The fourth annual SoCon Undergraduate Research Forum (SURF) is scheduled for the weekend of November 1-3, 2019, in Spartanburg, S.C. The event is a collaborative project by the membership of the Southern Conference and hosted by Wofford College.
SURF was designed with the focus of bringing together undergraduate students presenting their research projects for perhaps the first time via posters or oral presentations. Unlike many collegiate research gatherings, SURF takes place in the Fall to attract students who spent their summer months immersed in their research.
A product of the Southern Conference’s Academic Exchange and supervised by a panel of faculty members from each Conference institution, SURF welcomes research from the humanities and the arts in addition to the STEM disciplines. Dr. Bill Kwochka, associate head of the Department of Chemistry and Physics at Western Carolina, serves as chair of the organizing panel. Dr. Ramon Galinanes, Jr., Director of Undergraduate Research at Wofford, will supervise the challenge of coordinating space for more than 100 presentations.
“SURF has been extremely well received by not only our presidents, chancellors and faculty, but by the students themselves,” said Southern Conference Commissioner John Iamarino. “The quality of the research projects has been truly impressive. We’ve heard the comments from many participants that this was their first real research presentation, and they appreciated the opportunity to make it in front of fellow students and faculty from other Conference members in a low-pressure environment.”
The event has been consistently well attended. There were 99 participants in 2016, 122 in 2017 and 111 in 2018. Each member institution may send as many as 15 students. All attendees receive a gift bag from the Southern Conference and have an opportunity to enjoy a dinner in Spartanburg with their classmates and attending professors. Breakfast and lunch are provided by the Conference through its corporate partnership with Ingles Markets.
Interested participants should contact their campus representative, listed below, to learn more about SURF. Interested students can apply here.
The Citadel: Dena Garner Health, Exercise, Sport Science
ETSU: Richard Ignace Physics & Astronomy
Furman: Erik Ching History, Undergrad Research
Mercer: Kevin Bucholtz Chemistry
UNCG: Lee Phillips Geography, Undergrad Research
Samford: Howard Finch Brock School of Business
Chattanooga: Lisa Piazza Director of Undergraduate Research
VMI: Joshua Iddings English, Rhetoric & Humanistic Studies
Western Carolina: Bill Kwochka Chemistry and Physics
Wofford: Ramon Galinanes, Jr. Director of Undergraduate Research