to Beyond
- Clinical Laboratory Science – Open Lab
- Getting Started with EXSS Research
- Royster Global Keynote Address: Understanding the Complexities of Today’s World
- Info Session for IMS-based FYS (Maymester offering): Shark Ecology and Conservation
- Behind the Numbers: Falling Overdose Rates and Drug Supply Changes
- 7th Annual NC AYA Oncology Symposium: ”Building Academic and Community Partnerships in AYA Oncology: Challenges and Opportunities”
- UNC Lineberger Endometrial Cancer Center of Excellence (ECCE) Retreat
- AI-Powered Solutions for Scientific Discoveries
- GSLL OUR Research Symposium
- The APS Department Presents: Spooky Science Lab Tours
- Undergraduate Publishing in the Humanities – A Conversation with Traces: The UNC-CH Journal of History
- McNair Scholars 2025 Program Showcase
- Psych & Neuro Fest [Day 4]
- From Keywords to Conclusions: AI’s Role in Literature Reviews