The Undergraduate Research Initiative (URI) is currently seeking volunteers to help judge student presentations that will be delivered virtually at the Festival of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities (FURCA) between March 8-11, 2022. FURCA is an annual celebration that provides undergraduate students from all disciplines the opportunity to showcase their research.
A primary goal of FURCA is to support undergraduate students in their ongoing skill development. This includes supporting students in learning how to communicate about their research with diverse audiences. As a volunteer judge, you will help students develop their presentation skills by providing constructive feedback. Although skill development is the primary focus of FURCA, the judging process is competitive, and there are a small number of monetary awards for exceptional presentations. Scores and feedback provided by volunteer judges directly influence award outcomes.
We encourage individuals from all disciplines to serve as volunteer judges!
Duties:
- Sign up for a minimum of 1 shift (1.5 or 2 hour slots), taking place remotely (via Zoom) between March 8-11, 2022.
- Read and familiarize yourself with judging instructions that will be sent out at a later date
- Actively participate in the live Q&A portion following each presentation
- Provide specific, mindful, and constructive feedback to student presenters
- Submit scores and written feedback for each student presenter
Additional Details and Requirements
- You are free to sign up for as many shifts as you would like
- Judges must be a graduate student, post-doctoral fellow, faculty member, staff, or UAlberta alumni
- Undergraduate students are not permitted to judge
- Must have stable internet connection and a device equipped with a camera and microphone
Presentations for each session will be clustered along broad disciplinary themes, as follows:
- Mar 8, 2022 at 10:30am MT for 1.50 hours (Interdisciplinary)
- Mar 8, 2022 at 1:00pm MT for 2.00 hours (Social Sciences & Humanities)
- Mar 9, 2022 at 10:00am MT for 2.00 hours (Health Sciences)
- Mar 9, 2022 at 1:00pm MT for 2.00 hours (Natural Sciences & Engineering)
- Mar 9, 2022 at 3:00pm MT for 2.00 hours (Social Sciences & Humanities)
- Mar 10, 2022 at 9:00am MT for 2.00 hours (Natural Sciences & Engineering)
- Mar 10, 2022 at 11:00am MT for 1.50 hours (Health Sciences)
- Mar 10, 2022 at 2:00pm MT for 1.50 hours (Social Sciences & Humanities)
- Mar 10, 2022 at 3:30pm MT for 1.50 hours (Interdisciplinary)
- Mar 11, 2022 at 9:00am MT for 2.00 hours (Health Sciences)
- Mar 11, 2022 at 11:00am MT for 2.00 hours (Natural Sciences & Engineering)
Note: Judges are not required to have specific disciplinary expertise for every presentation. This is a multi-disciplinary event, and one of the criteria students are judged on is their ability to communicate effectively to audiences from other disciplines.
