It’s something that sneaks up on many third-year undergraduate students wanting to do an honours thesis or literature review in their final year.

All of a sudden, they’re faced with finding a faculty supervisor and picking a research topic that engages them — a task that leaves some students stumped.

To aid his peers and the student body at large, third-year Biomedical Sciences student Harris Sheikh has organized the Undergraduate Research Conference on Thursday, March 16.

The event, beginning at 6:30 p.m. in Pond Inlet, aims to raise awareness of the range of student research going on in the Faculty of Mathematics and Science.

“Having the option of exploring the diverse research that goes on across the disciplines at Brock allows one to discover what he or she would be most interested in, and whether research is something they would like to pursue,” Sheikh said.

“It’s important to enjoy what you are doing in the lab, not only because you may have to commit to that specific research for a year or two, but also in order to make the most out of your time and the resources that are available to you.”

The conference provides early exposure to first-year students and provides insight to third-year students who are struggling to find a specific supervisor, said Sheikh, President of the Brock Math and Science Council (BUMSC) and the Math and Science faculty representative on the Brock University Students’ Administrative Council (BUSAC).

Seven third- and fourth-year undergraduate students from the Mathematics and Science Faculty will be presenting their research on topics related to chemistry, biology, physics and health sciences.

In addition to providing the Brock community examples of undergraduate research, the event will allow student researchers to sharpen their presentation skills as they explain their work to the audience, Sheikh said.

A panel of judges will evaluate the presentations and award prizes to student researchers in several categories.

“Being able to convey your research in a concise and understandable manner to someone outside of your discipline is a skill that many of us can benefit from,” Sheikh said. “Effective communication is not specific to the field of research — it is a life skill.”

Alan Castle, Interim Dean of the Faculty of Math and Science, said the upcoming competition provides “extremely valuable experience” for undergraduate students as they prepare for further academic activities.

“These research opportunities give our students exposure to all aspects of scholarly activity from the planning of the work, collection of the necessary tools, carrying out the procedures, collecting and analyzing data, presenting the overall study in written and oral communications and defending their ideas,” he said.

Associate Dean Hichem Ben-El-Mechaiekh said his faculty trains undergraduate students in fundamental and applied research and scholarly activities, which “sets us apart from other institutions.

“It is very common for our undergraduate students to co-author research papers with their professors, acquire advanced laboratory expertise and computational know-how, and get a head-start on their journey towards becoming leading scientists.”

For more information on the event, e-mail brockumsc@gmail.com