University Research Week 2024
University Research Week (URW) returned in 2024 with the theme “Back to Basics,” celebrating the power of foundational research and its real-world impact across disciplines.
The week highlighted the importance of fundamental research as the bedrock of innovation, showcasing how groundbreaking discoveries translate into real-world solutions while offering workshops that equipped students and researchers with best practices for engaging in and excelling at research.
The feature event was the inaugural 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 marine biology, robotics, drones, music 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.
Other highlight events included the “Pariser Global Lecture for Innovation in Physical Sciences,” presented by the UNC Chapter of Sigma Xi in collaboration with the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research. The lecture honored the legacy of chemist Dr. Rudolph Pariser. The 2024 lecture was delivered by Dr. Kimberly Budil, director of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
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.
In addition, the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research hosted the Lunch & Learn series, which provided a platform for Carolina researchers and research staff to discuss their contributions to advancing UNC-Chapel Hill’s research enterprise in North Carolina and beyond. Topics included:
- Core Facilities
- Career-Building @ Carolina
- Research Communications
- Data Management
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. OUR also held a seminar called “Research for Credit,” which provided an overview of research-for-credit courses at UNC-Chapel Hill, including independent study options.
URW also provided an opportunity for campus partners to host events reflecting their unique research missions. In 2024, 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.
- CMAS Conference
- Art in Science Competition Winner Display
- Jefferson-Pilot Fellowships in Academic Medicine and James Woods Junior Faculty Award Seminar
- Lunch & Learn: Core Facilities
- UNC CHER Spark Series
- Housing, Wealth, and Race: Intersections of Inequality in Modern America
- Literature Reviews with an AI-ssist: A Hands-on GenAI Workshop
- Research Educational Entertainment Lab (R.E.E.L.)
- Het Talks
- Undergraduate Research 101: How to Get Started
- Core Facility Showcase Event
- Introduction to Covidence
- Pop Up Office Hours and Meet and Greet with the Office of Human Research Ethics
- Lunch & Learn: Career-Building @ Carolina
- Python Crash Courses: Intro to Data
- Exploring Collaborative Environmental Research for Increased Impact
- Getting started with Exercise and Sport Science research
- Three Minute Thesis
- Navigating the News: Spotting Fakes and Facts in an Election Year
- Kickstart Your REDCap Journey: Building Effective Surveys for Research
- Department of Defense Research Roundtable: Exploring New Sources of Extramural Funding
- Introduction to PubMed
- Relationship-Driven Rural Research
- Celebrating 20 Years of Innovation at RENCI
- UNC Research & Discovery Fair
- Appetite for Life: Exploring New Targets in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
- Assessment and Consequences of Pediatric Vestibular Dysfunction
- Innovate nurse-led interventions: Improving outcomes for older adults and their care partners
- A Case for Climate Optimism with Zealan Hoover ’13 U.S. EPA Senior Advisor to the Administrator and Director of Implementation
- Introduction to WordPress
- Introduction to Systematic Review Methods
- Getting Started in Undergraduate Research in Biology
- McNair Scholars Program Information Session
- Pariser Global Lecture for Innovation in Physical Sciences
- Research for Credit
- Office Hours with the Office of Animal Care and Use
- Research Insights from the UNC School of Ed’s undergrad scholars & mentors
- How to Keep your Participants Engaged: Participant Retention Strategies for Longitudinal Research
- Lunch & Learn: Research Communications
- UNC Dimensions Analytics Training
- Getting started with Zotero
- Successful Collaborative Writing in Science
- Postdoctoral Awards for Research Excellence Talks
- Undergraduate Research and Study Abroad
- From Student to Scientist: How to Succeed in the Leap from College
- Supporting North Carolina’s Caregivers: Insights, Initiatives, and Future Directions
- Maximizing Your Research Impact
- Department of Germanic and Slavic Languages and Literatures Undergraduate Research Event
- Lunch & Learn: Data Management
- UNC Altmetric Training
- Introduction to Sciwheel
- UNC School of Nursing Groundbreaking Ceremony & School-wide Expo