West Liberty University will host its annual Undergraduate Student Research Competition at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, April 16, 2014. The oral competition will take place in Boyle Conference Center.

The research competition is open to all students and includes two parts: a written paper and an oral presentation. The top three individuals producing written research papers are then invited to the April 16 oral competition.

“All entries should reflect serious critical engagement and seek to advance scholarly understanding of the chosen research subject. In other words, all entries must represent a substantial semester-length (or greater) research effort,” said Dr. Roger Seeber, Jr., professor of biology who coordinates the research competition.

Research is divided into two categories, one for Social Sciences, Humanities, Business and Education projects and the other for Natural Sciences and Math projects. Furthermore:

• Each project reflects either primary or secondary research on any topic.
• The top three finalists from each category are invited to deliver a ten-minute oral presentation that explains their research.
• First place winners in each competition receive a $700 cash award.
• Awards will be announced at the annual Honors Convocation held this year at 6 p.m., Thursday, May 1 in Kelly Theatre.

All papers will be written and presented by the students, but may be part of a larger faculty-driven research project. Students will incorporate audiovisual presentations or other techniques to explain their rationale, methods, results and conclusions.

“The Student Research Competition has become an important tradition at West Liberty University, designed to both encourage and recognize excellence among West Liberty University students,” added Seeber.

For more information of the Student Research Competition, please contact Seeber at seeberrg@westliberty.edu.