Presenter Guidelines and Information

UTC Spring Research and Arts Conference

Note: Due to construction in the UTC University Center, the 2025 conference will be held in McKenzie Arena. Presentation formats will include poster presentations, art displays, and a limited number of oral presentations. The number of oral presentations will be limited due to space limitations in the arena.

The UTC Spring Research and Arts Conference will be held on Wednesday, April 9, 2025, in the McKenzie Arena. The event showcases the research and creative works of UTC undergraduate students, graduate students, faculty, and staff. Community college students, and community partners are also invited to present. Presentation formats will include poster presentations, art displays, and a limited number of oral presentations (oral presentations will be limited due to space limitations in the arena). The event is free and open to the public. Conference attendees need not register to attend.

General Presenter Eligibility Requirements

UTC undergraduate students, graduate students, faculty, and staff in all disciplines may participate. Community college students, community partners, and recent UTC graduates are also invited to present research/creative projects.

Presenter Eligibility Requirements for UTC Undergraduate and Graduate Students

To present research/creative works at the conference, UTC undergraduate and graduate students must…

• be working under the supervision of a UTC faculty mentor/advisor who is directing the project.
• have obtained clearance from the UTC Institutional Review Board before conducting research involving human subjects/participants.
• have obtained clearance from the UTC Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee before conducting research involving vertebrate animals.
• have completed the required IBC Registration Update Form before conducting research involving recombinant nucleic acmolecules.
• be currently enrolled, degree-seeking students in good academic and judicial standing at the time of abstract submission and presentation.
• have an active UTC email address and UTC student ID.

Presentation Formats

Conference presenters may select from the following presentation formats.

1. Poster Presentations:
   Conference presenters are solely responsible for creating, printing, and bringing posters to the conference. Display boards and clips for display will be provided at the conference. Contact conference coordinators for printing resources ([email protected])
   • Due to space limitations, printed posters must be sized to the following specifications: 3 feet (36 inches) height x 4 feet (48 inches) width.
   • Please use this poster TEMPLATE or make sure to size your poster file accordingly during the design process. If you do NOT know how to size the poster file, contact the conference coordinators ([email protected]) for assistance.
   • If the research was conducted under a protocol that was approved by the Institutional Review Board (for projects involving human subjects/participants) or Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (for projects involving vertebrate animals), make sure to note the IRB or IACUC protocol number on the poster.
   • NOTE: The conference display boards are 3 feet tall and 4 feet wide. Posters printed larger than these dimensions will NOT fit on the provided display boards. If you have questions/issues about the poster specifications, please contact the conference coordinators ([email protected])
2. Oral Presentations:
   Note: Due to construction in the UTC University Center, the 2025 conference will be held in McKenzie Arena. Due to space limitations in the arena, the number of oral presentations will be limited. Every effort will be made to accommodate as many oral presentations as possible, but conference organizers cannot guarantee that all oral presentation requests will be granted.
   • This format option includes the traditional “academic talk” accompanied by slides.
   • Presenters who would like to share an art video project, journalistic video project, or similar presentation should choose the oral presentation option.
   • Due to time and space constraints, oral presentations will run no more than 15 minutes in length including questions. We suggest preparing a 10-12 minute talk to allow ample time for questions.
   • Oral presenters are solely responsible for creating their presentation slide decks and bringing a copy of the slides to the conference.
   • After checking in at the conference, and receiving their presentation room location, oral presenters will load slide decks (and/or other visual components) onto computers in the assigned presentation rooms. NOTE: Oral presenters will receive their presentation room locations during conference check-in. 
   • Download a UTC branded Oral PowerPoint presentation template:
     • 16:9 side-branded
     • 4:3 side-branded
     • 16:9 bottom-branded
     • 4:3 bottom-branded
3. Arts Display Presentations
   • Conference presenters displaying works such as painting, photography, journalistic photography, or similar should choose the arts display format option within the presenter submission form.
   • Display boards (3 feet tall and 4 feet wide), artist tape/mounting putty/pins will be provided for display.
   • Heavy paintings will be displayed on easels.

Steps for Presenting Your Research/Creative Project at the Conference

1. Submit the presenter submission form. The presentation submission form deadline is 11pm on Sunday, February 23, 2025. Access the presenter submission form link in the How to Apply section below.
2. Once the presentation form has been submitted, conference presenters will receive a detailed message (prior to spring break) from conference organizers. The message will include the assigned presentation session, check-in location, and other important presentation details.
3. Prepare your presentation materials.
   • Poster Presenters are solely responsible for creating, printing, and bringing posters to the conference. Display boards and clips for display will be provided at the conference.
   • Oral Presenters are solely responsible for creating their presentation slide decks and bringing a copy of the slides to the conference.
4. Submit presentation materials (poster file OR slide decks) to the Symposium portal by 11pm on Wednesday, April 2, 2025. See more information about the ForagerOne by Symposium online portal below.
5. Present the research project at the conference on April 9, 2025!  

Abstracts/Projects Descriptions

Regardless of the format, a well-written abstract or project description is also required (400 word maximum). This document will be displayed with presentation materials on the Symposium portal and will be published in the conference abstract document.

Abstracts (or descriptions) should contain the following information:

1. A brief introduction to the project/subject area
2. A hypothesis, project goal, or specific aim
3. A brief description of the methods used to address the aim/goal
4. Results
5. Conclusions or Impact Statement regarding the body of work.

Download the Abstract Preparation Guide

Need help writing your abstract? Contact [email protected].

Detailed information about copyright and fair use may be found on the UTC Library Copyright and Fair Use Information page.  It is recommended that you meet with a librarian for questions related to copyright and fair use. 

For more information about research and intellectual property contact [email protected] 

Research Compliance Requirements

Research that involves human subjects/participants or vertebrate animals typically requires oversight from the Institutional Review Board (IRB), or Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) respectively. Research that was conducted without the appropriate IRB or IACUC review and clearance cannot be presented at the conference.

• If your research was conducted in accordance with an approved IRB or IACUC protocol, please note the protocol number in your presentation materials.
• If your research involves recombinant nucleic acid molecules, please be sure you have completed the required IBC Registration Update Form.

Symposium by Forager One- Presentation Materials Submission Information*

The 2025 UTC Spring Research and Arts Conference will be held in person at the UTC McKenzie Arena. Presenters are required to upload presentation materials (poster files, slide decks) to the ForagerOne by Symposium online portal by 11:00 pm on Wednesday, April 2, 2025.

* Why are we asking presenters to upload presentation materials (posters/slides) to the portal? Submitted materials will be archived on the Symposium site, and the conference abstract program will be generated via Symposium. A copy of the program will be available on the conference website.

Symposium by Forager One Technical Details

• Poster/slide deck files must be saved and uploaded as pdf files. The file size must not exceed 10 MB. If the file is larger than 10MB, the system will reject the file, and the file will not be uploaded to the portal.
• A Note about Videos- To submit video files, upload the video to YouTube, and paste the YouTube video link into the Symposium materials submission form.
• Presenters should review presentation files carefully before submitting materials to the portal. Once submitted to the portal, files cannot be edited.

Need a presentation template? Poster and PowerPoint presentation templates are available in the “Presentation Formats” section above.

Symposium by ForagerOne Media Options

On the materials submission form, you will select from the following two options:

Media Option 1: Upload a PDF of the poster/slide deck presentation. 

Select this option to upload a poster or oral presentation file. The file must be saved as a PDF. The PDF file must not exceed 10MB. Use Smallpdf.com or another online tool to compress your file if necessary.

NOTE: If you select this media option, you may also upload a video to accompany the poster or slide deck presentation. This is completely OPTIONAL.

Media Option 2: Video/Screencast only 

If you would like to share a video presentation or slide deck screencast (instead of a poster or slide deck file) select this option.

1. Upload the video to YouTube.
2. In the YouTube video settings select UNLISTED**.
3. Paste the YouTube video link in the materials submission form.

See presentation examples from the 2024 conference:

https://symposium.foragerone.com/utc-spring-research-and-arts-conference-2024

Copyright Information

• Presentation materials uploaded to the Symposium portal will be available on the internet. Before you upload materials to the portal, make certain that you are familiar with copyright laws and intellectual property protocols.
• Detailed information about copyright and fair use may be found on the UTC Library Copyright and Fair Use Information page. https://www.utc.edu/library/services/faculty-staff/copyright-fair-use.
• It is recommended you meet with a librarian for questions about fair use. For more information about research and intellectual property, contact [email protected]Questions? Please contact the conference coordinators at [email protected].

How to Apply

Follow this link to submit the presenter form.