2015

AU Faculty of Graduate Studies and AU Graduate Students’ Association co-hosted the 3rd Graduate Student Conference in Edmonton, AB from September 25-27, 2015.

The conference was an opportunity for graduate students from AU and elsewhere to present their research, seek feedback, gain experience, network, and come together with other students in an academic forum.

There were 125 conference participants with 22 virtual presenters. Student presenters represented all of the AU graduate programs. There were students from India, Romania, Antigua-Barbuba, and Africa.

The students who attended were motivated and excited about the opportunity to present their academic work and research and receive feedback from other participants. The evaluation indicated that 97% of the participants would recommend the conference to others. Over 50% of the participants stated that the conference more than met or exceeded their expectations in the opportunities to be able to share their research with others, gain experience presenting their research, and network with other researchers and students.

Comments the participants provided identifying the most valuable part of the conference included “Having the chance to explain my work in-person and on a number of informal occasions as well as during the formal presentation”; “meeting faculty and students from my program and other students as well”; “getting a chance to make a presentation on my work and seeing how others went about the same task”; and “presenting a paper and meeting faculty that may be interested in working with me on my doctorate”