The sign-up window for Concordia’s annual President’s Academic Showcase of Undergraduate Research is officially open! If you have a desire to dive deep into your discipline, explore innovative research and work one-on-one directly with a faculty member, consider competing this spring!

With an interdisciplinary judging panel and a poster presentation session open to the Concordia community, the academic showcase allows students to pursue high-caliber research and receive recognition for their unique work. “The showcase is such a wonderful opportunity to grow academically and personally,” said Gracie Leininger, junior and winner of the Tier 2 showcase in spring 2024. “I definitely pushed myself, but I learned I am capable of this kind of independent research, which was an incredibly rewarding feeling.”

“I so appreciated participating in the academic showcase. It grew me not only academically in my ability to write and research, but as a person,” said Camille Beeson, junior and finalist for the Tier 2 showcase in spring 2024. “If you are considering participating in PAS, choose a topic that will challenge you and shape who you are as a person. By doing so you will grow, and have so much fun uncovering your passions and your purpose.”

“Participating in the academic showcase was an incredible opportunity that allowed me to have direct research experience in my field and one-to-one mentorship with professors that goes beyond the classroom experience,” said senior Reagan Wagner, whose showcase project placed second in Tier 1 last spring. “Through the showcase I grew in confidence and skills that are not generally available to students until graduate studies. It is a unique opportunity that is so beneficial and rare for undergraduate students to have such depth of experience.” 

Students can register a showcase project until the Jan. 17 deadline. Freshmen and sophomores qualify to participate in Tier 2 of the competition, while juniors and seniors compete in Tier 1. All academic majors and disciplines are welcome, and students are encouraged to investigate topics that they are personally interested in, even if it’s outside of their field of study.

“By choosing a topic that deals with the intersection of ministry and theater I was able to express and define my own mission in my art,” said Beeson. “I have always known that I want to use my art for Jesus’s ministry, but I struggled to put to words the calling on my heart. By choosing a topic that is so vitally important to who I am as a person, and the purpose of my art, I was shaped and can now use my knowledge to defend my beliefs and exhort others into an artistic form of ministry.”

The showcase is an important annual campus academic event that the university supports, as it rewards over $5,000 in prizes, allows students to earn up to three units in class credit or points for the Honors Program, and grants hands-on research experience with faculty mentors. Besides the prize money, “It’s a sweet bonus to get quality time with your favorite fantastic professors!” said Beeson.

“I was pleasantly surprised to discover how fulfilling it could be to put in the work in an academic project when it’s also a passion project,” said Leininger. “A deep curiosity about my topic made me excited to dig deeper and share my findings with others!”

For more information about the President’s Academic Showcase, contact showcase@cui.edu. Find the digital sign-up form at cui.edu/academicprograms/undergraduate/showcase. 

Tags: Academic Showcase

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